Name and Shame UK
We expose the dirty deedsters
This company may be a disgrace to the legal profession
Our correspondent writes ...
In my time, I have met enough dishonest solicitors to make me distrust most members of what should be a very honourable profession.
My encounters with Lester Aldridge have been generally unpleasant and I have to say their executives are staggeringly arrogant, apparently believing they are above criticism purely because (in their words) they are a company of solicitors. Like that's an excuse! Quite a few cabinet ministers are also solicitors and I don't trust them either.
But Lester Alsridge is a company that won't let the truth get in the way of additional earning potential if they believe someone is gullible enough to succumb to their threats.
Well, sorry guys, but I fight back. You make false accusations about me and you can rest assured that I will go for the jugular (metaphorically-speaking).
To understand this story, you first need to read the background information on the Toyota Financial Services page.
The letter I received accused me of failing to pay two instalments of £100 each yet no payments were outstanding. After a telephone conversation with the writer of the letter - *Angie Loveless of Lester Aldridge - I looked on their website and found the name of one of the partners, Wayne Spolander. I sent him this email on 28th November 2005.
Andrew Corke (pictured left), the senior partner of
the Fast Track division of Lester Aldridge, replied. His email, followed by my response and his further response can be read
here.
All the emails, and the one I sent to the CEO of Toyota which was copied to Andrew Corke, were read by the recipients but none of them actually replied. Nor did they carry out their threats to repossess the vehicle. Nor did they apologise when they realised they were wrong.
I suspect they never will.
Editorial comment:
Andrew John Corke is an interesting character. A company director's report shows that he is not only a solicitor but also a minister of religion who holds a directorship with The Lifesaver Trust. Our research indicates he may be the same Reverend Andrew Corke who preaches at St Barnabus Church, Bearwood, Wimborne which coincidentally is near Mr Corke's home at Silverwood Close, Wimborne, Dorset.
In his legal role, he has contributed to credit control documents produced for the Invest Northern Ireland organisation and advised on suing in a document produced by Business Link.
As Chairman of Lester Aldridge FastTrack, he has given presentations about "Collecting Debt with Sensitivity" for the Chartered Institute of Housing to local municipalities including Torbay where he was assisted by Karen Savage, CEO of Lester Aldridge FastTrack and Louis Greenblatt, a consultant to Lester Aldridge FastTrack.
And this is where it gets interesting. In his presentation Mr Corke mentions things like:
- prohibiting unfair business practises (presumably that does not include unwarranted harassment?)
- following Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidelines (which specifically preclude harassment)
- not failing to investigate or provide proper details/records when a debt is queried or disputed (What a joke!)
So it appears Mr Corke does not practise what he preaches. It also appears he does not let his religious convictions get in the way of any temptation in his job to act unscrupulously, make false allegations, or persecute people unnecessarily. The fact is, he works for a firm of parasites who compound the problems of less unfortunate people and he presumably does this for a very handsome salary. The Lord's teachings seemingly do not figure in the Lester Aldridge handbook so we have to assume that the only beneficiaries of Mr Cooke's more humane side may be the members of his congregation in the Lantern Church circuit.
And there's More scandal...
Since we asked for more information about Lester Aldridge from others who had been on the receiving end of their bad practises, we have been contacted by several people. There are those, it seems, who believe certain senior employees at Lester Aldridge have their sticky little fingers in some very dirty pies. This mostly affects the good people of Dorset who, via their rates, contribute thousands of pounds to the Lester Aldridge coffers to bring actions that are totally unwarranted.
* We never seem to get any response from the people we name and shame. They don't try
to defend themselves so presumably they think
things will blow over if they maintain a low profile. But we did get an approach about Angie Loveless
(pictured right). Apparently she left Lester Aldridge
to join another legal firm - one which seems to employ a considerable number of ex-Lester Aldridge staff. The email came from one of Ms Loveless'
new colleagues who asked to remain anonymous. She asked us to either remove Ms Loveless' name from the website or alternatively replace the
genuine information in our report with a fraudulent imitation. As Ms Loveless never conceded her mistake and never apologised for her error, we
refused. And we certainly will not participate in a cover-up. We spend most of our time exposing those who try to cover up their misdeeds.
Readers' Comments
I was with Lester Aldridge 1998/2004 and they were incompetent, negligent and failed to release my file to avoid further action. Totally useless!!
Issued "Solicitor instructions to Barrister" without my knowledge or authority and failed to obtain documents essential for Opinion. Mr Shaw (Barrister) advised, "I cannot make opinion without the documents." We are talking here of a divorce in which no financial statements were obtained to determine family wealth for division and an incomplete, misleading copy file was obviously edited to mislead. What a surprise when his Opinion was adverse. Such nonsense by disgraceful lawyers. JJ, Poole
I chanced upon your website when I googled Lester Aldridge. They have recently tried to force me into paying them thousands of pounds, claiming
I owed the money personally when in fact it was debt incurred five years ago when a company that I was a director of failed.
