What’s been happening in August 2022?

In our regular monthly update, we share the latest news from our firm.

We announced our latest trainee contracts

In August, we were delighted to announce that we had offered solicitor training contracts to paralegals Charlotte Last and Kira Vitale. Their progression reflects our strategy to grow our firm organically and promote from within where we can. We congratulate Charlotte and Kira, who now join last year’s new trainees Elliott McKeown, George Bailey and Lucy Burrows, and we look forward to sharing the next stage of their career journeys with them.

We launched two new data breach actions

In August, our Data Breach team launched two new group actions.

Mainspring

In July 2022, Mainspring wrote to clients to alert them to a data breach. The security failure happened when hackers gained access to Mainstream’s systems and data and carried out a ransomware attack. In August, we launched a group action to help those involved in the Mainspring data security failure claim compensation for any distress or financial losses experienced because of this breach.

Nelsons

On 30 May 2022, Nelsons – a Derby-based law firm with branches in Leicester and Nottingham – experienced a cyber-attack. The incident happened when an unauthorised third party gained access to part of Nelson’s systems and successfully copied a quantity of data. The stolen information includes client identity verification documents.

We raised awareness of the GoDaddy data breach

Last year, web host GoDaddy discovered that it had breached some of its customer data. The GoDaddy data breach happened when hackers accessed one of the company’s databases. The affected databased held the credentials of 1.2 million managed WordPress customers. With more details coming to light about this breach, in August, we urged anyone who had received a notification about the privacy violation to get in touch with us to discuss a potential claim.

We highlighted more schemes, investments & providers accused of pension-mis-selling

In July 2022, we began to raise awareness of a number of schemes, investments & providers that have already been accused of pension mis-selling. In August, we added to this list by highlighting failures at:

Beaufort Securities. A discretionary fund manager and stockbroker, Beaufort Securities Limited sold multiple pension products, including SIPPs. Despite being in administration, there are still hundreds of investors registering complaints about this firm.
Carey Pensions. A provider of SIPPs, the company advised thousands of people in the UK to invest in unsuitable schemes, leaving them out of pocket and short on their pensions.
Gaudi. If you were mis-sold a Gaudi pension, this could be because the financial service or products in question were unsuitable or because a financial advisor or provider put you under undue pressure to invest in a Gaudi SIPP scheme.
Harlequin Properties. The FSCS has paid out more than £98 million in compensation for mis-sold Harlequin Properties claims.
Hartley Pensions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has highlighted serious operational and regulatory issues at Hartley Pensions Limited, and many investors have gone online to lament the loss or erosion of their pensions at the hand of the SIPP provider.
Heritage. Even though Heritage has entered into liquidation, you can still claim compensation of up to £85,000.
Montpelier. During 2009 – 2011, 40% of SIPP investments made by Montpelier were non-standard (higher risk investments). In October 2010, a supervisory visit discovered that the company was not following the proper guidelines.
The Resort Group. In 2016, a BBC Panorama programme highlighted the issue when it showed unregulated financial advisors promising a 10% return after a year of investment into the Cape Verde scheme.

Mark Kenkre and Lesley-Ann Ainsworth explored the surge in crypto group actions

Also this month, Mark Kenkre, Partner and Head of the Investment Fraud and Mis-Selling Team, and Lesley-Ann Ainsworth, Senior Associate, explored the surge in group actions relating to crypto investments following a crash in the value of cryptoassets.

The article was published in BusinessCloud, 15 August 2022, and can be found here. A different version of Mark and Lesley-Ann’s article was published in PLC Magazine, 25 August 2022, and can be found here.

We look forward to bringing you more news next month.

Deborah Stuttard