Saturday, August 26, 2006

Calls for crooked ex Scottish solicitor to be sent to jail after theft & fraud against disabled client

More on the crooked ex solicitor & politician, Ian Catto, emerges from the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, with the victim, and plenty commenters on the article, calling for a significant jail term for Mr Catto.

We at Injustice Scotland also hope for a long jail term for Mr Catto - who preyed on a disabled person to fund his lifestyle - a dirty low trick indeed.

Read on for the article as well as some comments from posters, and our very own Peter Cherbi too, at :http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1253532006

'He abused the trust I put in him'
MICHAEL BLACKLEY (mblackley@edinburghnews.com)

DISABLED Francis Fleming trusted Iain Catto with his life. Unable to look after himself after suffering serious brain injuries following a hammer attack in 1968, the 59-year-old relied on others to help him with the kind of day-to-day tasks most people take for granted.

But Catto, a crooked former solicitor, broke that trust and stole thousands of pounds.

Today, speaking from his Craigentinny home, Mr Fleming said he hoped that the man he once regarded as his best friend would go to jail for "as long as possible".

Mr Fleming trusted Catto implicitly and had no hesitation in giving him power of attorney and even a key to his home.

Catto had been a solicitor at an Edinburgh law firm Mr Fleming had been using to help him with his financial affairs following the death of his father.

But scheming Catto, a former Tory regional councillor who was once tipped to lead the group in the Lothians, tricked him.

Having taken over power of attorney for Mr Fleming in 1997, he left his legal firm in 2002.

He became a full-time best friend to Mr Fleming, taking him shopping, out for coffee and even on holidays. But the spending did not stop when Mr Fleming was not around, as Catto would splash out thousands of pounds on luxuries for himself behind his back.

On Tuesday, Catto, 41, of Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh, admitted in Edinburgh Sheriff Court that in three years he had stolen £70,000 from Mr Fleming to pay for airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals in restaurants, £300 worth of goods from Oddbins, and a Leeds United season ticket. On occasions he was withdrawing as much as £15,000 from Mr Fleming's accounts.

When the truth finally came out, Mr Fleming, who lives in Craigentinny Road, was devastated. He said: "I trusted him better than my brother. I thought all the advice he gave me was for my own good - I didn't realise that he was doing me out of all I had.

"I gave him the run of everything. He'd even come into the house and do what he said was his papers, and make himself a coffee and watch TV with me. It really was just like having a brother around.

"He'd take me shopping, cook some dinner. He'd be with me all the time, I'd just phone him and he'd be round. It was great having someone like that, someone that seemed to look after me. Now I know I've been a proper clown. I'm able to see it myself now that I know everything, but I didn't suspect it at all at the time - I was well and truly conned.

"I thought I had good friends just after the accident but I seemed to just have been deserted. When my dad died I needed someone and now it looks like this guy knew that. I was vulnerable and he made a clown of me."

Catto targeted Mr Fleming because he knew there was no-one around to stop him. When he was attacked by his brother-in-law with a hammer in 1968, the incident left him in a coma for nearly a month, and led to divorce from his wife and to losing contact with his son, Frank MacLennan.

Mr Fleming received a large criminal injuries payment, but was left partially paralysed, had memory problems and couldn't work.

Soon after his father's death, Mr Fleming decided he wanted to be reunited with his only son, but Catto tried to talk him out of it.

"Why would you want to see him after all this time, he said. He won't want to know you. But I said I wanted to know how he was getting on, I wanted to find my son," Mr Fleming said. He went to the Salvation Army, which runs a family-tracing service, and managed to get back in touch.

Father and son finally met again in 2003 - a reunion which turned out to be bad news for Catto.

Mr MacLennan, 42, and his wife Wendy, 31, moved in with Mr Fleming for nearly a year.

Initially, they befriended Mr Catto but became suspicious when he tried to help them buy a home in Spain during a holiday.

But it was only when Mr MacLennan spotted Catto taking blank cheques out of his father's cheque book that he realised what had been going on. He started looking through bank and Visa card statements which showed how huge overdrafts had been run up. Mr MacLennan, who now lives in Wallyford, said: "We had no idea of the extent of it until we got the power of attorney turned round and we ordered a year's worth of statements.

"The last we saw of him was December last year. He knew we were on to him and he seems to have kept away because of that."

In February 2006, the bank statements and accounts were passed on to police and an investigation into the fraud began, which culminated in the court case earlier this week.

Catto pleaded guilty to stealing the money between December 2002 and December 2004.

Sentence was deferred for background reports. Mr Fleming said that he hopes Catto receives the strongest sentence possible.

"It's not enough to just get money back from him," he said. "I've lost everything - the money I have had over the years could have made thousands. He's made a business out of me. I want the maximum sentence thrown at him. He's got to go to jail and I want him to be there as long as possible.

"He's made a mug of me, he's stolen from me and he's abused the trust I had in him.

"I don't think he would have stopped. I think he wanted to bleed me dry and get my will.

I hope he gets what he deserves."

RISE AND FALL OF ONE-TIME STAR OF TORY PARTY

IAIN CATTO was once a rising political star in the Lothians, and during his time as councillor for Prestonfield and Mayfield he was even seen as a potential future leader of the regional Tory party.

He served on Lothian Regional Council between 1990 and 1994, during which time he was promoted to the role of transport spokesman for the Conservatives.

Having lost his seat in 1994, he returned to law full-time, although he continued to be a member of the Tory Party.

He came off the Scottish Solicitors' Roll of his own choice in September 2001.
The Law Society says it expects to receive details on the case from the Criminal Records Office and will then decide what action to take.


Related topics
* Fraud, embezzling and financial crime http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=946
* Legal Issues http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=859

Comments from the Scotsman website :
1. senga / 12:48pm 25 Aug 2006
Ok - this guy is a crook a thief and altogether a real nutcase barsteward who deserves to go to jail for a very long time. The law soc will sanction him as well as the courts. Wonder what would happen if he was a plumber? Would his professional body do soemthing to ensure that he'd never rip off former clients ever again? Doubt it.

In future could the press please headline every criminal story by providing the public with the accused / guilty party's current or former occupation details and not just advise us when he / she was or is a solicitor ?
Then we could compare the figures after a while and figure out which profession / walk of life has the most crooks affiliated to it. I'd reckon that estate agents and builders, possibly car sales men and plumbers, even bank managers, may just top it.

2. GEORGE, Spain / 2:58pm 25 Aug 2006
I take it that Senga has had a problem with plumbers.
The guy is a crook and should be jailed for the maximum time
George


3. Senga / 3:07pm 25 Aug 2006
Aye he made a real mess of my waterworks ;-D
Poor Mr Fleming. I'd make the rotten Catto beggar work hard labour 60 hours a week and then give all the earnings back to him.


4. Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes, Polepes Rbelpic of Scatolnd / 4:41pm 25 Aug 2006
Catto owns multiple properties in the city. It was hardly a case of taking the money through need, just taking it because he could.

What a scumbag, but as a former lawyer and politician does this really come as a surprise?
I wonder how long it will take to realise the forthcoming error in procedure that will permit his early release!?


5. Alex. / 4:47pm 25 Aug 2006
If he goes in front of the same Sheriff who presided over the trial of Angus Cook (former Dundee FC owner/chairman and well known conman), who defrauded many of sums totaling many tens of thousands of pounds, he won't go to jail. The Sheriff couldn't see the point in jailing him! He was given a fine instead that, in all probability, does not cover the costs of the legal process. Who says white collar crime doesn't pay? Hope the Procurator Fiscal appeals the sentence in that case. Cook, I read in the press, is going round Dundee whistleing the great escape.


