Law firm surprised by Which? bullying accusations

UK consumer rights magazine Which? has complained to the solicitor’s watchdog about London law firm Davenport Lyons following what it calls the mailing of ‘bullying’ letters to ‘hundreds of innocent consumers’.

Davenport Lyons is one of the chief players in recent moves to crack down on illegal internet filesharing. Along with a successful prosecution and a self-declared war on piracy, the firm has also worked with a number of games publishers.

Which? has previously run a report in which it claimed a Scottish couple were incorrectly accused of sharing racing title Race07.

Now the magazine has sent an official letter to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority claiming that Davenport Lyons’ conduct has been ‘bullying’ and ‘excessive’. It also accused the law firm of making incorrect assertions about the nature of copyright infringement, ignoring the evidence presented in defence and increasing the level of compensation claimed over the period of correspondence.

A spokesperson for Davenport Lyons told MCV in a statement: We are surprised by Which?’s actions in writing to the SRA and putting out a press release.

We do not know the content of the SRA letter as Which? have not provided it to us but we do know that a number of statements they make in their press release are incorrect. We will fully co-operate with any SRA investigation but think it is a shame that a consumer group should be so keen to pour scorn on a scheme trying to crack down on large scale copyright theft which costs the consumer significant sums.”