Lawyers carrying out Debt Recovery

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Law Commission should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Law Commission,

Lawyers carrying out Debt Recovery

The Law Commission is a statutory body who function it is to keep the law under review.

Please provide all reports and specific projects you are working on that confirm that lawyers are required to be authorised and regulated to carry out certain areas of practice, specifically Debt Recovery and Debt and bankruptcy - personal work.

Please include all reports relating to the duties of the SRA , FCA , The Law Society, Companies House etc.

The FCA only recently have received their information from the SRA, that J E BARING & CO (the partnership) records on the FCA were NOT updated until 31 December 2021, when this partnership had previously closed on 1 March 2021.

What sanctions if any do the Law Commission (or reports do you hold) impose and upon who for the registers failing to be updated with the correct and transparent information to protect members of the public and if solicitors are not authorised and regulated to carry out debt recovery work by the SRA and who are not listed on The Law Society register under these practice areas.

The following questions have submitted to the various organisations:

How are companies created by solicitors that never appear to have traded and who have only filed accounts for a dormant company, and dissolved on 29 Mar 2019 allowed to carry out Debt Recovery work, when neither the company or any of the solicitors are listed on The Law Society register for this area of legal practice and the company has never been SRA regulated?

J E BARING & CO LIMITED
https://www.scottishtrustdeed.co.uk/cred...

Are solicitors exempt from FCA (EPF) when carrying out debt recovery if neither they as solicitors or their company or partnership are regulated by the SRA for debt recovery work and none of the solicitors or their partnership or companies are listed on The Law Society in the legal area of practice for Debt Recovery.

And if none of JE Baring solicitors (either as partners of their partnership or as directors of their companies both current and dissolved) are listed as carrying out Debt and bankruptcy - personal, as a legal practice area, and are unregulated as a partnership or company to carrying out this work?

Is it illegal to claim to be able carry out any work as solicitors if they are not authorised and regulated by the SRA and listed on The Law Society register for a particular practice area and are either not registered with the FCA or EPF (exempt professional firm)?

If there is a hidden or further exemption that solicitors can rely upon for Debt Recovery work, if so please provide it.

The current company J E BARING LTD is made up of the following on the Law Society website:

Bradley Keith Bloom areas of practice, Commercial litigation, Company and commercial, Employment, Insolvency and restructuring - business , Litigation- general

Allan James Hooper areas of practice, Commercial litigation, Company and commercial, Conveyancing- residential, Employment, Insolvency and restructuring- business, Litigation- general.

Jack Bending areas of practice, Conveyancing - residential, Landlord and tenant - residential

When were any of the above solicitors authorised and regulated by the SRA as EPF to carrying out the following legal practice areas, when none are listed on the Law Society register as practicing in these areas.

1. Debt recovery
2. Debt and bankruptcy - personal
3. Please state if any were authorised as a partner of their partnership J E Baring & Co, and/or the following companies
4. J E Baring & Co Limited, and/or
5. J E Baring Ltd

Yours faithfully,

Lin Ball

LAWCOM (FOI), Law Commission

This is an automatic acknowledgement of your email, which is being dealt
with. If we require further details from you, we will contact you again
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Law Commission

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LAWCOM (FOI), Law Commission

Dear Lin

Thank you for your request for information dated 17/02/2022 and received in this office on 17/02/2022. We acknowledge receipt.

We are handling your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will respond to you as promptly as possible and, in any event, will provide the information you seek within 20 working days from receipt of your request, unless it transpires that we do not hold the information or that the information is exempt from disclosure. In the latter event we will advise you why the information sought cannot be disclosed.

Your request for information will be handled within the Commission by the Commercial and Common Law team.

Best wishes
Toni

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LAWCOM Commercial & Common Law, Law Commission

Dear Lin Ball

 

You requested information from the Commission under the Freedom of
Information Act 200 by email dated 17 February 2022. Your request has been
handled by the Commercial and Common Law team.

 

You have asked a series of questions; for ease of reference, we have
numbered them and have provided our responses to each in blue below the
relevant question.

 

The Law Commission is a statutory body who function it is to keep the law
under review.

 

 1. Please provide all reports and specific projects you are working on
that confirm that lawyers are required to be authorised and regulated
to carry out certain areas of practice, specifically  Debt Recovery
and Debt and bankruptcy - personal work.

 

We have made a search of our records and have concluded that the
Commission is not working on and has not worked on any projects confirming
that lawyers are required to be authorised and regulated to carry out
certain areas of practice, specifically Debt Recovery and Debt and
bankruptcy - personal work. It may be that the [1]Solicitors Regulation
Authority or the [2]Law Society have information relevant to your request.

