Brooke: Cannot work where CFAs and DBAs are involved
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has imposed conditions on the practice of SSB Group co-founder Jeremy Brooke while it continues its probe into what went wrong.
However, the regulator has admitted that its investigation, which it had intended to complete this autumn, will now not be finished until “early” 2025.
The “interim” conditions on Mr Brooke’s practising certificate mean he cannot be a compliance officer, owner or manager of any SRA-regulated law firms, and cannot “carry on legal activities or supervise others carrying on legal activities in connection with the provision of litigation or any claims work involving conditional fee agreements or damages-based agreements”.
These have been imposed pending a final decision by the SRA or the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
The SRA notice said: “We are satisfied that these conditions are necessary in the public interest or for the protection of the public.”
Mr Brooke (the ‘B’ of SSB, originally Simpson Sissons & Brooke) was the chief executive and figurehead as the firm grew throughout the 2010s by diversifying away from personal injury into other areas of volume claims.
He told our PI Futures conference in 2022:“I’m a fan of Duncan Bannatyne. I look for an existing market, get into that market and try and do it better than other people.” It is not believed that he is practising at the moment.
In its latest update, the regulator sought to reassure former clients that it was progressing its investigation into SSB, Pure Legal – another collapsed firm whose involvement was revealed in June (although that SRA update had to be revised five days later) – and the solicitors involved.
“We are committed to moving as swiftly as possible to complete our investigation, which we originally aimed to do this autumn. Due to the volume of evidence and complexity of issues, we now anticipate we will have completed the investigation early in the New Year.”
The SRA said that, more broadly, these cases raised wider issues about whether the bulk litigation market was working as well for the public as it should be, and whether there were appropriate protections in place.
“We are progressing work – including targeted visits to firms working in this area – to assess these issues and develop our evidence base.
“The issues we are seeing are complex and cut across multiple sectors and regulatory regimes. This includes claims management, finance and insurance.
“We are committed to working with a range of stakeholders in progressing this work and exploring potential solutions to make sure consumers are appropriately protected.”
Following publication of its report into the SRA’s handling of Axiom Ince last week, the Legal Services Board has now moved into examining its approach to SSB’s collapse.
Also last week, the interim report of the Civil Justice Council’s litigation funding working party showed that it is looking at the collapse of SSB Law – which went bust in January owing around £200m to six third-party funders – in the context of portfolio funding.
Andrew Gregory, the chairman of Leonard Curtis Legal and the solicitor manager of SSB Group, will be speaking next week at Claims Futures on the warning signs around volume claims. There are still a few tickets available.
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