Solicitors from Hell Going to Hell?

There is no stopping the campaign against Solicitors from Hell. This saga is going to run. According to Mr Justice Tugendhat Rick Kordowski is abusing the process of the court by "seeking to cause the claimants to incur costs which he says they have no prospect of recovering from himself," reports the Law Society Gazette.

Apparently Kordowski has 15 libel suits filed against him by lawyers who are offended at the complaints made by clients against them. Tugendhat said, "He plainly has a grievance against solicitors." He doesn't appear to ask why that may be so. Nor does he accept Kordowski's public interest argument.

It's worth delving behind the public rhetoric. Jon Robson interviewed Kordowski in the Guardian a short while ago. I thought this part was straightforward:

What would he say to the many lawyers appalled, perhaps devastated, by unfounded criticism placed on his site? "Go back to your client, or whoever complained about you, and sort out your differences," he replied.

Why doesn't he vet claims? Kordowski said that he once did try checking with firms before publishing. "Everyone denied the allegations and so I don't do it any more."

I was reminded of a BBC documentary on the TV programme Rough Justice. After the first person had been freed because of a miscarriage of justice, Lord Denning was interviewed saying that journalists shouldn't interfere in the work of the police and courts once the judgment had been rendered. In other words, keep quiet, take your medicine, and don't complain because it's not your place to do so.

Why do I get the feeling that history is beginning to repeat itself?