Police drop probe into law firm collapse

Police have dropped a criminal investigation into a legal firm that left thousands of people with difficulties when it went bust.

McClure solicitors, founded in Greenock in 1853, had tens of thousands of clients across the UK and specialised in work such as wills and trusts.

Its collapse in 2021 meant some people with homes in trusts struggled to sell them while others faced thousands of pounds in legal costs.

Police Scotland confirmed no criminality had been established.

McClure went bust in 2021 and another firm called Jones Whyte took on its files.

The company had 84 staff at offices in Glasgow city centre and Greenock and 13 satellite offices around Scotland and England.

It is believed around 18,000 family protection trusts were taken out by people in England and Wales.

Trusts are used by thousands of people as a way of managing assets like property or money.

Some people set them up in the hope it will protect their home from being sold to pay for care home fees.

After putting a home into a trust, it is the trustees who own it but they have to follow the purpose for which it was set up.

In cases where McClure solicitors are still named as trustees on a client's home, they legally do not own the property and cannot sell it, leaving some clients with a "legal nightmare".

The firm's former managing director previously denied that any clients were misled to pay for a trust, and blamed the firm's demise on the Covid pandemic.

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed they had received "information and documentation" about McClure.

A spokesman said: "It has been assessed and no criminality has been established.

"The complainers have been updated."

The Legal Ombudsman is dealing with complaints from McClure clients in England and Wales and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission deals with complaints in Scotland.