ACS:Law, the now defunct London law firm which pursued thousands of people for alleged file sharing offences, has hit the headlines again. A Patent Court judge has ruled that founder Andrew Crossley had breached the solicitors' code of conduct.
The furore over ACS:Law kicked off back in October when a cyber-vigilante attack crashed the firm's website. In a rush to get back online, the firm managed to make public the details of thousands people (including the names of the porn films they were alleged to have downloaded). Then in January, Crossley suddenly decided to withdraw from 26 patent court cases he'd launched, citing the "immense hassle" caused to his family by "death threats and bomb threats".
But Judge Birss QC refused to allow proceedings to stop completely and accused Crossley of attempting to avoid judicial scrutiny. In his ruling, Birss described ACS:Law's pursuit of alleged file sharers as "amateurish and slipshod", bringing "the legal profession into disrepute", according to a report in the Guardian. Crossley was slapped with a costs order, which looks likely to run into the thousands (here's hoping he kept up with those hiked-up insurance premiums).
Unfortunately for Crossley, the bad news doesn't stop there. He'll face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal later this year, he's looking at over £100k in legal costs which may have to be paid to those he accused of illegal file sharing, and the information commissioner (who's investigating last year's leak) could still whack the firm with a £500k fine.
It's not shaping up to be a rollicking BBQ summer for the Crossley family.
Tip Off ROF
The furore over ACS:Law kicked off back in October when a cyber-vigilante attack crashed the firm's website. In a rush to get back online, the firm managed to make public the details of thousands people (including the names of the porn films they were alleged to have downloaded). Then in January, Crossley suddenly decided to withdraw from 26 patent court cases he'd launched, citing the "immense hassle" caused to his family by "death threats and bomb threats".
But Judge Birss QC refused to allow proceedings to stop completely and accused Crossley of attempting to avoid judicial scrutiny. In his ruling, Birss described ACS:Law's pursuit of alleged file sharers as "amateurish and slipshod", bringing "the legal profession into disrepute", according to a report in the Guardian. Crossley was slapped with a costs order, which looks likely to run into the thousands (here's hoping he kept up with those hiked-up insurance premiums).
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Crossley's new favourite store |
Unfortunately for Crossley, the bad news doesn't stop there. He'll face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal later this year, he's looking at over £100k in legal costs which may have to be paid to those he accused of illegal file sharing, and the information commissioner (who's investigating last year's leak) could still whack the firm with a £500k fine.
It's not shaping up to be a rollicking BBQ summer for the Crossley family.