Directors of collapsed claims firm barred by SRA
The England and Wales Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has barred two former directors of collapsed claims firm SSB Law from working in the profession, after finding that they acted dishonestly and without integrity, the Gazette in that jurisdiction has reported.
Wesley Bower, business development partner, and Steven Westwood, operations partner, have been found culpable for multiple conduct breaches, including failing to obtain insurance cover that would have protected clients from crippling costs bills.
Sheffield-based SSB went into administration last year owing £200 million.
Clients who believed they were pursuing cavity wall insulation claims on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis were left on the hook for the other side’s costs when their cases failed. In decision notices, the SRA notes that “several” clients have had charging orders placed on their homes – in one case for £74,500.
Not solicitors
Bower and Westwood, neither of whom is a solicitor, were directors and senior managers of SSB Group from 2019 until the firm’s demise.
The pair were previously joint owners of a predecessor personal-injury firm that used the same ‘no win, no fee’ model, the England and Wales Gazette reports.
The SRA identified ‘”multiple, serious failings over an extended period of time” by both men. These affected clients, the courts, the SRA “and the reputation of the legal profession at large”.
In some cases, SSB supposedly acted on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis but failed to obtain any after-the-event insurance cover. SSB “was not in a proper position” to cover potential adverse costs in the event that these claims failed.