The Law Society this week staunchly defended solicitors handling compensation claims for sick miners after a Labour peer said those who pocketed wrongly deducted fees from pay-outs had committed 'an evil act'.


Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract blamed solicitors for spiralling costs associated with the government-run compensation scheme for former British Coal miners.



His comments followed this week's publication of a highly critical report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee alleging that the government initially mismanaged the scheme that was launched in 1999.



The committee chairman, Conservative MP Edward Leigh, told MPs: 'Far too much money went into the solicitors' pockets and our committee expects [the government] to be vigorous in pursuing them for the money they have been ordered to repay.'



The scheme for miners suffering serious chest disease or vibration white finger became mired in controversy when it emerged some solicitors had deducted fees from awards - either for themselves or unions - despite the fact the ?government was footing the bill for legal costs.



The government is thought to have paid out about £614 million in damages since the scheme was launched in 1999, but the committee report put the true cost at about £4.1 billion once all cases are settled.



Law Society chief executive Des Hudson hit back at Lord Lofthouse's comments, stating that the 'great majority of solicitors dealing with these cases have handled them properly and done an excellent job for their clients.'



He said regulatory issues in relation to double-charging had arisen in 'a minority of cases' and were being 'vigorously pursued by the Law Society before the formation of the independent regulatory boards'.



Anita Rice