It's emerged that the boss of defunct solicitors firm ACS:Law UK, Andrew Jonathan Crossley, was officially declared bankrupt by the London High Court on 20th May 2011. Crossley made his money by using dubious tactics ("speculative invoicing" that used unreliable evidence) to harass broadband ISP customers, specifically those whom it suspected of P2P (file sharing) based internet copyright infringement (piracy), with big cash demands for out-of-court settlements.

The bankruptcy came to light after PC Pro made a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which stunned observers last month (here) after it handed down a paltry £800 fine (should of been £200,000) for a major data security failure that leaked thousands (6,000) of private broadband ISPs customer records into the public domain.


Crossley is currently going through proceedings at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) over his alleged misconduct (here). He also faces a Wasted Costs claim of £90,000 (here), which is due to be heard in the London Patents County Court (Judge Birss QC) on 17th June.

Despite all of these problems he still manages to live in a £700k mansion and drive a £200k Bentley Arnage (here), the latter of which isn't in his name. Bankrupt solicitors cannot continue to practice.