Judge considers costs as ACS Law case shuts down

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 17 Mar 2011 at 09:27

A piracy case brought by ACS Law has been officially shut down, as the judge decides how much to charge the controversial legal firm for the wasted case.

ACS Law is infamous for sending letters to accused file-sharers, threatening court action if they didn't pay a settlement of up to £500.

The firm, run by sole solicitor Andrew Crossley, and its client, porn licensee Media CAT, collected hundreds of thousands of pounds in settlements before finally bringing 27 cases before the Patents County Court - only to try to discontinue the trial before having to deliver evidence.

At a hearing in London - which Crossley didn't attend - Judge Birss officially ended the trial.

Guy Tritton, a barrister speaking for the accused file-sharers, said: "There's simply no point in keeping these proceedings artificially alive any more."

Judge Birss is now considering how much to bill the two firms for the debacle. Normally, costs are decided using a set scale, but in this case Judge Birss is considering wasted costs off that scale, due to the "extraordinary" nature of the case.

"If ever there was a case of conduct out of the norm, it is this one," Birss declared.

Tritton laid out the case against the two firms, saying they wasted court time as they never intended to follow through with the trial, and were merely using court action as a threat to squeeze more money out of targets.

As another example of the strange conduct of ACS Law, the barrister highlighted PC Pro's investigation of GCB Ltd, a previously dormant firm owned by an associate of Crossley's that took over collecting settlements, despite claims there was no connection between the two companies.

ACS Law's client Media CAT was also examined, with Tritton admitting "we know very little about Media CAT".

"Media CAT appears - and I'll only say appears - to have been set up purely to be a claimant in these actions," he said.

ACS Law's Crossley and Media CAT's owner Lee Bowden have previously worked together, on the case of a British man accused of having public sex in Dubai.

How much will it cost?

The Judge is now considering how much the pair should have to pay.

Ralli Solicitors, which represents five of the remaining file-sharing defendants, said the claimants should cover all of its costs - which so far total £90,000.

However, the question remains whether any money will be forthcoming from ACS Law or Media CAT, as both firms have since been shut down.

Tritton and Birss also referenced a written statement by Crossley, which suggested he didn't earn much money from the letters, spending £750,000 in expenses and earning £300,000 back.

Full details of the money made and the nature of the agreement between Media CAT and ACS is unclear even to the court; due to client privilege rules, neither party is obliged to share such details.

However, data from the defending side showed ACS Law pulled in £180,000 from the letters in September of last year.

"Mr Crossley was going to make vast sums, but adverse publicity put an end to that," said Tritton. "If you make £180,000 in just one month, things are going pretty well."

Tritton also pointed out that Crossley previously claimed to have "not a penny" to his name in an interview with the Telegraph, only to be caught out when company emails were leaked after a hacking attack, which showed he had just purchased a Bentley and was contemplating a new Ferrari.