Many commentators have reflected that the trade in cases, especially those of accident victims, between lawyers and referrers is unseemly, if not downright dodgy.
Integrity, inherent dislike & embarrassment. Jon Robins revisits the referral fee conundrum
Many commentators have reflected that the trade in cases, especially those of accident victims, between lawyers and referrers is unseemly, if not downright dodgy. Just the mention of the old Claims Direct (Shames Direct, as The Sun would have it) and TAG, both now bust, will remind lawyers of the scandal of genuine accident victims left penniless after damages were consumed by sundry legal expenses.
Guilty without trial
The Mail on Sunday earlier this year ran a report about conveyancing solicitors paying estate agents “bribes” to get work leaving “ordinary consumers, who ultimately pay for it…being ripped off”. “This is no different from paying dodgy sheiks for arms contracts and it undermines the integrity of the profession,” one non-paying lawyer told the MoS. Slightly overstating the case possibly; but the payment of referral fees is a debate that polarises the profession.
In one corner are the many claimant
