Law firm which made millions drumming up alleged war crime cases against soldiers goes bust owing £6.3m
A LAW firm which made millions drumming up alleged war crime cases against soldiers has gone bust owing £6.3million.
Disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner’s firm owes the money to about 70 creditors — including barristers’ chambers used to fight the cases.
Defunct Public Interest Lawyers also owes HMRC almost £152,000 in unpaid tax.
Shiner, 64, sparked outrage as he made millions using legal aid to sue the Ministry of Defence over alleged misdeeds by troops in Iraq.
He was named solicitor of the year, but was struck off three years ago after the Solicitors Regulation Authority found him guilty of professional misconduct of a “criminal standard”.
Joint liquidator Stratford Hamilton’s team said it recovered £168,000 to pay some bills despite Shiner claiming he should have the cash to settle his personal bankruptcy debts.
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Astonishingly, his defunct law firm is still owed about £700,000 in legal aid payments from cases which it won.
A report from Mr Hamilton said: “We are aware of funds which are potentially available from government departments and other third parties.
“It should be noted that this amount is uncertain and subject to ongoing discussions with the Legal Aid Authority.”
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