Law Society-v-Alistair Iain MacDonald
Interlocutor
Edinburgh 1 June 2006. The Tribunal having considered the Complaint dated 15 February 2006 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against Alistair Iain MacDonald, Solicitor, 16 Cameron March, Edinburgh; Find the Respondent guilty of Professional Misconduct in respect of his failure between May 2000 and October 2002 to obtain and record or register a valid title on behalf of his clients in respect of a property purchased by them, his failure between May 2000 and August 2001 to look after the interests of the Halifax PLC by banking loan funds without having recorded or registered a valid standard security in their favour and his failure between August 2001 and October 2002 to look after the interests of The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited by cashing their loan cheque without having recorded or registered a valid standard security in their favour, his repeated failure to reply to correspondence from fellow solicitors or to implement a mandate sent to him by them, his repeated failure to respond to the reasonable requests of the Law Society for information and his repeated failure to respond to correspondence from another firm of solicitors; Censure the Respondent and Fine him in the sum of £2500 to be forfeit to Her Majesty; Find the Respondent liable in the expenses of the Complainers and in the expenses of the Tribunal as the same may be taxed by the auditor of the Court of Session on an agent and client indemnity basis in terms of Chapter Three of the last published Law Society’s Table of Fees for general business with a unit rate of £11.85; and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Respondent.
Alistair M Cockburn
Chairman