The broadband industry will probably never forget the days of ACS:Law and its notorious leader, Andrew Crossley, who has been given the not-so-prestigious Internet Villain of 2011 award by ISPA.
Today, Crossley stands on front of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal with seven charges against him coming from the SRA (Solicitors Regulatory Authority).
As a quick reminder, ACS:Law made its living by sending out thousands of letters filled with “speculative invoicing” to broadband users which were allegedly illegal downloaders via tracking their IP addresses (this could be easily hacked into, manipulated or stolen).
This led SRA’s Timothy Dutton QC to say that this kind of evidence against broadband users was nothing but “flimsy”.
After some time, Crossley has announced that he went bankrupt, still managing to drive a Bentley.
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority charged Crossley with the following:
The Tribunal has certified that there is a case to answer in respect of allegations which are or include that he:
– Acted in a way that was likely to diminish the trust the public places in him or in the legal profession;
– Entered into arrangements to receive contingency fees for work done in prosecuting or defending contentious proceedings before the Courts of England and Wales except as permitted by statute or the common law;
– Acted where there was a conflict of interest in circumstances not permitted, in particular because there was a conflict with those of his clients;
– Used his position as a Solicitor to take or attempt to take unfair advantage of other persons being recipients of letters of claim either for his own benefit or for the benefit of his clients;
– Acted without integrity in that he provided false information in statements made to the Court;
The allegations are subject to a Hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and are as yet unproven.
You can read the initial story here.
The proceedings are taking place in an open court and the judgement should be announced soon after. Broadbandwatcher is keeping its eagle-eye on the case.
UPDATE:
The SDT suspended Andrew Crossley for 2 years and fined him a sum above £76,300. According to reports, he has sent out more than 20,000 letters filled with speculative invoicing during the glorious ACS:Law days.