 

 2. Please include  all reports relating to the duties of the SRA , FCA ,
The Law Society, Companies House etc.

 

This potentially spans a wide range of our projects, such as our 2005
report on [3]Company Security Interests (Companies House) and our 2014
report on [4]Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries (FCA). However,
we have not reported on these bodies’ duties regarding debt recovery and
debt and bankruptcy. If you are able to give any more detail as to what
you are looking for in this regard, we can check if we hold anything of
relevance.

 

The FCA only recently have received their information from the SRA, that J
E BARING & CO (the partnership) records on the FCA were NOT updated until
31 December 2021, when this partnership had previously closed on 1 March
2021.

 

 3. What sanctions if any do the Law Commission (or reports do you hold)
impose and upon who for the registers failing to be updated with the
correct and transparent information to protect members of the public
and if solicitors are not authorised and regulated to carry out debt
recovery work by the SRA and who are not listed on The Law Society
register under these practice areas.

 

The Law Commission is a law reform body; we do not perform regulatory
functions and do not impose sanctions. Nor do we hold reports relating to
these issues.

 

The following questions have submitted to the various organisations:

 

 4. How are companies created by solicitors that never appear to have
traded and who have only filed accounts for a dormant company, and
dissolved on 29 Mar 2019 allowed to carry out Debt Recovery work, when
neither the company or any of the solicitors are listed on The Law
Society register for this area of legal practice and the company has
never been SRA regulated?

 

J E BARING & CO LIMITED

https://www.scottishtrustdeed.co.uk/cred...

 

 5. Are solicitors exempt from FCA (EPF) when carrying out debt recovery
if neither they as solicitors or their company or partnership are
regulated by the SRA for debt recovery work and none of the solicitors
or their partnership or companies are listed on The Law Society in the
legal area of practice for Debt Recovery.

 

 6. And if none of JE Baring solicitors (either as partners of their
partnership or as directors of their companies both current and
dissolved) are listed as carrying out Debt and bankruptcy - personal,
as a legal practice area, and are unregulated as a partnership or
company to carrying out this work?

 

 7. Is it illegal to claim to be able carry out any work as solicitors if
they are not authorised and regulated by the SRA and listed on The Law
Society register for a particular practice area and are either not
registered with the FCA or EPF (exempt professional firm)?

 

 8. If there is a hidden or further exemption that solicitors can rely
upon for Debt Recovery work, if so please provide it.

 

The Law Commission is a statutory body whose function it is to keep the
law under review and to make recommendations for its reform. The
Commission does not give advice on individual cases or points of law. Nor
do we investigate complaints about lawyers.

 

You may find it helpful to contact a solicitor for advice on your problem.
If you have difficulty in finding a solicitor, we suggest that you contact
[5]The Law Society via their website. They can also be contacted by
telephone on 020-7242 1222.

 

The following organisations may also be able to help:

o Citizens Advice www.citizensadvice.org.uk
o Legal Ombudsman [6]www.legalombudsman.org.uk

 

The current company J E BARING LTD is made up of the following on the Law
Society website:

 

Bradley Keith Bloom areas of practice, Commercial litigation, Company and
commercial, Employment, Insolvency and restructuring - business ,
Litigation- general

 

Allan James Hooper areas of practice, Commercial litigation, Company and
commercial, Conveyancing- residential, Employment, Insolvency and
restructuring- business, Litigation- general.

 

Jack Bending areas of practice, Conveyancing - residential, Landlord and
tenant - residential

 

 9. When were any of the above solicitors authorised and regulated by the
SRA as EPF to carrying out the following legal practice areas, when
none are listed on the Law Society register as practicing in these
areas.

 

1. Debt recovery

2. Debt and bankruptcy - personal

3. Please state if any were authorised as a partner of their partnership J
E Baring & Co, and/or the following companies 4. J E Baring & Co Limited,
and/or 5. J E Baring Ltd

 

The Law Commission does not hold this information. We suggest you contact
the [7]Solicitors Regulation Authority or the [8]Law Society who may be
able to assist.

 

If you are not content with the manner in which we have handled your
request for information you can ask us to conduct an internal review of
the request. Please write to Jo Baker, our FoI co-ordinator, who will
explain and initiate the internal procedure for you. We ask that your
request for a review is made within two months of the date of this letter.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request you have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire

SK9 5AF

t. 0303-123 1113

w. www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

Laura Burgoyne | Law Commission
Head of Commercial and Common Law

For information about how we handle your personal data, please see our
[9]Privacy Notice

 

 

 

 

 

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