The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating a law firm, RollOnFriday can reveal, after a High Court judge accused it of "breathtakingly rude" and unlawful behaviour. The firm, Keystone Law, claimed there was "more than meets the eye" to the story.
Following a dispute over a faulty sports pitch, Keystone client Astrosoccer4u was ordered by an adjudicator to pay Bernard Sport Surfaces £176,000. But in an "aggressive" letter to Piet van Gelder, Bernard Sport Surfaces's solicitor, an unidentified Keystone lawyer wrote, "Your client faces the following, one, mediate in the next seven days and stand some prospect of securing some payment. Two, if not, our client will enter an insolvency process prior to the hearing and your client will then face a claim from the insolvency practitioner in respect of the defects to the pitch".
Mr Justice Coulson ruled in the High Court that Keystone's letter constituted a "clear threat" to put Astrosoccer4u into administration for no other reason that to avoid paying its debt. He said that, "on the face of it, that is unlawful".
Intimating that his own response would have been a flaming turd through the window, Justice Coulson said that van Gelder's "measured" reaction to Keystone's threat was "fairly mild". Keystone replied, "You will get nothing then. Goodbye". Justice Coulson said its "breathtakingly rude" response was evidence of Keystone's intention to misuse the insolvency process. That impression, he said, was confirmed by the subsequent actions of a Keystone solicitor. The lawyer "deliberately" copied van Gelder into an email to Astrosoccer4u in which they advised the company to appoint an administrator. "The anger and aggression is plain from the text", said Justice Coulson, and "it is, I imagine, a breach of the rules relating to the proper conduct of solicitors". Finding against Astrosoccer4u, The judge concluded, "What is unusual here, in my judgment, is the connivance of Keystone Law".
A spokesman for the SRA confirmed to RollOnFriday that Justice Coluson's remarks had roused it to action. “We don't usually confirm or deny if we are investigating" he said."It is only if action is necessary that it becomes a matter of public record. However, now that we are aware of the issue, we will gather all necessary information before deciding on appropriate next steps”.
A spokeswoman for Keystone said that it had "already launched an internal investigation" and that, "as is often the case there is more to this than meets the eye". However she declined to elaborate on what had not yet met the eye. Instead she promised that, "once our investigation is concluded, we will issue a fuller statement and take any steps that are appropriate”.
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Following a dispute over a faulty sports pitch, Keystone client Astrosoccer4u was ordered by an adjudicator to pay Bernard Sport Surfaces £176,000. But in an "aggressive" letter to Piet van Gelder, Bernard Sport Surfaces's solicitor, an unidentified Keystone lawyer wrote, "Your client faces the following, one, mediate in the next seven days and stand some prospect of securing some payment. Two, if not, our client will enter an insolvency process prior to the hearing and your client will then face a claim from the insolvency practitioner in respect of the defects to the pitch".
Mr Justice Coulson ruled in the High Court that Keystone's letter constituted a "clear threat" to put Astrosoccer4u into administration for no other reason that to avoid paying its debt. He said that, "on the face of it, that is unlawful".
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Keystone keeps the cash safe from debtors for another day. |
Intimating that his own response would have been a flaming turd through the window, Justice Coulson said that van Gelder's "measured" reaction to Keystone's threat was "fairly mild". Keystone replied, "You will get nothing then. Goodbye". Justice Coulson said its "breathtakingly rude" response was evidence of Keystone's intention to misuse the insolvency process. That impression, he said, was confirmed by the subsequent actions of a Keystone solicitor. The lawyer "deliberately" copied van Gelder into an email to Astrosoccer4u in which they advised the company to appoint an administrator. "The anger and aggression is plain from the text", said Justice Coulson, and "it is, I imagine, a breach of the rules relating to the proper conduct of solicitors". Finding against Astrosoccer4u, The judge concluded, "What is unusual here, in my judgment, is the connivance of Keystone Law".
A spokesman for the SRA confirmed to RollOnFriday that Justice Coluson's remarks had roused it to action. “We don't usually confirm or deny if we are investigating" he said."It is only if action is necessary that it becomes a matter of public record. However, now that we are aware of the issue, we will gather all necessary information before deciding on appropriate next steps”.
A spokeswoman for Keystone said that it had "already launched an internal investigation" and that, "as is often the case there is more to this than meets the eye". However she declined to elaborate on what had not yet met the eye. Instead she promised that, "once our investigation is concluded, we will issue a fuller statement and take any steps that are appropriate”.
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Email also means people tend to use more casual language without remembering their words might be viewed in court.
The concept of
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I remember to this day one of the partners drilling it into all of us to "not write anything in an email that you would be unhappy with, were it to be read out in open court".
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