6. Peter Cherbi, Edinburgh / 6:35pm 25 Aug 2006
Since Catto came off the Solicitors roll in 2001, it's hard to see what action the Law Society could now take, but if the beginning of Catto's service to Mr Fleming was tied to the law firm Catto worked for, there should be full compensation claim against that firm.
It would be interesting to hear what steps have been taken by Mr Fleming to recover his loss from this crime and what assistance has been offered to him in this respect.
The Guarantee Fund of the Law Society of Scotland should come into play here if Catto was a solicitor at the time ..but since he was not, there is a convenient arguement as a get-out against giving compensation from the Guarantee Fund.
A closer inspection of why Catto came off the Solicitors roll "of his own choice" may reveal futher material relevant to what happened in this case.
Speaking for myself,I sympathise with Mr Fleming a lot, as my own mother experienced almost the same con as what happened to Mr Fleming, albeit with a member of another profession (an accountant), and it only stopped when myself and other family members intervened.
I fully support Mr Fleming's call for Catto to go to jail as long as possible - and the same for anyone else who preys on their clients.


7. Rod, Rutland Chambers, Edinburgh / 6:59pm 25 Aug 2006
My considered advice is that ex Solicitor Catto should be punished to the full limit of the criminal process in Scotland. Sharp practice among solicitors MUST be stamped out if the public are to have confidence in the legal profession.
That'll be 250 guineas please. Make your cheques payable to me in the name of Mr Smith, LLB, c/o Cayman National Bank, Grand Cayman Island. Failure to do so could lead to a distressing communication from either myself or one of m'learned colleagues.


8. ian, high court / 7:19pm 25 Aug 2006
This will be interesting. So many previous cases of the legal fraternity "looking after their own". Guaranteed if a guy from a council estate stole that amount he'd be banged up for years. What's the betting Catto's pals manipulate an extremely light sentence eg probation, community service. If we are to truly beleive in an unbiased legal system this thief should get at least three years


9. frank, edinburgh / 7:23pm 25 Aug 2006
Mr Catto was put in a position of trust and he abused that trust in the most deceitful and disgusting way.
As a former solicitor and mp he should be made an example of. A custodial sentence is the only fitting punishment for Mr Catto, anything else will be a failure on the part of the judicial system in Scotland.
Crimes of this nature should not be tolerated by the courts and should send out a clear message to all other fraudsters regardless of public standing.


10. Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes, Polepes Rbelpic of Scatolnd / 12:25am 26 Aug 2006
FAO 5. Alex.
http://www.sacl.info/cheating_justice.htm
Dundee sees to have a problem with people like that!

Former Scottish lawyer admits stealing £70,000 from disabled client in a now common fraud against clients

From Injustice Scotland :

Ian Catto .. who was a lawyer as well as a Conservative Councillor for Prestonfield & Mayfield, apparently gave up his job as a solicitor in 2002 .. and turned to stealing from a disabled client, until the victim's family found out what was going on.

The Evening News reports that "The court heard that Catto, of Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh, offered to pay his bills for him. He would also ask Mr Fleming to sign blank cheques saying he would fill in the details later"

Signing blank cheques for a lawyer is always a dangerous thing .... something we at Injustice Scotland would never advise anyone to do.

Just because the person is a lawyer, or an accountant, doesn't mean they should be trusted - in fact, it's quite the reverse, as the victim of Mr Catto's fraud found out - in what is an all too common scam by Scottish lawyers and accountants against their client.

In some cases, lawyers and accountants have softened their clients up with tales of honesty and 'concern' for their wellbeing .. even despicably putting family members against family members, in plots to gain control of their clients money to fund their own lavish lifestyle ... robbing from their client at-will.

One such a case which came to light - as a good example of what also happened to Mr Catto, was when Peter Cherbi - of the Borders, discovered that his late father's accountant - Mr Norman James Howitt, of Welch's Accountants, Hawick & Galashiels, Scottish Borders, took Mr Cherbi's mother's pension book and bank books for himself, on a pretence of 'keeping the money safe from other family members'.

It was then discovered the accounts were being systematically looted by persons who had become associated with Mr Howitt, in cooperation with the late Mrs Cherbi's own lawyer, Nigel Hall of Hawick firm Haddon & Turnbull Solicitors, who had become involved in the fraud against the Cherbi family, until Mrs Cherbi's son found out about it and put a stop to the theft - just like what happened when Mr Catto's family found out about Catto stealing the money.

You can read about the seedy case of well known Borders Accountant Norman Howitt and see the evidence of what he abd a crooked lawyer did to the Cherbi family at : http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/03/norman-howitt-crooked-borders.html

The incident of Howitt was reported to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, but the complaint and the incident was covered up by the ICAS Director of Legal Services - Dr Tom McMorrow, and Howitt remains an accountant - as well as now, a Director of Eildon Housing in the Scottish Borders, a Board Member of the Borders College at Galashiels, and sits on ICAS Committees - Howitt's reward for being a common thief ... so, this demonstrates that making a complaint against such criminal activity - does no good, until the Police and the media become involved - and you publicise your case as much as possible

Read on for the article, from the Evening News, at :http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1240232006

Crook solicitor stole £70,000 from helpless disabled client
VALERIE MACGREGOR AND MICHAEL BLACKLEY
(mblackley@edinburghnews.com)

A MAN once seen as a potential future Tory leader in the Lothians has admitted stealing £70,000 from a disabled man.

Former Conservative councillor for Prestonfield and Mayfield, Iain Catto, 41, who is also a former solicitor, pretended to care for Francis Fleming after he became partially paralysed.

Catto, a member of Lothian Regional Council from 1990 to 1994, had pretended to be a close friend of Mr Fleming, 59, and volunteered to pay his bills and organise his life.

But he was regularly withdrawing sums up to £15,000 a time from his client's accounts to fund his own lavish lifestyle. He even sold some of his victim's shares.

To cover up his scam, he had all bank statements sent to his home address. Mr Fleming trusted Catto and even gave him a key to his Craigentinny Road home.

Among Catto's purchases were airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals in restaurants, computer software, £300 worth of goods from Oddbins and haircuts costing up to £30.

Earlier this year, Catto contributed to a book of essays edited by Scottish Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser. Catto's essay called for more personal freedom and the decriminalising of drugs.

Fiscal Depute Alison Innes told Edinburgh Sheriff Court Catto had given up his job as a solicitor in 2002. She said: "The accused had given up a well-paid job and no longer had an income to pay for his comfortable way of life so he just stole regularly from Mr Fleming, who was none the wiser."

The court heard that Catto, of Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh, offered to pay his bills for him. He would also ask Mr Fleming to sign blank cheques saying he would fill in the details later.

Mrs Innes said that Mr Fleming had been the victim of an attempted murder in 1968 and received a large criminal injuries payment. He was partially paralysed, had memory problems and could not work.

Following the death of his father, Mr Fleming turned to a firm of Edinburgh solicitors - where Catto was a trainee - to help handle his financial affairs.

Catto befriended him and, in 1997, took over the power of attorney from colleagues. He told Mr Fleming that he did not want to accept any payment for the work but would do it as a friend.

"Had it not been for Mr Fleming's son coming home and growing suspicious we can only speculate if the accused would have stopped at all," Mrs Innes told Sheriff Kathrine Mackie.

After Mr Fleming's estranged wife died, he contacted his son in 2003. The son and his family returned to be with Mr Fleming in July 2004.

After the reunion, the group decided to use Mr Fleming's money to move to Spain.

