Woman left £350k out of pocket after law firm handling her property purchase closes abruptly–BBC Radio London
Chair and regulatory partner John Gould has spoken on BBC Radio London in relation to a 74-year-old London woman who has been left £350,000 out of pocket after the Sheffield law firm PM Law, which was handling her Tower Hamlets property purchase, closed abruptly due to “regulatory matters.” The sudden shutdown has left staff and clients in limbo and an investigation is now underway.
John explains that disorderly closures of a law firms like this are rare, but acknowledges that sudden closures are distressing to clients who are inveitably seeking legal advice due to stressful circumstances. He assures that there are generally good protections in place for clients. He highlights that solicitors have a professional duty to process a closure in an orderly manner and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can intervene quickly to safeguard client files and money, and that a compensation fund exists to cover losses if necessary.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority, which has the job of regulating solicitors, has some pretty tough statutory powers, and those include being able to go in and take possession of all the clients’ files, or papers and the client money. And that can be done on very short notice. […] In terms of the actual protections – things like client monies – the position there is also pretty good. There's a compensation fund for up to £2m and that will pay out to clients who don't get their money back out of a solicitor's client account.
The full conversation is available on the BBC Sounds website, in the episode dated 5 February 2025 of Aaron Paul's programme, starting at 1:06:38 here.
Get in touch
If you would like to speak with a member of the team you can contact our regulation and public law solicitors by telephone on +44 (0)20 3826 7524 or complete our enquiry form.
