CONDUCT OF SIMPSON & MARWICK SOLICITORS, EDINBURGH

Early day motion 271, tabled 3 February 1999 by Nigel Griffiths (Labour). Signed by 40 members.

That this House notes with concern the report from the Law Society of Scotland censuring Andrew Renton of Simpson and Marwick solicitors for 'unprofessional conduct to be deplored'; in relation to his dealings with ERDC construction company; also deplores the actions of Simpson and Marwick in using every device to frustrate the arbitration procedures of the Law Society of Scotland, forcing other parties to bear disproportionate costs and suffer intolerable delays; notes that in the case of ERDC construction company, this resulted in Simpson and Marwick engineering a five year delay in settling an account, with consequential costs rising from ú65,000 to over ú250,000, mainly in lawyers' bills, forcing ERDC to divert resources from expanding their business and creating skilled jobs, to paying hefty legal bills for each challenge Simpson and Marwick made to the arbiter's findings in favour of ERDC; calls on the Law Society of Scotland to investigate why this arbitration took so many years, and to consider revising its procedures to ensure that its lawyer members do not frustrate arbitration at every turn and add crippling amounts to other parties in lawyers' bills; regrets that the delay in the ERDC case is a grave blow to public confidence in the arbitration system endorsed by the Law Society of Scotland; and further regrets that the Law Society of Scotland did not require its member Simpson and Marwick to pay any compensation to ERDC for its 'unprofessional conduct'; and urges the society to consider what payment in compensation is commensurate with the offence.

Signatures by party: Labour 36, Labour/Co-operative 4.