Controversial law firm closed by SRA

A controversial Bolton law firm which has been at the centre of a row over a £300,000 grant from the town’s council has been closed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Asons Solicitors became Coops Law in March, but is controlled by the same family.

The practising certificate of Munir Majid has been automatically suspended so he cannot operate as a solicitor.

The grounds of the intervention include reasons to suspect dishonesty on the part of Irfan Khan Akram in connection with Coops Law Ltd’s business.

The SRA said it is necessary to intervene to protect the interests of clients of Coops Law, and that the company had not complied with the terms of its licence.

The grounds of intervention into the practice of Munir Majid are that he failed to comply with rules made by virtue of sections 31 and 32 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

An intervention means the SRA has closed a firm with immediate effect. It will stop the firm from operating, take possession of all documents and papers held by the firm, and take possession of all money held by the firm (including clients’ money). It is not responsible towards employees or trade creditors of firms that it has intervened in.

The SRA has appointed an agent to deal with all matters currently held by Coops Law The agent will assess all on-going matters and deal with those of greatest need first. The SRA’s archive team will take control of all documents held by the firm.

Clients of Coops Law do not need to contact either the agent or the SRA at this time. If anyone does have a query, however, they can contact the agent Ann Harrison of Stephensons Solicitors LLP on 0333 9997190.

The grant to the company formerly known as Asons was made to the company by Bolton Council following the personal injury law firm’s move to the former offices of The Bolton News on Churchgate.

It has since been personally repaid by former Asons director  Kamran Akram following widespread outrage over the grant.