Raleys is comprised of 22 support staff, 14 'legal specialists' and two partners – Carol Gill and John Welch. Ms Gill was one of six Raleys partners who were fined or suspended by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2009 over the firm's misconduct in its handling of compensation claims brought by ex-miners suffering from respiratory diseases and vibration white finger under the government's compensation scheme. The firm's partners were accused of breaching their professional code of conduct by accepting around 19,000 cases from 'claims farm' Zuko Legal, among other misconduct and negligence allegations. Then SDT chairman David Leverton described the case against Raleys as a 'tragedy', lamenting that the once prominent firm's 'years of good service to their community and their clients' had been 'thrown away with their previous reputation.'
The SDT found that the Raleys' partners had knowingly and intentionally breached professional standards of conduct for their own monetary gain. It is estimated that the firm pocketed around £72m from its handling of approximately 60,000 miners' claims. Sources: Legal Futures; BBC
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