CoL left with £450,000 Halliwells bad debt
The College of Law (CoL) is owed almost half a million pounds by Halliwells relating to unpaid LPC fees for the 2009-10 financial year.
Nigel Savage
The institution, which ran the LPC for Halliwells’ trainees on an exclusive basis, is one of dozens of creditors owed a total of £14.1m by the law firm, which went into administration in July this year.
CoL chief executive Nigel Savage said that the organisation might be left with no choice but to write off the bad debt, which amounts to £448,293.30.
“They owe us [but] because we’re unsecured creditors, we’re further down the list,” he explained.
“The primary thing was to make sure that the students could take the exams and make sure they were placed with firms.”
Savage said that he “had no inkling” of the financial difficulties Halliwells was going through, “except that our debts hadn’t been paid”.
“We gave them time to pay like you would in any other situation,” he added.
The first report to creditors from Halliwells administrators Dermot Power and Shay Bannon of BDO, a copy of which was leaked to The Lawyer, revealed the names of businesses, barristers and expert witnesses owed money by Halliwells.
These range from the HMRC, which is owed £4.3m, to dozens of small businesses such as Pavarottis Sandwich Bar on Threadneedle Street, from which the firm ordered thousands of pounds worth of food up until the day it collapsed (20 September 2010).
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Readers' comments (32)
Anonymous | 22-Sep-2010 9:33 am
To the poster above that says CoL should litigate - why? Why throw thousands of pounds away on litigating when Halliwells have no money?!?!? What a silly comment.
Also, to the poster who says this story is funny - yes I'm sure its incredibly funny to all those employees who lost their jobs and now have families to support - really grow up!
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David | 22-Sep-2010 10:30 am
The college of law takes on thousands of students each year that it knows will never obtain a training contract. Even though they pass, these students are left with huge debts and in an ulmost unemployable state. I hope the students are Ok but nice to see the COL get a taste of its own medicine. Thats called Karmic law, look that up on Westlaw.
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Anonymous | 22-Sep-2010 11:10 am
"...you speak volumes about yourselves in not giving credit where and when it is due."
Credit?? What credit is this? Lest we forget that the CoL had to take away 5 marks from every employment law paper because they couldn't be bothered to proof read their exam and realise that 5 multiple choice questions were exactly the same as the specimen paper they gave in the first place.
Such ineptitude from a law course provider supposedly the best in the business, deserves no credit.
Why doesn't Savage and his mates take a pay cut - then the loss won't look so bad.
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N | 22-Sep-2010 4:07 pm
David at 11.10am, and I guess you believe that all those poor individuals that were forced to take out those nasty credit cards, the 100% mortgage and loans for wide screen supersized HD 3D wafer thin TV's should not shoulder any blame for the credit crunch. It was all the bankers fault they forced me to overspend.
Perhaps prospective students should do their research and apply a bit of brain power. If they do not and still go ahead in blissful ignorance they get what they deserve.
Now go back to Mummy so she can wipe your a**e
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Anonymous | 24-Sep-2010 11:30 am
Who the hell is allowing this kind of credit to build up? I say a full scale independent inquiry is required with Tony Blair as Chairman
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Anonymous | 26-Sep-2010 11:36 am
Why is the COL allowed charitable status??
I thought a Charity had to benefit society in general.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesnt the COL just serve the interests of students seeking a career in law?
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Anonymous | 26-Sep-2010 10:12 pm
Charity! What a joke!
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Chris | 27-Sep-2010 12:32 pm
In reply to the College of Law PR person on 22 September at 3:39 am, the CoL is clearly a business which is turning over a nice little profit, and thus is able to pay huge salaries to the likes of Savage. To quote a well known English playwright, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
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Anonymous | 28-Sep-2010 9:09 am
The CofL does do charitable work with the Sutton Trust, supporting disadvantaged students who might be interested in a career in the law.
Other than the horrendous amounts that it pays its head honchos it is not a particularly good payer - as a rule paying less than universities.
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Anonymous | 28-Sep-2010 12:33 pm
Many Universities to all intent and purpose are profit-generating businesses. Many have a clause in their accounts that one of their objectives is an "operational surplus", and there is invariably a senior board of management which effectively controls its own pay (they officially appoint a remuneration committee, but since they can appoint whoever they want this usually turns out to be a fig leaf).
If you think the CoL's generosity toward its senior boffins is excessive, have a gander at some of the league tables compiled for VC pay - some have taken home approaching three quarters of a million.
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