Claim form From Civil Enforcement

[DragonFly1967]

I think what dx is eluding to is that there is no rush. Wait until the penultimate day to acknowledge the claim and say that you'll be defending in full, and then wait until the last day to file your defence. This way, you'll buy yourself extra time for research etc and putting together a watertight defence. Just don't, whatever you do, miss the deadlines.

 

Cool your jets in other words

[DragonFly1967]

ericsbrother, filrobbo's form is "signed" (or at least carries the name) 'Schwartz', so the "not a practicing solicitor" might be a bit of a non starter. Nice to see though that they've finally worked out how to spell their own name.

 

There are however plenty of other ways to tie them in knots. Most of which have been discussed in the other CEL/DEAL thread.

[DragonFly1967]

How do you know he's a real solicitor?

 

I can't find any record of him on the SRA register?

 

http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/person/54210/michael-david-schwartz

 

Although, one would question why a family, probate & criminal lawyer is bothering with PPC work.

[DragonFly1967]

ok EB, now I can see what you're saying.

 

But I'm still confused. This was a reply from the SRA in January of this year. (my bold)

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing a substantive update to your previous emails.

 

I can confirm that enquiries were ongoing to establish whether the “M. SHWARTS” noted on the court application documents is a solicitor or not as there are several qualified solicitors of the name ‘M Schwartz’ (and other slight variations of spelling) that could be employed or instructed by Debt Enforcement & Action Ltd. In the first instance the enquiries were to establish if the spelling on the claim forms is the correct spelling of the solicitor’s name or whether it is a misspelling that has been repeated by the use of a template document.

 

These enquiries were crucial as I need to establish whether this matter should be dealt with under the Solicitors Code of Conduct (if the individual is a solicitor) or whether the matter should be treated as a criminal investigation under Solicitors Act 1974 ss. 20-21 and s.24 or s.14 Legal Services Act 2007.

 

I can now confirm that I received a response from Civil Enforcement Ltd, the parent company of Debt Enforcement & Action Ltd, a short time ago today which confirmed that the solicitor in question is Michael SCHWARTZ, SRA id 118966. I can confirm that this person is a solicitor currently on the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales and does hold a current Practising Certificate. Furthermore Civil Enforcement Ltd has informed me that they have written to the Court informing them that there was a spelling error on the claims documents issued by referring to the solicitor as “SHWARTS”.

 

As such I will be today referring the reports that the SRA has received regarding these issued claim forms to the Supervision team of the SRA to consider any breaches of the SRA Code of Conduct.

 

I hope that you find this update informative.

 

Your sincerely

 

 

Heather Gelder

Head of Intelligence

Fraud and Confidential Intelligence Bureau

Solicitors Regulation Authority

[DragonFly1967]

OK thanks for that, I received a letter to day have a read, I have just had an interesting conversation with the Co - Op regarding this letter. Have to say they were very helpful. They confirmed the letter was not from them and not signed by their solicitor. So one can only presume this is fraud. Not only that they have had a number of complaints and their legal team is now looking into these letters.

 

If these letters really aren't from the Co-Op, then someone from CEL has been 'Creative' and is going to end up with egg on their face and their knackers nailed to the wall. I can't imagine that the Co-Op are going to sit on their hands over this, especially when one takes into account the stayed cases in Bristol against Co-Op staff.

 

Someone really might need to pack a toothbrush after all

[DragonFly1967]

So who does this "Chris Jones" actually work for , the CO-OP or CEL?

 

There is a Christopher Howard Jones listed as working for the Co-op. http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/person/105032/christopher-howard-jones

 

Reading between the lines (and speculating), I'd say...

 

The Chris Jones mentioned in the letter(s) does work for the Co-Op as one of their solicitors. However, taking what filrobbo has said at face value, it would appear that these letters have been created without Mr Jones' knowledge and (as they are PP) have not been signed by him.

 

Someone could be in it up to their eyeballs