A few bits and pieces, none of which are worth their own post, including a couple of updates on old ‘friends’.
First, as you have probably noticed, the blog has had a redesign (yes, another one). There are a couple of reasons for this: partly for a more contemporary, cleaner look, which should hopefully be more pleasant to read; and partly to make the site ‘responsive’, so that it deals with a wide variety of screen sizes. Rather than a separate version for mobiles, the same site is used, with a shortened menu bar. The sidebar and footer elements are below the main text on the mobile screen size.
Other new bits – search is accessed via the magnifying glass logo in the top menu. When scrolling down the page, a floating ‘back to the top’ link appears at the bottom right. The only other real change is that the feeds for Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Admin Court decisions in the footer have been combined into one (a decision that was forced upon me). And we have a whole new colour scheme, based on the brick header image. Everything else is pretty much where it was (though the side bar has switched sides).
There is a bit of an update in the saga of our favourite unlawful money lender, Mr Gopee (or Ghopee). HHJ Mackie QC has set out a summary of developments in the multiple cases, many of them applications to set aside possession orders and appeal the alleged debts to Gopee, joined together in the Mercantile Court. It seems they are all to be transferred to the Central London County Court. It also turns out that “In one case this month a lender Dunfermline Building Society sought and obtained in an action against Ghana Commercial Finance Limited an order that Mr Gopee personally pay the costs of an application.” Oh dear…
Another interesting set up we have previously spent a little time on is Charles Henry & Co AKA Legal Action and the individual apparently at their head, Kevin Gregory.
I have received a transcript of a hearing in Gregory v City of London University and Others, dated 31 July 2014, which can be found here. It makes interesting reading, concerning as it does possible general civil restraint orders against Kevin Gregory, Charles Henry, Legal Action and maybe Augustine Housing Trust (another charity of which Kevin Gregory is a trustee, and a party in some of the cases we have previously noted). The only attendees at this hearing were Counsel for the SRA and someone apparently from Charles Henry/Legal Action/Augustine Housing Trust’s insurers on a watching brief. Gregory did not attend, nor did anyone for Charles Henry/Legal Action/Augustine Housing Trust. From the transcript there is clearly quite a back story to this hearing.
It appears that the SRA is investigating (not before time, one might think). It is also worth noting that of the three solicitors listed by the Law Society as ’employed’ by Legal Action (and one previously listed), one is a part-time locum, Mr Perotti told the SRA he knew nothing of Charles Henry/Legal Action and hadn’t worked for them, Dr Eiland is in the USA (and no longer listed on the Law Society site), and Mr McCarthy told the SRA he ‘only attends when he is asked to, and he doesn’t know when he’ll be attending again”.
I haven’t seen a Judgment in this case yet. It may well prove to be very interesting.