A London firm has been shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority after being fined four times in the past year for minor rule breaches.
Ross & Co Solicitors, based in Mayfair, was subject to intervention on the grounds of suspected dishonesty by its manager Ian Ross.
The SRA also said there was reason to suggest Ross has failed to comply with the code of conduct and accounts rules. He has also been suspended by the SRA.
Dorset firm Lester Aldridge has been appointed as intervening agent and clients are being contacted as to the options available.
The firm has been fined at regular intervals in the past 12 months for rule breaches – although there is no suggestion these breaches in of themselves are linked to the intervention. Last November, it was issued with a £750 fine for failing to promptly notify the SRA of a change of its compliance officer.
The fine was increase to £1,500 two months later after the firm continued to breach this requirement.
In June this year, the SRA fined Ross & Co £750 for failing to submit its annual return of data about the practice within the allowed time. Again the fine was upped to £1,500 when the firm failed to remedy the breach.
Ian Ross founded the firm in 1998. The former Clyde & Co partner specialises in commercial disputes, cross-border litigation and mediation.
The firm’s website states that Ross is an Oxford graduate who worked in Sweden and Finland and spent two years working for the Bank of Finland. He was chairman of the board at the Finnish British Chamber of Commerce and in 2001 he received a knighthood from the president of Finland for services to the country.