Still trusting the solicitor, they asked Catto to help with the financial affairs wanting to know how much money was available to buy property.

However, Mr Fleming's son started to become suspicious in August 2004, especially after learning that his father signed blank cheques for the solicitor.

He became aware of debit balances on his father's credit card statements.

Mr Fleming's son then arranged for the power of attorney to be transferred to himself to help his father.

He got access to bank statements and realised Catto had been stealing from them.

In court, the former solicitor pleaded guilty to stealing the money between December 2002 and December, 2004. The Court heard that Catto,

now of Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh had sold a flat in the city's Broughton Street to repay the stolen cash.

Sheriff Mackie deferred sentence for background reports

250 lawyers to have their records wiped by the Law Society of Scotland in 'misuse' of regulatory powers

Around 250 lawyers are to have their records wiped clean by the Law Society of Scotland - because of challenges to the reprimands handed out relating to complaints - reports Peter Cherbi from his site "A Diary of Injustice in Scotland" at http://petercherbi.blogspot.com

Law Society of Scotland finds new ways to let 'reprimanded' lawyers off the hook.

Barring the odd malicious complaint against a solicitor, which has led to the Law Society of Scotland processing [what some may call] politically motivated complaints against high profile rights campaigning lawyers (there are very few of these, so I assume you know WHO I am referring to) ... the Law Society have come out today, announcing they are going to have to let around 250 solicitors off the hook from reprimands which were handed out by the Law Society in respect of complaints, either from clients, or from the Society itself.

Such a "regrettable decision", as the Law Society put's it ... would come easily for the likes of none other than Philip Yelland, the Director of Client Relations at the Law Society, who claims in an article in today's Scotsman newspaper, that "We took advice at the time and decided to go down this road in good faith. But the challenge came in and we took further advice.... The legal position has changed over the years, so we were advised that we had to do what we have done."

Regrettably myself, I have had numerous dealings with Philip Yelland over the years, regarding the many crooked lawyers and legal firms which have let my family down and plundered our lives of just about everything they could.

I can safely say, I would not believe Philip Yelland, if he said the sky was blue - I would have to check for myself first - owing to the lies he has told me, and the lies he has sanctioned against me in the likes of the investigation into the well known crooked Kelso lawyer, Andrew Penman from Stormonth Darling Solicitors .. where Philip Yelland went as far as to send a secret letter to my own lawyers, interfering in my case, ordering them not to take instructions from me in court cases against the Law Society of Scotland (involving Mr Yelland himself), and Andrew Penman.

I wonder what the legal advice was in my case then, Mr Yelland ?

Did you get legal advice to see what the implications were of interfering in a case against the very organisation you work for, against you, and your colleagues, and a crooked lawyer you covered up for ?

If you had tried that in a criminal case, Mr Yelland, it would be called tampering with evidence, and tampering with witnesses, or even perverting the course of justice.

How many other people have you done this to, Mr Yelland ? How many other clients of crooked lawyers have had their cases and attempts to claim back what was stolen by your colleagues, broken, because you meddled in their case to make sure they got nothing ?
Why are you in such a position you can get away with being little more than a criminal ? Mr Yelland ?

Given the reports today in the Scotsman on this matter, I would say this :

All those cases involving those 250 or so lawyers, should be at least, re-investigated, and of course, while that is being done, the identities of the lawyers concerned, along with the details of all the complaints - to satisfy the requirements of transparency, of course - and not forgetting to let all the clients who made the complaints in the first place, know about it, so they are aware of what has happened to any issues affecting their legal affairs as mis-managed by their solicitors.

This latest example of the Law Society's lack of ability to do anything with it's own members, should be taken, I feel, as a situation where now, as the Society will doubtless face calls for scrutiny of it's past actions, they simply have resigned from the position of professional regulator, which they always argue towards clients, is their obligation according to the law of the land.

I for one, having appeared many times in the Scotsman newspaper regarding difficulties with the legal profession and my critisisms of it, will welcome a root & branch review of all matters relating to the legal profession, not to mention a review of the past sins of the Law Society of Scotland - something important for all those clients who have had their lives and livelihoods ruined by their legal representatives over the years without any recompense.

I would, however, sound this warning - criminals don't stop robbing banks, just because we have the Police - therefore don't expect some lawyers to refrain from ripping off their clients, just because there will be a new independent regulator and if anything, even greater scrutiny of the legal profession will be needed to ensure those in the legal profession adhere to transparency, honesty, the law, and, most of all, the rights of the client.

Read on for the article, from The Scotsman newspaper, at : http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1239022006

Reprimanded lawyers to have records wiped clean after 'muddle'
MICHAEL HOWIE AND JOHN ROBERTSON

ABOUT 250 solicitors reprimanded by the Law Society of Scotland are to have their records wiped clean after the regulator was told its disciplinary sanction was illegal.

The society yesterday said it had taken the "regrettable" decision to clean the slate for hundreds of lawyers found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct in the past three years.

The body took the decision to withdraw the "unsatisfactory conduct" charge after a disciplined lawyer launched a bid to overturn the ruling.

Opposition MSPs last night branded the situation a "disaster" and said it made the case for a root-and-branch review of the way lawyers are policed vital.

The Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, meanwhile, said the regulation of solicitors was "a muddle" and urgently called for fresh legislation.

The origins of the controversy go back to January 2003, when the society decided to mark an "unsatisfactory conduct" finding on lawyers'


records as a disciplinary halfway house between professional misconduct - which is already founded in law - and taking no action.

The move came after the Legal Services Ombudsman said such sanctions were worthless unless they were formally held against the guilty solicitor.

But the society has admitted it was aware new legislation was needed to uphold the charge, and says it previously called on the Scottish Executive to bring in the necessary powers.

Since early 2003, around 300 unsatisfactory conduct findings have been made against 200-250 lawyers. It is understood some were unhappy at the way the sanction was imposed and, earlier this year, one of those was granted a judicial review into the reprimand.

This led the Law Society to seek advice on the validity of the sanction, and officials were told it could not be upheld.

Among the lawyers who disputed the sanction was Aamer Anwar, who threatened to take the Law Society to court after he was disciplined for branding a caller on a radio phone-in programme a "bigot".

Philip Yelland, director of client relations at the society, said: "We took advice at the time and decided to go down this road in good faith. But the challenge came in and we took further advice.

"The legal position has changed over the years, so we were advised that we had to do what we have done."

Ironically, the society will be given powers in relation to unsatisfactory professional conduct under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill, expected to become law next year.

The bill also proposed a legal complaints commission, which will controversially strip the society of part of its regulatory function.

And in a further blow to the Society it emerged earlier this month that lawyers across the country were plotting to create a new national association, after the society agreed to accept a legal aid pay deal many of them were unhappy with.

Margaret Mitchell MSP, the Scottish Tories' justice spokeswoman, said: "This latest disaster has strengthened the case for reviewing the whole set-up."

Scottish lawyers seeks child for sex - found guilty in Glasgow Sheriff Court

From Injustice Scotland :

Ian Donnelly, a Scottish solicitor, working at personal injury solicitors Lloyd Green in Glasgow city's Cadogan Square. sought to have sex a child, in a request for a relationship with a prostitute - reports the Daily Record.

While the howls of protest may rise from the ranks of the legal profession that the case of Scottish lawyer Ian Donnelly, seeking to obviuosly rape a child, is an isolated case, that is very far from being the truth - as quite a few Police Officers would confess, off the record ...

It seems, these days, there are many within the ranks of the Scottish legal profession - who seek sexual relations with children. There are even some figures within the Scottish legal profession - who actually run companies and clubs which specialise in the more seedier part of life - which we cannot really write about here - just use your imagination a bit - then double it, and think of the worsr things which may be possible for a human to do ... you might be getting close....

