Law Society-v-Nicholas Gerard McCormick

Edinburgh 11^th January 2006.  The Tribunal having considered the Complaint dated 4^th August 2005 and the two Complaints dated 9^th January 2006 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against Nicholas Gerard McCormick, Solicitor, 28 Victoria Street, Newton Stewart; Find the Respondent guilty of Professional Misconduct in respect of his failure to communicate with clients, his failure to reply to correspondence from the Law Society and failure to obtemper statutory notices, his unconscionable delay in implementation of a mandate and failure to implement another mandate, his failure to deal with a cheque from a university in connection with administration of an estate and failure to pass said cheque on to a firm of solicitors, his sending of a fax purporting to enclose executry papers and failure thereafter to send either the principal letter or the executry papers, his failure in dealing properly with the administration of an estate, his failure to timeously record deeds at the settlement of conveyancing transactions, his breach of Rules 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Accounts etc Fund Rules 2001, his charging an excessive fee and having had that brought to his attention failing to refund the amount overcharged to the client and his using funds from his general client account to settle the claim of his former client; Order that the name of the Respondent Nicholas Gerard McCormick be struck off the Roll of Solicitors in Scotland; Direct that Orders be issued under Section 53C(2) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980; 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 Cockburn

  Chairman