News In Focus
SLAB removes two firms from criminal list
19 September 2012
Two solicitors and their firms have been removed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board from the list of solicitors registered to provide criminal legal assistance. A third solicitor has also been taken off the list.
Gerard Tierney of G Tierney & Co, and the firm of G Tierney & Co, Auchinleck, and Massimo D’Alvito of D’Alvito Defence Lawyers, and the firm of D’Alvito Defence Lawyers, Edinburgh, are now unable to provide criminal legal aid or criminal advice and assistance.
Earlier this month solicitor Andrew Brophy of Crawford Mason, Blantyre, was similarly removed.
The removals follow investigations by the Board in relation to non‐compliance with the Board’s Code of Practice for Criminal Legal Assistance. The Board reports that for the two firms, this non‐compliance included:
- failure to comply with the Code of Practice,
- failure to ensure appropriate action to deal with problems identified, notably notices of non-compliance received from the Board, and
- failure to submit accounts in the appropriate manner.
In Mr Brophy's case the first two of these reasons were given.
The Board has an ongoing programme of monitoring and investigating legal aid expenditure involving both legal aid applicants and the legal profession, and can prevent solicitors from carrying out legal aid work where there has been non-compliance with practice.