Recently, the wife of one of the most respected lawyers in Edinburgh - yet another 'luminous figure in the legal & political arena', discovered her husband poses as a 14 year old boy to chat to other young boys in chat rooms and on instant messenger applications.

The 'respected legal figure' is several decades older than the young boys he has been chatting to, even, allegedly, swapping lurid images of himself & more .. with his young friends - under the guise of one of their peers .. and he allegedly handles the chats very well ... but let's hope one day, he chats to a policeman, and gets charged with grooming children for sexual motives - which I understand - is a criminal offence.

Pity the wife of this this sick twisted lawyer hasn't had the guts yet to report him herself , yet, ... as the man must obviously be a danger to her and her family, as well as children everywhere - despite the fact he is 'well respected' - and apparently is friends with a few journalists too .... we will wait to hear more on this, no doubt.

Sentence has been deferred on Ian Donnelly for a month, while he is put on the sex offenders register .. but we at Injustice Scotland, hope he is locked away for a long time - as he is an obvious danger to children anywhere ... like some others in the legal profession ...

Read on for the article, from the Daily Record - on yet another fine example of the filth which swims within Scotland's legal profession, link at : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17607829%26method=full%26siteid=66633%26headline=seedy%2dsolicitor%2dasked%2dhooker%2dfor%2dthreesome%2dwith%2dgirl%2d%2d11%2d%2dand%2dmum-name_page.html

SEEDY SOLICITOR ASKED HOOKER FOR THREESOME WITH GIRL, 11, AND MUM
Prostitute tipped off cops over lawyer's sick request
By Ben Spencer

A SOLICITOR begged a prostitute to arrange sex with a mum and a daughter aged under 11.

Ian Donnelly sneaked out of his office the next day to her nearby flat - but she tipped off police and he was later arrested.

Officers then found a stash of child porn on his home computer, a court heard yesterday.

The incident came just weeks after married Donnelly sent a bizarre letter to an ex-lover asking for a bag of her underwear.

The civil lawyer, 43, admitted a string of charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The court heard Donnelly made "a request" that alarmed the hooker enough to call police after she met him in the city in November.

But the woman still arranged to meet him again and Donnelly called her the next day.

Fiona Holligan, prosecuting, said the prostitute again called police to tell them he was heading to her flat.

When he arrived, he immediately asked if the hooker was "able to get a threesome".

Miss Holligan added: "The woman claimed arrangements were in hand. Donnelly said he hoped it would be a mum in her 20s and the child had to be under 11."

The woman left the room and returned to find him committing an indecent act while holding a photo of her young female relative.

He then returned to work at personal injury solicitors Lloyd Green in the city's Cadogan Square.

Police later spoke with the woman and DNA found in the flat matched Donnelly's.

He was detained at his work. Officers searched his home in Stonelaw Road, Rutherglen, near Glasgow, and found 320 indecent images of girls on his PC.

There were also X-rated stories involving youngsters.

Weeks earlier, an ex-lover of Donnelly arrived home to find an anonymous letter. The writer claimed to have "taken her shoes" and liked to watch her walk about naked.

He went on: "Please leave out a bag of pants, bras and stockings." Suspicion fell on Donnelly.

Donnelly admitted two breach of the peace charges and having indecent images.

Ian Duguid QC, defending, said Donnelly felt "genuine shame" and his request to the prostitute was "fantasy".

The solicitor had quit his job.

Sheriff Alistair Noble put Donnelly on the sex offenders' register and deferred entence until next month.

Edinburgh Council accused of £25m abuse of Common Good Land

Common Good Fund Land has seemingly, either been given to favoured business partners of local politicians and local authorities in communities, or sold off 'on the cheap' in questionable deals by local councils, for years.

Now, the time comes to expose these crooked dealings .. and one such man, Andy Wightman, widely known for his expertese in land reform, has claimed in an article in the Herald newspaper, that some £25million worth of common good land has been mishandled by Edinburgh City Council.

The abuse of both Common Good Land and Common Good Fund Assets has been widespread throughout Scotland over the decades since these funds were first formed.

The Scottish Borders, for instance, has seem some very serious abuses of Common Good Funds, where for instance, the town of Jedburgh was identified by some within the community, to have lost large tracks of Common Good Land to private developers, and even saw Elected Councillors lobbying for huge grants from Common Good Funds to be given to Membership Only Golf Courses to buy scrub land off local lairds ... hardly, something which could be seen as a "Common Good" to a community .. grants of tens of thousands of pounds to a golf club which only allows selective membership .. while other more pressing grant applications fail ...

Time for a full investigation into the whole Common Good Fund system in Scotland, then .. as it is full of corruption where land and other Common Good Assets have passed between so-called 'trustees' to construction firms and other enterprises which offer undeclared returns for those same local politicians and 'trustees' who 'administer' the Common Good Funds ...

Read on for the artlcle from "The Herald" at : http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/68308.html

City accused of £25m abuse of common land
BRIAN DONNELLY August 21 2006

AN investigation has been launched into allegations of mismanagement of land and assets belonging to the people of Edinburgh.

An expert in common good assets, properties historically owned by the taxpayer and managed by local authority custodians, has claimed around £25m worth of such land has been mishandled by the city council.

Politicians agreed to the investigation after independent research highlighted what were described as serious shortcomings in the council's stewardship of the fund, with claims that assets in the fund are now considered council property.

The report, produced by Andy Wightman, a recognised Scottish land reform expert, claimed that correct management along with the recovery of lost assets would mean millions of pounds worth of land being released to community developments.

His study shows that the former Waverley Market on the south side of Princes Street was transferred out of the common good fund by councillors in 1982 before it was replaced by Princes Mall shopping centre.

The centre has since been sold on, but it is estimated that if it had remained in the common good fund it could have earned millions of pounds in rent and still be worth around £20m as a capital asset.

Further concerns were raised over the sale of a council office in Merchiston Park for nearly £1m last year. The building was on common good land, but Mr Wightman claimed it never appeared in the fund until it was highlighted by him.

Mr Wightman said he believed the true extent of the mismanagement of the common good fund would be known only after a detailed analysis of common good assets had been established.

He said: "My colleague James Perman and I published a report on common good land in Scotland which revealed widespread concerns over the management of common good assets across Scotland.

"Following the publication of the report, I was alerted to a number of issues relating to the stewardship of the common good of the City of Edinburgh which revealed serious concerns as to how such assets were being perceived, recorded, accounted for, and administered."

Councillors agreed to the review at a meeting of the resource management and audit scrutiny panel.


A spokesman for the authority said it was developing an overall asset management plan, and "as part of that process, using outside help if necessary, we will review the common good fund in line with best practice".

The assets were donated to the people of Edinburgh by philanthropists or were formerly assets of the royal burgh. The last detailed survey of the assets was carried out in 1905.


Fighting for the communal good

MORAY The council is currently embroiled in a row with community activists over its decision to sell half an acre of Grant Park, the home of football club Lossiemouth FC, to its own quango, Moray Housing Partnership. The land was bequested to the people of Lossiemouth in the 1930s by the Laird of Pitgaveny, who said it should be retained in perpetuity for public recreation.


PEEBLES A private housebuilder was allowed to develop flats on a stretch of land by the River Tweed which belonged to the burgh's common good. The erroneous decision to grant planning permission was taken after it emerged title deeds to the land were almost indecipherable due to their age.

