MoJ suspends Cartel Client Review

The Ministry of Justice has suspended the authorisation of Cartel Client Review (CCR), one of the country's biggest claims management firms. The MoJ had been investigating the company for some time and said it had generated a 'high volume of enquiries'.

A spokesman for the MoJ said: 'This means that CCR will no longer be able to carry out any claims management services. As with any suspended business, the MoJ will be monitoring the situation and considering next steps that may be appropriate.'

The move follows the SRA's decision to shut down Consumer Credit Litigation Solicitors (CCLS), also based in Manchester, which is understood to have worked almost entirely for CCR.

In terms of the number of files, as opposed to the amount of money, it is the SRA's biggest intervention so far.

CCLS was run as a sole practice by Richard James Burley. Another sole practice run by Burley, Burley Solicitors in Newark, has also been closed.

In a statement on the interventions, the SRA said on its website that it was 'satisfied that there was reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of Mr Richard James Burley in relation to his practice as a solicitor'.

The SRA said a further ground for the intervention was that Burley failed to comply with the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007 and the intervention was necessary to protect the interests of clients.

A spokesman for the SRA said that since one of the grounds for the intervention into CCLS was suspected dishonesty, Burley's practicing certificate was automatically suspended.

It is understood that virtually all CCLS business came from CCR and that the organisations were based in the same building.