A Lawyer who made millions suing army is bankrupted
Mar 29, 2017 11:38:37 #
A Lawyer who made millions suing army is bankrupted
The solicitor struck off for dishonestly bringing claims against British soldiers who fought in Iraq has been declared bankrupt, it was confirmed yesterday.
The action against Phil Shiner will throw into doubt the recovery of millions of pounds of public funds that were paid to Mr Shiner's law firm in legal aid
.
After being struck off the roll of solicitors by a disciplinary tribunal at the beginning of last month, Mr Shiner was likely to go to court to recover the funds paid to his now defunct Birmingham law firm, Public Interest Lawyers.
Lawyers for the Solicitors Regulation Authority estimated that Mr Shiner had been paid £3.2 million from the legal aid fund for pursuing claims against the British Army over what he described as abuses that amounted to "the UK's My Lai".
However, the claims were debunked during the al-Sweady inquiry into alleged atrocities in Iraq and Mr Shiner was found to have acted dishonestly.
Once a renowned human rights lawyer, Mr Shiner has been recorded as bankrupt by the Insolvency Service.
In addition to leaving the legal aid fund out of pocket, Mr Shiners' bankruptcy will be felt by the solicitors' profession.
The regulator confirmed that it had incurred about £250,000 in costs in bringing proceedings against him. It is unlikely that the professional watchdog, which is funded by practising solicitors, will be able to recoup those costs.
Last month the disciplinary tribunal ruled that 22 charges were proved against Mr Shiner.
It found that the lawyer had drummed up false claims of torture, abuse and murder against British soldiers in Iraq.
He had breached professional rules by touting for claimants in Iraq through local agents paid by his law firm. It emerged in evidence that his agent, Mazin Younis, had told another lawyer at Mr Shiner's firm that clients "were obtained by knocking on doors" and that "we even paid people".
Mr Shiner's firm brought the majority of 3, 380 allegations of murder and wrong doing by British soldiers to the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.
Jonathan Ames,
The Times Newspaper,
17 March 2017.
The solicitor struck off for dishonestly bringing claims against British soldiers who fought in Iraq has been declared bankrupt, it was confirmed yesterday.
The action against Phil Shiner will throw into doubt the recovery of millions of pounds of public funds that were paid to Mr Shiner's law firm in legal aid
.
After being struck off the roll of solicitors by a disciplinary tribunal at the beginning of last month, Mr Shiner was likely to go to court to recover the funds paid to his now defunct Birmingham law firm, Public Interest Lawyers.
Lawyers for the Solicitors Regulation Authority estimated that Mr Shiner had been paid £3.2 million from the legal aid fund for pursuing claims against the British Army over what he described as abuses that amounted to "the UK's My Lai".
However, the claims were debunked during the al-Sweady inquiry into alleged atrocities in Iraq and Mr Shiner was found to have acted dishonestly.
Once a renowned human rights lawyer, Mr Shiner has been recorded as bankrupt by the Insolvency Service.
In addition to leaving the legal aid fund out of pocket, Mr Shiners' bankruptcy will be felt by the solicitors' profession.
The regulator confirmed that it had incurred about £250,000 in costs in bringing proceedings against him. It is unlikely that the professional watchdog, which is funded by practising solicitors, will be able to recoup those costs.
Last month the disciplinary tribunal ruled that 22 charges were proved against Mr Shiner.
It found that the lawyer had drummed up false claims of torture, abuse and murder against British soldiers in Iraq.
He had breached professional rules by touting for claimants in Iraq through local agents paid by his law firm. It emerged in evidence that his agent, Mazin Younis, had told another lawyer at Mr Shiner's firm that clients "were obtained by knocking on doors" and that "we even paid people".
Mr Shiner's firm brought the majority of 3, 380 allegations of murder and wrong doing by British soldiers to the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.
Jonathan Ames,
The Times Newspaper,
17 March 2017.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.