AYR A concerted community campaign was needed to help deter South Ayrshire Council from using part of the town's Old Racecourse playing fields for a new multi-million pound public-private partnership school

Legal profession 'split' revealed as 'bargaining chip' in legal aid dispute

Lawyers about to form their own organisation to rival the Law Society of Scotland ... how does that sound in the face of the current difficulties the Scottish legal profession finds itself in ?

Well, quite plausable .. if it were not for the plot and counter plot we have seen in the last few days in sections of the media where the likes of Douglas Mill, Chief Executive of the Law Society has been revealed to have meddled in financial claims for damages against lawyers and legal firms, while denying the very same involvement to the Justice 2 Committee inquiry into the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill.

Douglas Mill should certainly be called back to the J2 Committee to account for his 'erroneous testimony' .. in the face of memos flying all around the media showing him to have had a 'big hand' in meddling against client complaints and claims against crooked firms of lawyers.

Peter Cherbi, reports on the alleged 'split' which has been publicised this week in the Scotsman newspaper, (after the same story apparently being refused publicity in another newspaper) comes on the back of the damaging revelations against Douglas Mill .. and reveals the whole thing to be little more than a ruse to get more at the bargaining table on the legal aid fees dispute with the Scottish Executive.

Read on for the article, from "A Diary of Injustice in Scotland" by Peter Cherbi at http://petercherbi.blogspot.com

Law Society of Scotland faces a split within it's ranks over legal aid deal - or does it ?

One has to wonder why there is the sudden rush by some newspapers, to publish details of an apparent split within the ranks of the legal profession, on who represents members interests.

In a story, which one newspaper apparently turned down early last week, this week has seen the Scotsman publish allegations of a split within the ranks of the Scottish legal profession - focussed, for now, it seems, on those solicitors who practice legal aid, being unhappy at the latest deal struck between the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Executive over Legal Aid fees - which had seen strike action, with criminal cases such as those relating to dangerous sex offenders, down to the likes of family law cases, frozen out from representation until such time the Scottish Executive would 'cave in', awarding the lawyers as much legal aid as they required.

To me, this latest twist, in the world of the Scottish legal profession, immersed in plot, and counter plot, is nothing more than a smoke screen for the more pressing difficulties which face Scottish solicitors at the present time - that of the impending loss of self-regulation of complaints against lawyers - which has seen decades of cover up afer cover up, where crooked lawyers have literally, gotten away with murder, supported to the hilt, by their masters at the Law Society of Scotland.

In talks with my sources on this story today, it would seem that the whole affair, could be little more than an arranged extra bargaining chip against the Scottish Executive, with the planned reforms of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill on the way, as well as the deal over Legal Aid - which is only bound to get better for the taxpayer, and worse for the legal profession as time goes on .

Scottish Executive Ministers should be happy to read that then.

We have seem such a fuss before, when the impetuous ranks of the legal profession fail to get their way.

Creating stories in the media - as news items, is one of the specialities of the legal profession - we have had plenty of examples of this !, and there are even several lawyers on certain newspapers these days, writing articles under the guise of 'journalists".
Earlier this week, a good example of this hit the press, where the 'living eulogy' to Douglas Mill, Chief Executive of the Law Society of Scotland given by this very same 'freelance reporter' at the Scotsman ... flew in the face of a factual case reported by the Herald newspaper, which was then partially 'retracted', under duress from communications from the Law Society over the terms and insinuations of the "Would granny swear by the law society ?" article, written by Paul Rogerson - reporting on how Douglas Mill meddled in clients financial claims against crooked lawyers.

I covered this story here :http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/scotsman-responds-to-peter-cherbi-and.html & here:http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/law-society-of-scotland-claims-success_14.html

So, this latest report of splits is a bargaining tactic by the legal profession ? Looks like it, from the evidence at hand ... too many arranged twists, plots, sounding out of newspapers on whether they would print it ... it all comes back to me, you know ... people talk ... can't keep anything secret these days ...

Let's face it, over the past few months since the Law Society officially stated it 'supported' the proposals of independent regulation contained in the forthcoming LPLA Bill, they have dragged out every single 'so-called' expert, professor, even the occasional Lordship QC, to claim in lengthy, baseless reports, that what is proposed in law, is actually against the law ... so the little story of a major split within the ranks of Scotlands disrespected lawyers, over legal aid ... would be a good bargaining chip to use next time the Law Society plays poker with the Scottish Executive over increased public funds for their members to feather their existence with.

Jennifer Veitch forgot to mention the last Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, Linda Costello Baker, told the Justice 2 Committee that there was such a mess in the field of handling client complaints, that only an independent body well could do the job. It would have been nice to mention that .. rather than using selective reporting which seems to give more favour to the Law Society of Scotland than it really deserves.

To be fair, the split story, did make it into the Scotsman on Wednesday, see here : http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1200382006#new .. but again, this was apparently after another newspaper last week refused to run it ... so ... judge for yourselves on what is happening .. but in any case - the alleged split isn't over honesty, or duty to the client - it's over MONEY.

5000+ complaints per year - against less than 10,000 members - and that's been the case for several years now. How does that stack up against transparency, honesty, high standards ? ... not very well I think, and with the real number of complaints per year running at about 7000 or so, with many complaints not even being able to go through the Law Society's restrictive procedures for determination and investigation ... it is certainly high time the Law Society was consigned to the dustbin of history - but also made to pay for the sins of the past.

Let us not forget, people, the sins of the past must be accounted for. All those thousands of complaints over the years that the likes of Douglas Mill, Philip Yelland, and their colleagues at the Law Society of Scotland offices in Drumsheugh Gardens have fiddled, must be resolved, and the clients properly compensated for years of hell, shattered lives, ill health, families torn apart, loss of assets - all, just because the supposed 'honour' of lawyers had a greater place in society than the rights of the public.

Read on for the article, from the Scotsman, on the latest plot from the legal profession ..
link at :
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1206072006
Break-away move is the latest blow for lawyers' body
FOCUS
JENNIFER VEITCH


EVEN those at the helm of the Law Society of Scotland will now openly admit they are experiencing troubled times. Of course, suggesting anything otherwise would be laughed out of court, and the revelation that lawyers are now actively manoeuvring to establish a new representative body, to argue better their case for recognition and remuneration, is only the latest instalment in the society's depressing litany of woes.

In the past 12 months, the society has tried, and failed, to retain its absolute power to regulate solicitors. Once the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill is enacted, it will lose control over service complaints.

The society finally admitted defeat in December, agreeing to the principle of an independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, but only after initially rejecting all four of the Scottish Executive's consultation options for reform - and coming up with one of its own instead.

But another crisis was simmering. In May, criminal defence solicitors requisitioned a special general meeting, calling on the society's council to withdraw co-operation in criminal matters from the Executive and Scottish Legal Aid Board, until the question of legal aid fees could be resolved.

More than 300 solicitors, incensed that they had not received an increase in solemn legal aid fees for 14 years, voted for the move, and the society's council had little choice but to agree.

Last week, the society finally brokered an improved legal aid deal with the Executive, but if they had hoped this would end the bitter dispute, and quell the revolt, clearly they were wrong. Criminal lawyers - many of whom were already aggrieved that the society had to be bounced into putting more pressure on the Executive - argue that the negotiators caved in too quickly and failed to consult them widely enough before accepting the offer.

Now they are not only openly questioning what role the society will have, once stripped of much of its regulatory power, but also where else solicitors can turn for representation.

For now, the revolt is largely confined to the ranks of the legal aid lawyers, who only make up around 15 per cent of solicitors, but there are other solicitors who are less than happy. It was the profession's lack of support for the status quo that persuaded the society to back down on the complaints-handling issue last year.

