Solicitors are coming under the spotlight amid growing concern about how vulnerable clients were sold loans to fund family litigation. More than a dozen people have claimed to the Gazette they felt compelled to take out the loans with Novitas, now a subsidiary of merchant banking group Close Brothers, to fund proceedings in the last 10 years. They borrowed from £20,000 to £350,000 at an annual interest rate set between 18% and 30%. Both financial and legal regulators are understood to be investigating allegations – so far unfounded – of misconduct.
