Gordons is only Yorkshire law firm appointed to much-reduced regulatory body panel
Monday 10th September 2012
Yorkshire’s Gordons is one of only eight law firms appointed to the intervention panel of the Solicitors Regulation Authority after a competitive tender process.
The firm is the region’s sole representative on the panel, which, following a regular three-yearly review, has just been reduced by two-thirds from its previous 24 members.
Gordons was on the panel previously and has handled over 50 interventions in the last decade for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Law Society of England & Wales’ independent body charged with ensuring over 120,000 lawyers achieve high standards and acting when their conduct risks damaging client interests.
Victoria Davey, a partner in Gordons’ regulation, risk and compliance team and a member of the firm’s executive board, said: “This coveted appointment is great news for us and is due to factors such as our expertise in this area, the flexibility we offer, and probably the fact the SRA is comfortable in its relationship with us, as we work with it on other matters too. We’re also delighted to be the standard-bearer again for Yorkshire, after becoming the county’s only practice shortlisted for the Regional Law Firm of the Year prize in the prestigious national award scheme run by leading sector publication The Lawyer earlier this year.”
Cases on which Gordons has acted as SRA agent include one of the largest interventions the authority has ever undertaken – involving Manchester-based Consumer Credit Litigation Solicitors (CCLS), shut down in 2010 because of “suspected dishonesty”. The SRA said it had serious concerns about how CCLS was conducting business acquired from Cartel Client Review, a consumer financial miss-selling claims management company. The intervention was designed to prevent the situation worsening, safeguard documents and protect client money the law firm held.
The SRA says reducing its intervention panel to eight is aimed at ensuring relevant work is completed faster and more efficiently, minimising disruption for clients and the cost of cases. The smaller panel is intended to ensure agents are able to develop expertise benefiting the SRA and, crucially, clients of investigated firms.