Letter to Keystone Law clients re malpractice

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you as Keystone Law feature your company as one of their clients on their website.

I have significant concerns not only about the business practices employed by Keystone Law but also the attitude of their Compliance Director William Robins to a serious complaint made to them. 

Andrew Sullivan represented the other side in a court case by my husband against his former partner. Our lawyers called the conduct of Keystone Law in this case "disingenuous", and that it was. Dishonest, underhand, deceitful and insidious.

I believe that this was a deliberate tactic to waste time and increase costs in an attempt to stop this case reaching court. These tactics are in direct contravention of the SRA Code of Conduct. I have complained to the SRA who ruled that this was just a lawyer submitting legal defences. However they were dropped as the first order of court business they were lies (of the most hideous kind). I have pointed out to the SRA that a lie can never be a valid defence in a court of lawyer but they have not deigned this worthy of a response.

My husband is a psychologist working for the NHS and as such he has confidentiality obligations that he takes extremely seriously. He works with the victims of sexual abuse and violence daily and his work is dependent on honesty and trust between him and his clients. 

In a 'defence' (which was a lie) that was dropped he was accused in a witness statement submitted by Andrew Sullivan on Keystone headed paper of blackmailing his ex with his HIV status. Not only is this grossly offensive to us, but legal professionals have a professional duty to make sure that their clients submit the truth to court in order not to waste court time. This allegation could have been extremely damaging to my husband's career and Keystone's actions were reckless and malicious. 

The opposite is in fact the case with Keystone Law. They deliberately submitted lengthy and unnecessary lies to court to increase their costs and intimidate us. This is completely unethical.

My husband and I were also accused in court of saying a well respected business man and his wife sexually abused his own children. Another baseless, vicious and completely untrue allegation.

The conduct of Keystone Law before and after this case has been reprehensible and they have faced no sanction for their actions. Both the professional and personal lives of their clients have been irreparably damaged by the was they dragged these legal proceedings into the gutter for a £80,000 profit.  

We ask that you drop them as your lawyer and ask them to remove your logo from their website. We do not believe that they can represent your brand as a legal advocate when they have deliberately advised their clients to lie about HIV, blackmail and child rape for profit. Their own client Mark Harrison said under oath that he as advised by Mark Harrison to submit as many contradictory stories as possible.

As two health professionals my husband and I are acutely aware of the trust that the public puts in us to deliver services without fear or favour or to gain personally. We all deserve to have the same trust in the legal profession, which the actions of this firm have called into disrepute.

Mark Sullivan is no longer working at this firm. The decision to let him go we believe speaks volumes. We sincerely ask that you find a lawyer that better aligns with the professional and ethical values of your company. 

I look forward to your thoughts on this very serious matter. 

Regards,

Darren Cooper and Thain Kleinhentz