But most of these problems can be boiled down to one source: the tension in the society's dual role as regulator and representative - as promoter and policeman of the profession.

Ironically, while the public widely perceives the Law Society as little more than a glorified trade union looking after the interests of lawyers, its duty to protect the public interest is in fact enshrined in section 1 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980.

Of course, many consumers will argue it has failed dismally to protect the public interest. A sift through some of the public's responses to consultations on the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill, or a glance at the "rogues gallery" on the Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers campaign website, shows just how many people feel deeply aggrieved.

In recent years, the society has made some significant and beneficial changes to the complaints-handling process. There is now increased lay representation on its client relations committees, and all firms must now designate a client-relations partner.

In her last report, Linda Costelloe Baker, the former Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, acknowledged there had been real improvement.

"I was satisfied that the Law Society had acted fairly, efficiently and reasonably in 60 per cent of the cases I examined, the highest rating ever recorded," she wrote. But despite their frustration that their efforts have gone largely unrecognised, senior figures at the society have conceded that it has all been too little, too late. The profession has been too slow to respond to the demands of a consumer society.

For some time, there has been a clear disconnect between what the society feels its role is and what the political climate dictates it should be.

To be fair, the fact that many solicitors are unhappy will not have come as a surprise to staff working at 26 Drumsheugh Gardens. In an interview for this newspaper's law pages in July, the chief executive, Douglas Mill, issued a pre-emptive strike.

He called for a "robust debate" on the future role of the society, including whether section 1 should be ditched.

Writing in the Law Gazette, solicitor Brian Allingham argued section 1 was "redundant and anachronistic". Its removal would allow the society "to evolve into an ardent representative of its members, without having its hands cuffed securely behind its back".

Only a change in the law could free the society from the shackles of its public interest duty and allow it to become a trade union. That change might come eventually, but not soon enough for solicitors. The society will have to review its priorities quickly. While it has a clear duty to address concerns about the battery of regulatory reforms that are being proposed, it cannot afford to lose sight of the issues affecting lawyers at grass-roots level.

For the society to weather this storm, it must now prove its worth to solicitors; it must look for new ways to engage with the profession and ensure it consults solicitors, especially those who are remote from Edinburgh.

Unless the profession can have faith in the society's ability to represent its interests, then its power and influence can only wane.

Past president Caroline Flanagan's recent comment that the society is seen as "pleasing no-one" might well become its epitaph.

• Jennifer Veitch is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to The Scotsman's Law & Legal Affairs pages, which are published every Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Scotsman responds to Peter Cherbi and the Herald with a living eulogy of Scottish Law Society Chief Executive Douglas Mill


If anyone doubted the power of the legal profession to own the media in Scotland, in an attempt to bury the truth, revealed though the power of campaigners such as myself, and groups such as "Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers", the Scotsman newspaper today would make great reading for such an example.

Yesterday, as you know, I covered the Herald Newspaper's 'clarification' of their story of 5 June, which related to Douglas Mill standing in front of the Justice 2 Committee and the Scottish Parliament, denying he had ever became involved in client claims against crooked lawyers.

The article :
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/law-society-of-scotland-claims-success_14.html

In fact, the highly controversial memos were revealed at that same hearing by John Swinney MSP, and myself in this blog previously, that Douglas Mill most certainly was involved in client claims against crooked lawyers .. and not only Douglas Mill .. but a whole swathe of 'office bearers' within the Law Society had involved themeselves in clients cases against crooked lawyers - with the sole intention of defeating such claims for financial compensation.

Taken aback, at the strength of the Herald Newspaper's 5th June article, titled "Would Granny Swear by the Law Society ?" by Paul Rogerson - which you can read in yesterday's blog article, Douglas Mill and his colleagues from the Law Society embarked upon threats to the Herald over the tone of their article, claiming it appeared Douglas Mill had indeed, been involved in such a case where a client had raised claims of negligence, with the Master Insurance Policy (the Scottish solicitors Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme), against several firms of Scottish solicitors.

From the Herald's quoting, verbatim, of the secret memos ... which were written by Mill himself .. on the subject of the Mackenzie's claims of negligence against several firms of Scottish solicitors - Mill took offence to the perception he had become directly involved in a case, and simply could not resist the opportunity to have a go at the Herald newspaper, who, had run a campaign earlier this year to support independent regulation of the legal profession in Scotland, thus taking away the Law Society's prized role as self-regulator, which has allowed the Society to fiddle complaints against crooked lawyers for decades.

The memos are clear in their content. Douglas Mill had become involved in claims of negligence against Scottish solicitors and legal firms, to the extent he had sought to delay and thus hinder such claims, collate information on complainants .. and it seems, a whole lot more.

I'd have to ask, how can one write a memo about a case, asking for delays in the case, seeking meetings on such case, having held previous meetings on said case, and more. Is such a thing possible ? that one cannot be involved in a case, when one makes such comments or participates in the progress of said case ?

Even in one particular sentence, which has, I must say, sinister overtones, quoting Alistair Sim at Marsh inc - the administrators of the Master Insurance Policy scheme, that "Alistair confirms that there is never any question of the Mackenzies sending out hard copy letters".

Why am I troubled by that particular comment in the memo ?

Well, the last time I saw this very same sentence, was in a copy of a confidential 'security' report I was passed - and the sentence followed a discussion about how to gain "hard copy letters" from the 'subject' of the 'security' report, so hard copy signatures could be gained, letters or documents could be falsified and used against the 'subject' in evidence to discredit them.

That is sinister, isn't it ?

Why would Douglas Mill and Alistair Sim be discussing such an issue as trying to obtain "hard copy letters" from a client who has filed several financial claims for negligence against well known crooked lawyers, and is reported in the very same memo to be an "intelligent and well organised individual who could, unlike some of the other thorns in our flesh, come over very well at a JHAC [Justice & Home Affairs Committee] investigation" - in other words - a significant threat to Douglas Mill and the Law Society of Scotland.

Regrettably, I can't publish the comparison from that 'security' report at all, as a trusted source gave it to me on such condition, and I respect my source's conscience to have taken such a risk and given me disclosure.

However, I'm sure, from my writings, you will believe what I say here. I have no axe to grind in lying - I don't need to .. the truth is better to write about, and you can see that I write about the truth - so much so, when I write one thing, the occasional 'bought-off' newspaper has to come out and do a PR spin on the subject of my article ... that is a compliment to me, right ? It actually supports what I have said in the first place, doesn't it ?

So, Douglas Mill enjoys the warm welcome he receives as an ambassador for the legal profession in Scotland when he travels abroad, does he ?

Well, I think we need to motivate our contacts around the world to publish just how big a liar Douglas Mill is .. and he is certainly no model for the legal profession in Scotland .. or is he ?

A reality check on 5000 + complaints a year against a total membership of 10,000 lawyers leaves no lawyer without a complaint - or, as some recent articles in the media I have been invited to comment on, have revealed lawyers with long histories of multiple client complaints.

So, amidst thousands of complaints (many of them proved), of endemic corruption, fraud, trafficing in Class A narcotics to clients in jail, even using Class A drugs within lawyers offices and while at work, embezzlement, overcharging, theft of client property, fraud involving wills and probate, and even lawyers allegedly hiring people to threaten clients, and take out murder hits on colleagues within the legal profession ... maybe Douglas Mill is, a good model for the legal profession in Scotland.

After all, if the Chief Executive of the Law Society of Scotland, is a liar, and a liar to Parliamentary Committees, clients, and the public .. then, how are we to expect the rest of the legal profession to behave ?

