PM Law: Tens of thousands of live files
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has begun making emergency payments to clients of collapsed law firm PM Law, it revealed yesterday.
The regulator said the firm had tens of thousands of live cases and clients have reported receiving their files quickly from Yorkshire law firm Gordons, the intervention agent.
On 5 February, the SRA intervened into 11 law firms [1] that made up the PM Law group and an update yesterday said it has now visited 24 offices in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire and Derbyshire.
Gordons has taken possession of files and money held by the firm, and accessed the case management system.
In addition, the SRA has contacted clients relating to more than 100 urgent matters, primarily relating to litigation and conveyancing matters, and received more than 50 applications to its compensation fund.
“[We] have begun making emergency payments for those with the most urgent need.”
The SRA has also notified more than 100 courts across the country about the closure and the impact this could have on potentially urgent litigation matters.
Paul Hastings, SRA director of client protection, said: “We have been working hard to protect the people impacted by the closure of PM Law. Our intervention agent has identified tens of thousands of live cases, many of which involve sensitive and important matters such as personal injury claims, house sales, and probate issues.
“We appreciate that this may be a stressful time. Clients can rest assured that our agents are diligently working through these files to identify and contact them.
“Our goal is to get to everyone as soon as possible, prioritising those in most urgent need. We have, for example, made several emergency grants to allow clients to move house when they had already exchanged contracts.”
In its information for PM Law clients [2], Gordons stresses that they need to find new solicitors, even if they thought PM had completed the work but there was still something to do, such as dealing with post-completion formalities after a house purchase.
The Facebook set up for PM Law clients includes several comments that Gordons has been quick to send over their files.
But in a LinkedIn post, a conveyancing executive at a law firm complained about Gordons’ approach, saying it “appears to be emailing a link to download literally hundreds of unnamed files”.
While appreciating the scale of the job faced by the firm, she said: “If you have taken on any ex-PM Law files you’re probably as inundated with the same questions, expectations and stress levels as I have been. You’re also likely trying to get innocent clients’ matters back on track asap and taking your own time to do just that.
“I really could have done without having to open and rename 2-3-4-500 untitled PDF’s!! Surely there’s something somewhere about inappropriately labelled attachments? This is a firm appointed by the SRA after all.”