Betrayed, let down and cheated out of £100,000
Legal watchdogs face big bill over disgraced law firm
Legal watchdogs are facing more than £100,000 worth of claims from victims of disgraced law firm Ross Harper.
The firm, one of the biggest in Scotland, were shut down five years ago. In the last three months, four of their partners have been struck off.
A Law Society of Scotland probe was launched after expert defence witnesses – hired to give evidence in court – complained they had not been paid.
Instead, their unpaid fees – claimed by Ross Harper from the Scottish Legal Aid Board – were fraudulently used to keep the ailing law firm afloat.
Victims of the fraud have been given 21 days to stake a claim by the Law Society – who regulate the legal profession – following the end of their five-year probe.
It is thought the final bill could be more than £100,000 and any compensation claims will be paid from a Law Society client protection contingency fund.
One property firm are also due £50,000 in unpaid rent on Ross Harper’s offices in Glasgow city centre.
World-renowned bacteriologist Professor Hugh Pennington said he is owed £ 4000 in unpaid fees.
The unpaid money was for a series of reports he did for victims of the MRSA bug who were suing local NHS boards and hospitals where they had been treated.
Professor Pennington said: “I am p****d off that I have had to wait for so long for the money. I’ve already lodged a claim for the unpaid fees. I
normally charge about £300 a report and there are payments for 13 reports outstanding going back to 2007.
“I was shocked to discover Ross Harper were withholding payments from me and others. There has been a major betrayal of trust here.”
Another expert witness, forensic psychologist Ian Stephen, is due £5000.
Stephen is a former director of rehabilitation services at the State Hospital in Carstairs and was an adviser to 90s TV series Cracker.
He said: “I felt badly let down by Ross Harper. You should be able to put your faith in a lawyer.
“I was always writing to them to ask why I was not being paid.
“I was sometimes waiting up to a year for payment. I was shocked they were so blatant about it.”
Earlier this month, Ross Harper senior partners Alan Miller and James Price were struck off by the Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SSDT) for professional misconduct.
In May, Cameron Fyfe and Alan Susskind – also partners at the firm – were struck off.
The SSDT ruled the men used public funds to keep their business afloat rather than promptly paying suppliers.
Their probe found that legal aid money was put in the firm’s bank account – for up to two years.
At their height, Ross Harper had 12 offices in Scotland and were specialists in personal injury claims, as well as criminal and family law.
They were founded in 1961 by former law professor Ross Harper.
The Law Society of Scotland said: “We are not in a position to comment on the number or potential value of individual claims.”