Jennifer Veitch of the Scotsman can't approach me for an article in response - as the Scotsman are alleged to have an embargo on publishing any articles "which may be beneficial to Peter Cherbi's campaign against the legal profession & the Law Society of Scotland".

Why ? because the Law Society asked them to refrain from covering my story, because it was so damaging to the Law Society.

That is such a shame. I respected the Scotsman newspaper for many years. They gave me great coverage of my case, gave a great boost to the campaign to bring independent regulation to the legal profession, and indeed, in the 1990's ran editorials themselves, seeking an end to the corrupt form of self-regulation of the legal profession which the Law Society have operated for so many years.

It is all changed now .. what a shame for transparency. What a shame for the public interest. What a shame, for truth.

I do this not only for myself, I do it for everyone who has come to me over the years, with their problems of how they have been ripped off by crooked lawyers, and other crooked professionals, had their lives ruined, been thrown out of their homes, had their funds embezzled and stolen from them, had no compensation for what happend, have lost their loved ones over the antics of crooked lawyers, and have been messed around by the likes of Douglas Mill and the Law Society .. for years.

What, therefore, is the media's motive for supporting such people who do these things ? must be money ... it certainly can't be pursuit of the truth, can it ?

Link from the Scotsman, at :
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1187642006

A lawyer's never loved in his own home land
JENNIFER VEITCH

WHENEVER Douglas Mill travels abroad on business, the warm welcome he receives as an ambassador for the legal profession in Scotland means a lot more to him than a polite token of respect. For Mill, the Law Society's chief executive, it also throws into sharp relief just how negatively the legal profession is perceived on his home turf.

"The Scottish legal profession is held in phenomenally high esteem - everywhere except Scotland," says Mill. "It's not just the profession that's held in high esteem but Scots Law, the Scottish legal system and the Scottish legal profession.

"These are three slightly different things but all closely related, and we are still looked at, for historical and other reasons, as a jurisdiction that deserves profound respect. Sadly - and it is a lack of understanding thing - in Scotland, at the moment, that respect is not there.

"But you go abroad and you get the feel-good factor, and you come back to what I have to deal with five days a week - and you feel like opening your wrists and lying in a warm bath."

Such an exaggeration could be dismissed as characteristic of Mill's ebullient manner, but it is also a measure of the frustration he feels about the way the profession is regarded in Scotland. It remains to be seen whether any of the society's well-documented concerns about impending regulatory changes - specifically, the ramifications of setting up the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, as proposed in the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill - will be taken on board.

The changes could not only alter the role of the society, but the future direction of the profession.

Perhaps Mill can console himself that he is not alone. As acting president of the International Institute of Law Association Chief Executives (IILACE), he is in regular contact with bar associations around the world, and he has noted that all are facing two common challenges, one internal and one external.

"The big internal issue is one that every law society has - of democratic legitimacy of the organisation through elected council members and representatives. Because they are busier people, the greater burden falls on those of us for whom this is the day job.

"The outward-looking issue is the whole question of the independence of the profession and the interface between government and profession. That is not just a UK issue with Clementi and the Scottish Bill, that is a global thing. There are jurisdictions such as Australia and Canada that are actually further ahead than we are, developmentally."

Delegates at the IILACE annual conference in New York this week will get the chance to debate these and other issues facing the legal profession around the world. Now in its eighth year, IILACE was founded in Edinburgh in 1999, as a fringe event at the Law Society's 50th anniversary conference.

"The first meeting took place in our council room," recalls Mill. "I don't take the credit for the initiative - it was a guy called Barry Fitzgerald from the Law Society of South Australia, who took the opportunity of piggybacking on our conference.

"It was the third biggest legal conference in the world that year - we had about 1,300 delegates from about 40 different countries - and Barry saw the opportunity to get CEOs to engage."

The concept of an international association is far from new, adds Mill, but it has taken the cooperation between law societies to a global level. "The Chief Executives of European Bar Associations is now into something like its 48th year, but IILACE was invented on the basis that there were other jurisdictions that felt the need for networking at a CEO level, in particular the Australians, Canadians and so on.

"It started off as an English-speaking, Commonwealth-type thing, but it's gone beyond that. We have been to every continent, except South America. We can't tune into South America at all, which is very unfortunate. Beyond that we are starting to get pretty worldwide coverage."

He adds: "It is an annual conference and also a virtual organisation in terms of having a website and regular e-mail contact. We try to balance it between the work of a CEO, issues involved in running a law society, and so on, and some of the big geopolitical issues about independence.

"The main benefit is that it saves you reinventing other people's wheels - it's a good information-sharing network. Canada and Australia are the two relevant jurisdictions for me. They may seem much bigger countries, but they are not really - the Canadian provinces and Australian states are very comparable to Scotland in terms of population and numbers of lawyers."

For the first time, ILLACE is holding a conference independently of a host law society or bar association, and Mill says this is a sign of its growing international reputation.

"We always picked another conference to piggyback on. It is the first time we have not gone to a home law society - this is a make-or-break year for IILACE. We have 29 delegates and 15 guest speakers, which is easily our best ever."

The agenda includes debates about the role of the lawyers in contemporary society, the reform of the legal profession, and the relationship between the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Bush administration.

The two keynote speakers are Dennis Archer, the former mayor of Detroit and a past president of the ABA, and Robert Grey, its immediate past president.

"To get these two very significant international legal figures again I think is an indication that this is the year that IILACE came of age," says Mill, who will mark ten years as chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland in January.

But while IILACE appears to be growing in stature, Mill says the future standing of the Law Society and the Scottish legal profession and legal system remains less certain during a period of unprecedented change.

"The system was never perfect, but it has probably been unduly knocked," he says.

"The profession, the law and the system are all up for change. But I think there is a concern that it is change for the sake of change, change without holistic understanding, without breadth, depth, and vision.

"That is what concerns us at the moment because, quite honestly, the respect that the Scottish legal system has attained around the world historically will be eroded and is eroding at the moment. There is no doubt in my mind about that."

But he adds: "It is a mark of the respect in which the Law Society of Scotland is held and that the Scottish legal system is held that I am chairing this conference. Our stock is still high internationally. I would hope we would continue to maintain the share value we have internationally - but we have got to fight to do so."

Law Society of Scotland claims success in gagging the press over Herald newspaper revelations of secret case memos

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Law Society of Scotland faces a split within it's ranks over legal aid deal - or does it ?

One has to wonder why there is the sudden rush by some newspapers, to publish details of an apparent split within the ranks of the legal profession, on who represents members interests.

In a story, which one newspaper apparently turned down early last week, this week has seen the Scotsman publish allegations of a split within the ranks of the Scottish legal profession - focussed, for now, it seems, on those solicitors who practice legal aid, being unhappy at the latest deal struck between the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Executive over Legal Aid fees - which had seen strike action, with criminal cases such as those relating to dangerous sex offenders, down to the likes of family law cases, frozen out from representation until such time the Scottish Executive would 'cave in', awarding the lawyers as much legal aid as they required.

To me, this latest twist, in the world of the Scottish legal profession, immersed in plot, and counter plot, is nothing more than a smoke screen for the more pressing difficulties which face Scottish solicitors at the present time - that of the impending loss of self-regulation of complaints against lawyers - which has seen decades of cover up afer cover up, where crooked lawyers have literally, gotten away with murder, supported to the hilt, by their masters at the Law Society of Scotland.

In talks with my sources on this story today, it would seem that the whole affair, could be little more than an arranged extra bargaining chip against the Scottish Executive, with the planned reforms of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill on the way, as well as the deal over Legal Aid - which is only bound to get better for the taxpayer, and worse for the legal profession as time goes on .

