header-logo header-logo

Shiner avoids prison for fraud

11 December 2024
Issue: 8098 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Fraud , Profession
printer mail-detail
Former solicitor Phil Shiner, previously principal of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, by Judge Christopher Hehir at Southwark Crown Court. 

Judge Hehir told Shiner: ‘You allowed your enthusiasm for your clients’ cases to get the better of your professional and personal judgment’.

Shiner pleaded guilty in September to three offences of fraud by failing to disclose information in 2007, namely failure to disclose that he obtained his Iraqi clients by using a fixer to engage in cold-calling and paid him referral fees. His firm secured nearly £200,000 in legal aid funds to bring judicial proceedings against the Ministry of Defence, later stayed due to the Al-Sweady Inquiry.

Issue: 8098 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Fraud , Profession
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll