Never hire a skeleton to do your accounts, they can't.
Plexus Law, the personal injury firm, has insisted that it is in "robust financial health" after it emerged that its accounts are almost a year overdue.
The firm, which is registered at Companies House as Plexus Legal LLP, employs over 180 solicitors across 11 offices in northern England. The deadline for filing its accounts for the period ending 31 March 2020 expired on 31 March 2021.
Plexus has been even more relaxed with the accounts for Plexus Law LLP, the firm's holding company. They should have been filed by 19 February last year, and are now almost 11 months overdue.
Companies House levies fines on businesses which fail to file their accounts on time. Last year Plexus sailed past the threshold for the maximum £1,500 penalty imposed on companies which are more then six months overdue.
More seriously, as any corporate lawyer will advise their client, failing to submit accounts is a criminal offence, which means Plexus's equity partners could be personally fined in the criminal courts.
However, in a statement the firm told RollOnFriday that “We can confirm that our FY20 accounts are signed and will be filed shortly with Companies House".
Plexus declined to explain why its accounts were quite so tardy, but said there was nothing to worry about. Its results for 2020 "are due to show that the business is in robust financial health, with a strong balance sheet and cash reserves, and continues to grow for FY21", the firm said.
The optimism is slightly at odds with the spate of redundancies at the firm, as revealed by RollOnFriday, but Plexus's financial success will set it apart from fellow PI slugger Slater and Gordon. Slaters recorded a pre-tax loss of £19.5m for the year ending 31 December 2020, which it blamed on everybody being unable to rear end each other's cars because they were in lockdown.
Plexus emerged from the wreckage of 2014's Golden Turd, Parabis, when the larger business was broken up and sold off in a firesale in 2015. Could 2022 be the year Plexus secures the stinky title in its own right? It's all down to how its workforce votes.
Comments
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Well, my CV's on its way to Plexus right now - I really want to be an ambulance chaser.
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Something something fundamental dishonesty.
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I spoke to one of the partners to ask what was going on, who explained "Sums per plexus".
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Lack of puns here.
Am perplexed...
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Anon 08:58
Plexus don't do Claimant PI
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I'm surpised it takes nearly a year to just write "we have no money"..
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Anon 11:51 - they don/t do insurance work well either - lots of trial losses last yr too as I understand. Also ask the CO-OP why they walked out the door?. Also most of their insurance contracts were obtained in the race to the bottom - Doing large loss claims work for a leading supermarket chain at £75.00 a hour is not a great deal and don't mention the fixed fee agreements - i suspect these poor fee income contracts is the reason the accounts are delayed - how do make a profit with such poor fee structures?
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Suspect you are going to be disappointed Bob. It’s never that simple.
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Thank you Anon, 13.42. Keep up the good work. We’ve missed the haters.
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LOLz at 13:42 clearly in the same practice area, and probably subject to exactly the same contracts and fixed fees, but just wanting to put the boot in, in case any insurers are reading this.
We see you :)
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I wonder if the accounts will be as “good” as the results BLM sneaked out over Christmas?
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Quiet news day Jamie? Obviously was given your recent obsession with Plexus. Of course this won’t be published, as usual!
By the way, constant harking back to 2015 is disingenuous. Different firm, Doh!
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They just informed us plebs equity partners drawing’s reinstated. Staff are voting alright - with their feet. And they are still trying to screw the coop staff.
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If accounts good I assume they are repaying furlough money.