Anglo-Scottish firm under close SRA scrutiny over McClure files


Jones Whyte: SRA compliance plan in place

The collapse of an Anglo-Scottish law firm in 2021 continues to have significant reverberations, with the firm that took on its business now under close scrutiny from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

When Glasgow and Greenock-based private client firm McClure Solicitors went into administration, all wills, power of attorneys and trusts, as well as 84 staff, moved to Jones Whyte, but its handling of them since has been under fire.

The two firms, which started as Scottish firms but opened offices south of the border too, are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland (LSS) and SRA.

The administrators of McClure attributed its failure predominantly to a major drop in income, from £5.3m in the 2019 financial year to £4m in 2020, because of the Covid lockdowns.

In a statement issued yesterday, the SRA said it was “concerned that it is taking too long to deal with all of the issues arising from McClure and that too many former clients are experiencing stress and frustration arising from delay and uncertainty”.

It continued: “Concerns have been raised by former clients of McClure, the families of former clients, elected representatives and consumer groups.”

Despite approaching four years since McClure shut down, some former clients have still to be contacted “and response times appear to have been slow in too many cases”, the SRA said.

“We are aware that the handover process has not been carried out to the standards we and clients would normally expect.”

The SRA said there were particular concerns about McClure’s work on family protection trusts (FPTs), including potential mis-selling and the quality of advice given to clients. According to Jones Whyte, 18,840 FPT files were in existence at the point of the administration.

The firm’s most recent update said that to date it has taken “some form of action” – responding to or proactively reaching out to clients – on approximately 10,000 of them. There was no risk to the money in the trusts, although Jones Whyte said those who had paid McClure upfront for the ongoing management of their trust would have to pay Jones Whyte again, as none of that money was passed on.

More broadly, Jones Whyte estimated that, at the time of the administration, McClure had in excess of 100,000 files.

“Due to (1) this incredibly large volume of files, and (2) the fact we were dealing with so many former clients of McClure who were actively contacting us, it simply was not possible for Jones Whyte, or any law firm, to proactively reach out to all the clients with files at the time of the administration. Some clients had multiple files with McClure.

“The approach we have adopted has been measured, and sustainable, and one in which allowed us to continue to prioritise quality legal work to agreed timescales.”

The SRA said Jones Whyte has provided a formal compliance plan. The first part of the plan has been delivered – completing a review of remaining family protection trust clients matters by 31 December 2024.

Other elements of the plan include acting on client instructions promptly and prioritising contact with clients, as well as returning any residual balances of client money by 30 April 2025. The firm has undertaken to provide fortnightly updates on progress.

The SRA said its current view was that this approach was “more likely to produce a better outcome for former clients of McClure” than taking direct regulatory action. But it cautioned: “That position could change quickly.”

The Legal Ombudsman, meanwhile, is looking at complaints about Jones Whyte over poor service and charges for work.

But the SRA said it was unable to take action against the former partners of McClure as they were no longer the roll.

“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that other solicitors who worked at McClure, whom we still regulate, were involved in potential misconduct,” it added.

Jones Whyte said claims of widespread, fundamental issues with all documents produced by McClure were “simply not true”.

“We estimate that less than 0.5% of the McClure files we have looked at have had fundamental issues that need to be resolved. Of these files, in almost all cases, we have been able to carry out the remedial work required.

“We are also aware of some claims on the internet that all work carried out by McClure was somehow wrong or invalid. Again, this is not true.”




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