The Solicitors Regulation Authority is preparing to prosecute several individuals in relation to the collapsed claims firm SSB Law. In an update yesterday the regulator said it has completed its investigation into the Sheffield firm and issued disciplinary notices to ‘a number’ of solicitors. A further two people who worked at SSB Law who are not solicitors have also been informed about potential regulatory action. The SRA said it plans to issue more notices to other individuals in due course.
Everyone issued with notices will have the chance to review the allegations against them and give their comments, before a decision over whether to push ahead with prosecutions is made before the summer.
The investigation looked at how the firm, which went into administration in January 2024, obtained its work and how the claims were handled. It is understood the SRA has examined whether clients were properly advised and whether their instructions were followed.
Investigators have also looked at the after-the-event insurance obtained for cavity wall claims, and whether the solicitors involved complied with their obligations to keep insurers updated about the merits and progress of claims.
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The SRA has placed interim conditions on the practising certificates of four solicitors who worked at SSB: Jeremy Brooke, Debra Allen, Lucy Helen Flynn and David Toyn.
Brooke cannot be a manager, owner or compliance officer of any authorised body, and cannot be involved in litigation involving conditional free agreements or damage based agreements. None of Allen, Flynn and Toyn are allowed to provide legal services in litigation or claims work without SRA approval.
SSB Law has been such a high profile case because so many former clients have been issued with demands to pay defence costs, or have been unable to repair their homes because their claims have faltered. The SRA itself has been investigated by the Legal Services Board over its response to the firm’s financial difficulties.
Some insurers have already agreed to drop some of their claims for costs against individuals and have sought to recover money instead from SSB’s indemnity insurers.
The SRA said: ‘We welcome this pragmatic approach. It recognises the immense distress this situation has caused individuals, removes the worry and burden of this unexpected debt, while still offering the insurance company a route to seek to claim its costs.’
Meanwhile, a regulatory investigation into Liverpool claims firm Pure Legal is expected to be completed by this summer after a detailed review of relevant client files. Individuals may then be written to, putting them on notice of disciplinary action, and interim conditions can restrict the type of activities they can carry out.
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