Over 30 Law Firms Probed by Watchdog Over Asylum Complaints

The Legal Ombudsman launched investigations into the immigration and asylum specialising firms in the last 12 months

A barrister in an undated file photo. Clara Molden/PA

Over 30 immigration and asylum law firms have been investigated by the UK’s legal watchdog in the last year.

According to data from the Legal Ombudsman, 32 firms were probed over complaints made by clients for poor legal advice, mishandling cases, and overcharging fees.

Of the 31 complaints upheld by the watchdog, many of the legal practices were ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation to clients they had failed.

Between June 2022 and June this year, almost 900 firms in England and Wales were investigated by the Legal Ombudsman, with some of the complaints referred to the watchdog by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

On Monday, the SRA announced it had shut down three legal practices exposed for offering fake asylum claims for cash.

Rashid & Rashid in southwest London, Kingswright Solicitors in Birmingham, and Lincoln Lawrence in west London, were all ordered to close following a swift investigation into allegations made by the Daily Mail.

The newspaper reported earlier this month how multiple solicitors agreed to help an undercover reporter, posing as an economic migrant, submit a phoney application in exchange for money.

One lawyer, who was secretly recorded, asked for £10,000 to invent a horrific backstory to use in the asylum application.

This included claims of sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment, and death threats that left him suicidal and compelled to flee to the UK.

As well as shutting down the firms, the SRA also suspended the practising certificates of each of the practices’ principal solicitors.

A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants gesture as they leave onboard a coach from the Manston immigration short-term holding facility located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent, on Nov. 2, 2022. Gareth Fuller/PA Media

Hefty Fines

None of the immigration and asylum cases recorded by the Legal Ombudsman over the last 12 months involved such serious malpractice.

However one Birmingham based firm was found to have charged a client “excessive” costs, as well as failing to follow instructions or keep the client informed.

Syeds Lawcare Solicitors was ordered to to pay the client compensation for “emotional impact and/or disruption caused,” refund legal fees paid, and waive any unpaid fees in the region of £1,000 to £4,999.

The watchdog also upheld a separate complaint against the firm for failing to follow instructions and failing to keep the client informed.

Another firm to be issued with a substantial financial penalty was Pure Legal Solicitors Limited.

In November, the Legal Ombudsman ordered the northwest firm to pay compensation of up to almost £10,000 over a range of failures including delay, progress, respond, and failure to prepare for a hearing or meeting.

In June it was revealed that the now collapsed firm is currently being chased by around 150 former clients left nursing huge costs bills.

According to the The Law Society Gazette, initial letters of claim for professional negligence in two test cases have been sent by Pure Legal’s ex-clients alleging that their cases were either meritless or not pursued and that they were left with unexpected costs orders when they failed.

Illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel in small boats stand talking to each other at their temporary home at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, on March 7, 2023. PA

Exploitation

One firm received seven separate complaints regarding immigration and asylum legal work.

Alison Law Solicitors, which has offices in Manchester, Sheffield, and Bradford, was rapped by the watchdog over six of those complaints.

Between April 2022 and March this year, the firm was ordered to pay out different ranges of financial compensation to clients over failures.

The practice, which charges £200 for half an hour of immigration legal advice, was found to have provided poor service to clients in all of the upheld complaints.

Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was criticised over comments he made on a “subset” of immigration lawyers he accused of “propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally.”

Sam Townend, KC, vice chair of the Bar Council, described Mr. Sunak’s remarks as “damaging rhetoric.”