Scottish Executive Ministers should be happy to read that then.
We have seem such a fuss before, when the impetuous ranks of the legal profession fail to get their way.

Creating stories in the media - as news items, is one of the specialities of the legal profession - we have had plenty of examples of this !, and there are even several lawyers on certain newspapers these days, writing articles under the guise of 'journalists".

Earlier this week, a good example of this hit the press, where the 'living eulogy' to Douglas Mill, Chief Executive of the Law Society of Scotland given by this very same 'freelance reporter' at the Scotsman ... flew in the face of a factual case reported by the Herald newspaper, which was then partially 'retracted', under duress from communications from the Law Society over the terms and insinuations of the "Would granny swear by the law society ?" article, written by Paul Rogerson - reporting on how Douglas Mill meddled in clients financial claims against crooked lawyers.

I covered this story here : http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/scotsman-responds-to-peter-cherbi-and.html & here:
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/law-society-of-scotland-claims-success_14.html

So, this latest report of splits is a bargaining tactic by the legal profession ? Looks like it, from the evidence at hand ... too many arranged twists, plots, sounding out of newspapers on whether they would print it ... it all comes back to me, you know ... people talk ... can't keep anything secret these days ...

Let's face it, over the past few months since the Law Society officially stated it 'supported' the proposals of independent regulation contained in the forthcoming LPLA Bill, they have dragged out every single 'so-called' expert, professor, even the occasional Lordship QC, to claim in lengthy, baseless reports, that what is proposed in law, is actually against the law ... so the little story of a major split within the ranks of Scotlands disrespected lawyers, over legal aid ... would be a good bargaining chip to use next time the Law Society plays poker with the Scottish Executive over increased public funds for their members to feather their existence with.

Jennifer Veitch forgot to mention the last Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, Linda Costello Baker, told the Justice 2 Committee that there was such a mess in the field of handling client complaints, that only an independent body well could do the job. It would have been nice to mention that .. rather than using selective reporting which seems to give more favour to the Law Society of Scotland than it really deserves.

To be fair, the split story, did make it into the Scotsman on Wednesday, see here : http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1200382006#new .. but again, this was apparently after another newspaper last week refused to run it ... so ... judge for yourselves on what is happening .. but in any case - the alleged split isn't over honesty, or duty to the client - it's over MONEY.

5000+ complaints per year - against less than 10,000 members - and that's been the case for several years now. How does that stack up against transparency, honesty, high standards ? ... not very well I think, and with the real number of complaints per year running at about 7000 or so, with many complaints not even being able to go through the Law Society's restrictive procedures for determination and investigation ... it is certainly high time the Law Society was consigned to the dustbin of history - but also made to pay for the sins of the past.

Let us not forget, people, the sins of the past must be accounted for.

All those thousands of complaints over the years that the likes of Douglas Mill, Philip Yelland, and their colleagues at the Law Society of Scotland offices in Drumsheugh Gardens have fiddled away, must be resolved, and the clients properly compensated for years of hell, shattered lives, ill health, families torn apart, loss of assets, liveliehoods, businesses, etc ... - all, just because the supposed 'honour' of lawyers had a greater place in society than the rights of the public
.

Read on for the article, from the Scotsman, on the latest plot from the legal profession ..
link at : http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1206072006

Break-away move is the latest blow for lawyers' body
FOCUS
JENNIFER VEITCH

EVEN those at the helm of the Law Society of Scotland will now openly admit they are experiencing troubled times. Of course, suggesting anything otherwise would be laughed out of court, and the revelation that lawyers are now actively manoeuvring to establish a new representative body, to argue better their case for recognition and remuneration, is only the latest instalment in the society's depressing litany of woes.

In the past 12 months, the society has tried, and failed, to retain its absolute power to regulate solicitors. Once the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill is enacted, it will lose control over service complaints.

The society finally admitted defeat in December, agreeing to the principle of an independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, but only after initially rejecting all four of the Scottish Executive's consultation options for reform - and coming up with one of its own instead.

But another crisis was simmering. In May, criminal defence solicitors requisitioned a special general meeting, calling on the society's council to withdraw co-operation in criminal matters from the Executive and Scottish Legal Aid Board, until the question of legal aid fees could be resolved.

More than 300 solicitors, incensed that they had not received an increase in solemn legal aid fees for 14 years, voted for the move, and the society's council had little choice but to agree.

Last week, the society finally brokered an improved legal aid deal with the Executive, but if they had hoped this would end the bitter dispute, and quell the revolt, clearly they were wrong. Criminal lawyers - many of whom were already aggrieved that the society had to be bounced into putting more pressure on the Executive - argue that the negotiators caved in too quickly and failed to consult them widely enough before accepting the offer.

Now they are not only openly questioning what role the society will have, once stripped of much of its regulatory power, but also where else solicitors can turn for representation.

For now, the revolt is largely confined to the ranks of the legal aid lawyers, who only make up around 15 per cent of solicitors, but there are other solicitors who are less than happy. It was the profession's lack of support for the status quo that persuaded the society to back down on the complaints-handling issue last year.

But most of these problems can be boiled down to one source: the tension in the society's dual role as regulator and representative - as promoter and policeman of the profession.

Ironically, while the public widely perceives the Law Society as little more than a glorified trade union looking after the interests of lawyers, its duty to protect the public interest is in fact enshrined in section 1 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980.

Of course, many consumers will argue it has failed dismally to protect the public interest. A sift through some of the public's responses to consultations on the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill, or a glance at the "rogues gallery" on the Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers campaign website, shows just how many people feel deeply aggrieved.

In recent years, the society has made some significant and beneficial changes to the complaints-handling process. There is now increased lay representation on its client relations committees, and all firms must now designate a client-relations partner.

In her last report, Linda Costelloe Baker, the former Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, acknowledged there had been real improvement.

"I was satisfied that the Law Society had acted fairly, efficiently and reasonably in 60 per cent of the cases I examined, the highest rating ever recorded," she wrote.

But despite their frustration that their efforts have gone largely unrecognised, senior figures at the society have conceded that it has all been too little, too late. The profession has been too slow to respond to the demands of a consumer society.

For some time, there has been a clear disconnect between what the society feels its role is and what the political climate dictates it should be.

To be fair, the fact that many solicitors are unhappy will not have come as a surprise to staff working at 26 Drumsheugh Gardens. In an interview for this newspaper's law pages in July, the chief executive, Douglas Mill, issued a pre-emptive strike. He called for a "robust debate" on the future role of the society, including whether section 1 should be ditched.

Writing in the Law Gazette, solicitor Brian Allingham argued section 1 was "redundant and anachronistic". Its removal would allow the society "to evolve into an ardent representative of its members, without having its hands cuffed securely behind its back".

Only a change in the law could free the society from the shackles of its public interest duty and allow it to become a trade union. That change might come eventually, but not soon enough for solicitors. The society will have to review its priorities quickly. While it has a clear duty to address concerns about the battery of regulatory reforms that are being proposed, it cannot afford to lose sight of the issues affecting lawyers at grass-roots level.

For the society to weather this storm, it must now prove its worth to solicitors; it must look for new ways to engage with the profession and ensure it consults solicitors, especially those who are remote from Edinburgh.

Unless the profession can have faith in the society's ability to represent its interests, then its power and influence can only wane.

Past president Caroline Flanagan's recent comment that the society is seen as "pleasing no-one" might well become its epitaph.

• Jennifer Veitch is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to The Scotsman's Law & Legal Affairs pages, which are published every Tuesday.