A writer & commentator on legal & consumer issues, human rights, politics, and injustice in Scotland.
This journalist has a particular interest in reforming the regulation of public services, & the professions we all depend on each day in Scotland, such as the legal profession and financial services.
This blog has had some success together with other campaigners in bringing a measure of independent regulation to Scotland’s legal services market, however much work needs to be done in ensuring the public has unrivalled consumer protection from the untrustworthy, costly, inaccessible to some, and less than adequate Scottish justice system we have all had to deal with and endure for so many decades.
Uncovering scandals and breaking news stories comes with the territory I cover …
My work, together with other campaigners & consumer groups, helped change the law in Scotland, with the passage of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007, which aims to bring a measure of independent regulation to Scotland’s legal profession intended to raise standards of service & deal better with client complaints.
For decades before now, Scottish lawyers had regulated their colleagues under the prejudicial cloak of self regulation, ensuring that client complaints were never properly investigated, that many lawyers who had long records of poor conduct & service, even records of negligence, and in some cases serious criminal charges & convictions, remain in practice while vast numbers of clients have lost out financially, have had their lives ruined, even lost their homes & livelihoods while their solicitors had the full protection of their colleagues at the Law Society of Scotland, who have continually ensured that anyone needing to access legal services & the courts in cases which is not in the interest of the legal profession to pursue, has found their access to justice denied and all routes of help blocked, creating an endemic culture of injustice in Scotland while politicians sat back & did nothing.
With the passage of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007, and the introduction in 2008 of the new complaints regulator, the Scottish Legal Services Complaints Commission, consumers will have a better chance to have their grievances aired against the poor standards of legal services provided by the Law Society of Scotland for all these years, and I heartily advise anyone who finds themselves in the unenviable position of being failed, let down or financially ripped off by their solicitor to make sure the details of what happened is fully published, to alert others & ensure those who let down the client no longer remain in practice.
The mission ahead is to bring fully independent regulation to the legal services industry in Scotland, and also ensure the legal services market is opened up from the Law Society of Scotland’s selfish monopolistic grip on legal services, so that everyone in Scotland has unrestricted choice of access to justice, access to the courts, & access to quality, accountable, secure legal services at an affordable cost and which can be depended upon by the public
Contact Diary of Injustice, or send tips, news & other items for publication to : scottishlawreporters@gmail.com
