Hundreds and maybe thousands of borrowers have been left high and dry after a Cumbria law firm ceased trading citing unspecified regulatory issues and leaving property transactions across the country in limbo.
Butterworths Solicitors has closed its Kendal office on Stricklandgate with a notice on the door stating that it could “no longer trade”. The firm also operates branches in Penrith, Carlisle and Whitehaven.
According to a report by BBC Cumbria the closure has prompted concern from the Solicitors Regulation Authority which said the firm had “not closed in the manner we would expect”.
The regulator confirmed it would be contacting the firm’s partners to remind them of their professional obligations but said there was no further information it could provide at this stage.
REGULATORY MATTERS
The notice displayed at the Kendal branch referred to “regulatory matters” affecting the “PM Group of Businesses” operating from the premises. Butterworths is owned by PM Law Group, which had also been approached for comment by the BBC.
Other PM Group trading names that it is using now and in the past include PM Property Lawyers, PM Legal Services, Lloyd Green Solicitors, All Your Accidents, Angela Viney Conveyancing Services, Proddow Mackay (Conveyancing) Limited, Gaines & Wilkinson Ltd, John M Lewis & Co Ltd, Barrett and Co Solicitors, Valerie Holmes Law, OneDome Conveyancing, Wilsons Solicitors, PLA Law, WB Pennine Solicitors, bridgeview law, GN Law, proddowmackay.law, DAzur Law and KB Property Law.
UNCERTAINTY
The sudden closure has created uncertainty for clients in the middle of property transactions, including purchases and sales that were approaching exchange or completion.
BBC Cumbria reported that a number of clients have been unable to contact the firm and are unclear about the status of their paperwork or funds.
The SRA has not indicated whether it will intervene directly in the firm’s matters and no timescale has been given for further updates.
PM LAW GROUP
Rumours circulated yesterday suggesting that one reason PM Law Group might be in trouble could be financial misadministration, but there is no proof of this.
However it is also believed that a significant number of firms trading under PM Law Group – like Butterworth’s – have now closed, impacting some 750 staff.
Professional networking site LinkedIn is already awash with former PM Law Group staff seeking to gain new employment due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
When a solicitor’s firm closes voluntarily its trading names generally cease to be active as part of the formal Solicitors Regulation Authority process.
The firm must stop providing legal services and its record of authorisation is revoked from the specified closure date.
