The judgment of the solicitor’s disciplinary tribunal against Raleys solicitors has been widely reported with headlines giving the impression that the six partners involved failed to give a proper service to the miners and families of deceased miners that they represented. That they illegally deducted money from the compensation that they obtained for their clients for VWF and RD conditions.

The tribunal chairman in giving the judgment made the following points. These were not reported which gave a distorted view of the decision of the tribunal.

• We wish to make it clear at the outset that Raleys have not taken a penny for themselves from amounts of compensation obtained for miners or from estates of deceased miners.

• The chairman made it clear that there was no suggestion that the service provided by Raleys to its clients was in anyway deficient, and said that there was no doubt that Raleys gave a good service so far as the amounts claimed for its clients was concerned.

• Finally there is no allegation of dishonesty against the respondents (Raleys)
According to the latest figures, Raleys has so far secured £342 million in compensation for miners and their families, at an average of £5,000 per claim.
In the six years up to 2005, at which point the amounts of subsequent awards was artificially depressed by the government’s introduction of a fast-track variation to the scheme, Raleys clients were averaging £8,500 per claim, up to four times the averages of some other law firms in the region.

Raleys were also successful in obtaining damages for clients who had been misadvised by other solicitors on compensation claims.

In respiratory cases Raleys, used their own funds to top up any low-value settlements to £500.
While many law firms refused to handle so-called hard-to-win cases for fear of losing and going unpaid, on a point of honour, Raleys made no such distinction, and through their skill and expertise achieved some excellent results with such cases.