A LAW firm has publicly resigned from the group of solicitors fighting to win compensation for sick miners in protest at the widespread practice of taking a slice from their damages in addition to claiming fees from the Government.

Towells, which has represented thousands of miners without deducting a penny from their compensation, says that its resignation is an expression of its contempt for the conduct of fellow solicitors.

David Russell, the firm’s senior partner, is equally scathing about trade unions and claims-handling companies that have earned millions from a £7.5 billion Government compensation scheme.

His resignation letter also lambasts the Law Society for an alleged reluctance to hold erring law firms to account.

Towells, based in Wakefield, near Leeds, was a member of the co-ordinating group of solicitors that negotiated the agreements with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under which all the respiratory disease claims have been handled. Solicitors’ fees are paid by the Government for every claim that is settled out of court. Lawyers have already been paid £773 million. By the time that the final claim is settled, solicitors will have earned an estimated £1.3 billion.

Yet some firms have also imposed success fees or administration fees, which were taken from their clients’ damages. Others made deductions that were paid to mining unions after clients were misled into believing that the union was in some way funding their claim.

Mr Russell has made regular submissions to the High Court, the Law Society and the DTI, demanding action to punish those responsible for taking a share of miners’ damages. His firm has also acted free for dozens of claimants who had money deducted by other law firms.

In a resignation letter sent to Sir Michael Turner, the judge who oversees the respiratory disease litigation, Mr Russell complains of a “closing of ranks” between the group and the Law Society to the detriment of of the miners and their families. He accepts that Towells’ withdrawal from the group may be seen as an empty gesture, but adds: “Nevertheless . . . in some very small way it would evidence my contempt for the solicitors, claims farmers . . . and the Law Society.”

Mr Russell says that the Law Society’s role as the regulator of the legal profession has been “severely compromised” by the stance that it originally adopted on the issue of solicitors’ charges. In 1999, the society appeared to support deductions from miners’ damages made by two firms, Raleys and Thompsons, which have, by now, been paid a collective total of £152 million in government fees. The Law Society subsequently ruled that deductions were unjustified and urged all solicitors to repay the money.

Gareth Thomas, a partner at Hugh James Solicitors, a leading member of the co-ordinating group, said: “If any solicitors have double-charged any claimant we would be wholeheartedly against it and would support any action to ensure that those sums are repaid.”

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