LIAQAT MALIK is adamant that he is a good, respectable lawyer. The MEN put to him the allegations printed in today's paper.
He insisted the refugee who was charged for services he could have got free elsewhere, would have received letters which said clients had an option to go to a firm with a legal aid franchise.
Dr Malik said he had only received six or seven complaints which concerned transferring files or replying to correspondence. He described them as ''run of the mill'' complaints which he had dealt with.
He said that in 1999 there had been a burglary at the firm and computer equipment was stolen. This had hampered their ability to respond to clients.
He added that most of the complaints related from a time when someone else was in charge. He said that Law Society accountants had been in and ''looked at everything''.
He described this as a ''normal part of the job''. He said it wasn't unusual for people to complain if they didn't get what they wanted.
Dr Malik claimed he did nothing wrong when dealing with our undercover investigator. He insisted that he ''couldn't understand his accent'' and, as he did not deal with asylum claims, referred him to a partner.
He said it was ''not for me to judge'' whether his claim was genuine. He also claimed to be scared of our investigator and said the man had intimidated a female member of staff.
Dr Malik said his office had notices inside saying the firm did not have a legal aid franchise. But he said there were ''certain things'' they could still do ''like education and all that...and one or two other categories. I don't know what they are''.
He said the Legal Services Commission were coming back in January to review his firm's status. Dr Malik said he was a member of the Law Society's immigration panel, had a master's degree from Wolverhampton University, a post-graduate diploma in public law from Staffordshire University and a PhD.
He said that his degree from this country had allowed him to be a member of the Pakistani Bar Counsel. He confirmed this had enabled him to get foreign lawyer status in the UK but admitted he had never studied in Pakistan.
He confirmed the making of the section 43 order by the Law Society in 1982 limiting his right to work as a legal clerk, but he pointed out it had been revoked.
He claimed the separate High Court ban had expired in 1991 and that he had received a letter from the Law Society confirming this. He denied it was a ban on being a solicitor and said it expired ''automatically'' after 12 months.
''No order is indefinite. How come they haven't stopped me working? In 1991 they sent me a letter saying I am free to work anywhere I want to. How can they say on one hand we allow you to practise in a partner of solicitors but that this order stands?
''I have passed all the exams to be a solicitor. I haven't done anything wrong. How can you say I am not a good lawyer? I have so much clients I cannot even handle it. Everybody comes to me, I am very well known.'' Dr Malik said that he had not received any complaints from the Refugee Council.
He said that the company Immigration Lawyers Ltd was not trading yet but was registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.
- The M.E.N. tried to contact all the partners in the firm for their comments. None of them responded to our hand-delivered letters.