They were a nasty unpleasant bunch who tried various threats. Fortunately not only did I not succumb to their threats but the case they connoted
against me was so clearly dishonest that the Judge saw through it and dismissed the case. The case files were quite clearly doctored, however what
does concern me is the distress they could cause to anyone who lacks our determination.
They are a nasty bunch who should be investigated and the judge hinted as much when he stated that the files they submitted caused him serious
concern.
Who are they exactly?? Do they purchase old debt from companies for peanuts then try to extort money in any way they can??
JS, Gloucester
Editorial Comment: The problem is that any investigation would probably clear them. The Law Society (or whatever they call themselves these days) is little more than a trade union for solicitors.
I am dealing with this company as we speak, and are they not delightful? So kind and understanding.
LLT, Harrogate
Editorial Comment: Many solicitors seem to think they have a right to be rude and threatening even when they are wrong. The trouble is that too many people surrender to their threats without querying the actual rights given to the intended victim under the law.
My wife is is dealing with these so called solicitors at the moment for debt on a shop that went bust 5 years ago.
I cannot believe for one moment that the outfit they are running is legal. They don't send receipts for payments, they never answer letters or
return phone calls. The only letters they return are court threatening ones at the end of each month. Utter W*NKERS!
Rob Hatton, Nottingham
Editorial Comment: No, it's not WINKERS.
I have been trying to sue VW for a car which was delivered with paintwork defects and loads of other defects. LA have taken over from VW. Since I started to sue the dealer and VW I have had major medical problems including the loss of sight.
A court meeting was requested the day of my last operation to save my sight. The court and LA had my medical reports that I could not attend court due to my operation but LA made sure the case went ahead knowing full well I could not attend. They are nothing but rats!
In LA's eyes I should have delayed my operation and risked losing my sight. I would rather die than deal with people like these.
Alan, York
Editorial Comment: In a just world, the court would have accepted your medical evidence and postponed the hearing. Unfortunately, courts seem unprepared to do anything about dishonest solicitors and LA certainly know how to use the law to make themselves rich while, at the same time, escaping accountability.
I am suing a paedophile who abused me when I was a schoolboy; Lester Aldridge is defending him. This solicitor has no shame and keeps making threats to me.
JS, London
Editorial Comment: Threats seem to be a tactic that Lester Aldridge use quite often and they don't have any qualms about making false accusations. But then it seems too many members of the legal profession have no integrity and no morals. Just note how many MPs have a legal background.
This company are despicable! They sued me on behalf of Renault Financial Services for a vehicle which was repossessed and they pushed thru the court hearing within a couple of days of sending me notification. Then they applied for a charging order and now are threatening to have my home sold. They are the scum of the earth!
Richard Colbeck, Huddersfield
This company of so-called solicitors need to be stopped. They work underhand and under the law they are suing my husband for a local VW garage that supplied us with a faulty car.
We took the car back to get it repaired within the stated time scale. They are given 5 chances to put the faults right but they can't. My husband wants to reject the car under the sale of goods act but these animals try to sue my husband.
Mary Wray, Scarborough
It's true that 98% of lawyers give the other 2% a bad name (no longer a joke but a fact) but that may be down to the OSS (Office for the Supervision of Solicitors) which should be known as the OPBCL (Office for the Protection of Bent and Crooked Lawyers). Is it any wonder that Norman Tebbit once said, "Years ago, a bent solicitor was a very, very rare thing. Now corrupt and thieving lawyers are two a penny." (Mail on Sunday Jan 23, 2000).
The bottom line is, never, never succumb to a lawyer's threats - so well done JS, Gloucester. And to JS, London - it is a well known fact that a lawyer will fight tooth and nail to defend a two-year-old rapist if the price is right. Check out Daily Mail edition May 2, 2009 if you want to discover just how far this disgusting profession will go to do just that. Try writing a dossier of events from your school days, JS, London, and don't forget details of the paedophile licking LA threats.
Nerys, Reigate
I've had dealing with this firm in my divorce and they were nasty and greedy. But the most crooked solicitor ever is a London-based partner of DLA Piper. He specialises in perjury and perpetrating fraud.
Jean, London
Although our correspondent named an actual person, we have withheld his name and will not reveal it unless we receive more correspondence about this company in general or this solicitor in particular. Ed.
|
Please tell us about your experiences -
We value your feedback. If you want to publicise any unjust practises that have affected you,
please use our contact form. If you want to add comments about any of our published articles, use the form below the article. This also gives you the opportunity to cast your vote. |
"Many men stumble across the truth ... but most manage to pick themselves up and continue as if nothing had happened."
Winston S Churchill
[Home] ● [Top of page]
Bookmark this page in Internet Explorer or FireFox!