Taxman petitions to wind up Telford-based legal giant
A petition to wind up a giant Telford legal company has been lodged with the High Court of Justice in London.
Metamorph Group Services, based in Syer House, in Stafford Park, was the owner of a set of legal firms which have been forced to stop trading by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority.
Now a notice has been placed on the London Gazette saying that a petition to wind up Metamorph Group Services Limited has been presented by the commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs over the matter.
The petition will be heard at the High Court, Royal Courts of Justice, 7 Rolls Building, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL on January 18, 2023 from 10.30 hours
Any persons intending to appear on the hearing of the petition - whether to support or oppose it - must give notice of intention to do so to the petitioners or to their solicitor by 4pm on January 17. The Petitioners` Solicitor is the Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs, Solicitor's Office & Legal Services, 14 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ, telephone 03000 589072.
Law firms in Shropshire were closed down as part of a regulator’s probe into what was a major player in the legal profession.
Terry Jones Solicitors was joined by closures at Linder Myers Solicitors in Shrewsbury, Donnelly & Elliott Solicitors in Telford, and SLC Solicitors, also in Shrewsbury.
Across the whole Metamorph Group, hundreds of jobs are understood to be at risk.
Gordons LLP of New Augustus Street, Bradford, has been appointed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as its intervention agent to help with the closure of these firms.
In a statement updated on Monday on its website Gordons LLP gave the following advice to clients of the collapsed law firms.
What has happened to my solicitors?
MLL Ltd, BPL Solicitors Ltd, Beaumont ABS Ltd & Atray Ltd were closed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority on December 14 2022. This is called an intervention. Separately Knowles Benning LLP & Knight Polson Limited were closed by the SRA on December 19, 2022.
These businesses traded under the names below and were all part of Metamorph Group Ltd: Beaumont Legal, BPL Solicitors Ltd, Donnelly & Elliott Solicitors, Knight Polson, Knowles Benning, Linder Myers Solicitors, RJW Legal, SLC Solicitors, Terry Jones Solicitors, Verisona Law
What does this mean?
If you were a client of any of these firms they can no longer act for you. You will need to find another lawyer to act. Gordons are not acting for you.
You can find a lawyer by searching here: http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk or call The Law Society on 020 7320 5650 Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00.
If you need a legal aid lawyer, you can find one here: https://find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk/. If you have a live legal aid certificate, we can only send your file to another legal aid lawyer.
What’s happened to my file?
The SRA is collecting all clients’ files and documents from the firms’ offices for safekeeping. We have started to receive these files and will continue to do so over the coming weeks.
If one of the firms have been acting for you on something which is ongoing and your file has been recovered, we or the SRA will write to tell you and ask where you want your file to be sent.
You or your new lawyer should let us know quickly where you want your file to be sent as there might be important time limits. You or your new lawyer can let us know at metamorph@gordonsllp.com.
You might be able to help your new solicitors to make progress for you without your file by sending them any correspondence/documents you received before the intervention. They may also be able to get information directly from any other solicitors/organisations involved in the case.
What do I need to do if I want my files sending to a new lawyer?
We need your consent to do this. You can email us at metamorph@gordonsllp.com. Please include contact details of your new lawyer.
If there are two or more of you named as clients, you all/both need to agree and tell us.
What do I need to do if I want my files sending to me?
We need your consent to do this. You can by email us at metamorph@gordonsllp.com. Please include the full address to which the file should be sent, and send a copy of your identification (e.g. copy passport/driving licence).
If there are two or more of you named as clients, you all/both need to agree and tell us.
It won’t cost you anything to have your documents sent to you or your new lawyer.
What’s happened to my Will?
QS Legal Ltd
We understand that QS Legal Ltd acquired the wills stored by all of the firms other than Knight Polson and the Shrewsbury office of Terry Jones Solicitors before the intervention. You will need to contact them if you want to recover a will. Their contact details are: Tel: 0808 145 3395 Email: wills@qualitysolicitors.info
Terry Jones Solicitors – Shrewsbury
All Wills and Powers of Attorney at the Shrewsbury office of Terry Jones Solicitors were transferred to Ashton & Co Legal Services Limited before the intervention. For urgent enquiries about your Will or Power of Attorney you can call 07815 642708 or 07815 642662.
For non-urgent enquiries, you can email: enquiries@ashtonandcolegal.co.uk.
This information only applies to wills and powers of attorney made with Terry Jones (Shrewsbury), Linder Myers (Shrewsbury), Turnbull Garrard, Moss & Poulson or Scott Lister, and stored at the Shrewsbury office of Terry Jones.
Knight Polson
All wills held by Knight Polson have been collected by the SRA, who will contact you to ask where you want it to be sent. Due to the volume of documents collected, this process will take time. In the meantime, if you want to get hold of your will which was stored by Knight Polson you will need to complete a file request form and provide a form of identification.
What’s happened to my house deeds/power of attorney/other original documents?
All deeds and other original documents held in storage by the firms are being collected by the SRA. If you want to get hold of deeds/original documents please complete a file request form. You will also need to provide a form of identification.
There is a large volume of house deeds and the SRA will be dealing with lots of requests, so it may be quicker for you to get hold of the information you want online. In most cases, deeds (i.e. evidence of property ownership) are now stored electronically at the Land Registry. You can find out more about this here: https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry.
My solicitor is holding money for me. What should I do?
The accounts of the firms are now closed and no payments can be made from them. While we/the SRA will be working to identify and contact those who are beneficially entitled to money in these accounts, this is likely to take several months. In the meantime, we can’t send money to you.
If you wish to claim money held on your behalf urgently, you can make a claim to the SRA’s Compensation Fund. We can’t guarantee the outcome of any claims made.
You may need to provide evidence/documents to the Compensation Fund to help with your application. If you can provide this when you submit your application it will help the Compensation Fund to investigate your claim more quickly.
I want to complain about one of the intervened firms
If you want to complain, or already have a complaint in progress, about one of the intervened firms, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman – https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/. They can be contacted at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
0300 555 0333
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
I was an employee of the intervened firms. What can I do?
We understand this is a difficult time for you. Our role is however solely focused on the protection of clients and assisting them in whatever way we can. We are not a representative of or successor practice to the firms. We are therefore unable to deal with issues relating to your employment. We suggest you seek independent legal advice. The links below may also help:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
How can I get more information?
You can: speak to Gordons on 0113 227 0385 (Monday to Friday 09:00 – 17:30). You can leave a message outside office hours and we will call you back as soon as possible. email your query to Gordons at metamorph@gordonsllp.com
