A deluge of impending complaints over Scottish equal pay cases handled by the UK’s most prolific equal pay lawyer could swamp the Legal Complaints Service if they are sent across the border to England, the Gazette has learned.The complaints relate to compensation agreements drawn up by a law firm run by equal pay solicitor Stefan Cross (pictured), market sources said. Cross is famed for launching tens of thousands of claims against the NHS, trade unions, and local councils across the UK.

Although uncertainty exists over the full extent of the complaints, the LCS, which refused to confirm the name of the firm involved, said that they ‘could result in a workload on a scale similar to the coal health compensation claims redress work,’ which has so far generated more than 5,000 complaints. Both the English and Scottish legal complaints bodies have received complaints on the matter, and are discussing jurisdiction.

Cross told the Gazette that he is unaware of any complaints and that the LCS’s comments are ‘preposterous and a deliberate attempt to attack us’. He said: ‘Our agreements have enabled literally tens of thousands of mostly low-paid women to pursue claims they would never have been able to pursue otherwise. We are proud of what we have done.’

The complaints stem from a decision of the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court, in December 2008, it is understood. The court held that a contingency fee agreement (CFA) between Stefan Cross Solicitors and Jacqueline Quinn, a home help from Edinburgh Council, was unenforceable. The firm could not therefore charge Quinn £500 for exiting the agreement when she decided to pursue her equal pay claim with her union UNISON instead.

Following the Quinn decision, UNISON Scottish secretary Matt Smith repeatedly urged ‘thousands’ of Cross’s former Scottish clients to reclaim money from Cross. Cross said this week that this was an attempt to smear his name, and accused UNISON of ‘running poaching campaigns seeking to recruit our clients’.

A spokeswoman for UNISON said: ‘UNISON rejects totally the unfounded allegation that it or any of its officials would embark on any campaign against any individual.’

Cross said that the CFA in question had been reviewed by the Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society of England and Wales on numerous occasions over the years, with neither raising objections. ‘We don’t accept that we have done anything improper,’ he said. ‘We do not accept that clients have been wrongly charged and we have multiple legal advice to that effect.’

LCS board chair Shamit Saggar said: ‘As we are heading towards closedown [when the LCS will be replaced by a new body], the timing of this would be particularly unfortunate.’