A SECOND prominent solicitor has been struck off for professional misconduct following the collapse of the Ross Harper legal empire.
Professor Alan Susskind, who was head of family practice, has been banned from practising law following a hearing before the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal.
His colleague Cameron Fyfe, who was once one of the country's leading solicitors, also lost an appeal against an earlier ruling that found he should be struck off.
He had claimed that the decision by the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) to remove his name from the solicitors’ roll was “grossly disproportionate”, but the Inner House of the Court of Session dismissed his appeal.
Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, said "serious issues" had been raised about how the two lawyers had been carrying out their duties at the firm, which collapsed in 2012.
She said: “We take our role as the regulator of Scottish solicitors extremely seriously and will quickly intervene to protect clients when we suspect any wrongdoing by a solicitor."
The SSDT found Mr Fyfe guilty of professional misconduct over the way some money was handled before the Glasgow-based firm was dissolved in 2012.
It found that between April 2008 and May 2011 when he resigned from the firm, Mr Fyfe “permitted to be operated or acquiesced in a policy whereby the business … was improperly funded” by payments received from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (Slab).
He also countersigned an accounts certificate in May 2010 which “he knew or ought to have known was inaccurate and from which the true financial position of the firm was not evident to the Law Society of Scotland”.
Payments “in the region” of £70,000 were supposed to be made to an Edinburgh-based law firm, but the cash was only paid when a legal action was raised, the SSDT heard.
Finding Mr Susskind guilty of professional misconduct, the SSDT ruled that as a partner during the period of April 4, 2008 to March 31, 2010 "he knowingly contributed to the operation of that policy of funding" in relation to the lodging of payments from the Slab.
Four other Ross Harper partners – Alan Miller, Joseph Mullen, Paul McHolland and James Price – are still being investigated by the tribunal. The outcomes of those proceedings will be published by the SSDT at a later date.
Ms Jack said: “Concerns were raised about the firm’s accounting records as a result of our financial compliance inspection and we immediately applied to the Court of Session to appoint a judicial factor to the firm in April 2012.
“Our follow-up investigations raised serious issues about how Mr Susskind and Mr Fyfe had been carrying out their duties while they had been partners at the firm. It is for that reason that we prosecuted them before the independent Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal, resulting in them being struck off."
“It’s vital that people can continue to place their trust in the solicitor profession and we will continue to step in when we suspect any Scottish solicitor of failing to meet the high professional standards which we put in place to protect the public.”
Ross Harper, which was one of Scotland's best-known law firms, was shut down after more than 50 years of practice, amid an investigation into its finances and the use of clients’ funds.
Its closure followed concerns flagged up by the Law Society of Scotland during a routine inspection of its accounts. Ahead of its closure the firm was ordered by a court to pay almost £50,000 in unpaid rent on its Paisley office.
The firm was set up by John Ross Harper in 1961 and at its height had 12 offices in Scotland and was a specialist in personal injury claims, as well as criminal and family law.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel