LONDON (WithinTheLaw) - Dechert LLP is facing two lawsuits for improper behaviour. The first comes from a Jordanian businessman who claims its employees subjected him to treatment which amounted to torture in order to extract an unwarranted illegal confession.
Karam Salah Al Din Awni Al Sadeq is suing Dechert for damages due to physical, psychological, emotional, moral and financial harm sustained after he was questioned by Neil Gerrard, the firm’s Head of Investigations, along with partner Caroline Black and a former partner David Hughes.
The claims revolve around an investigation into fraudulent activity at Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, where Sadeq was employed as a legal advisor.
Sadeq claims he was returning home in Dubai with his wife in 2014 when Government officials stopped the car, bundled him into a vehicle and kept him in solitary confinement for more than 560 days between then and 2016.
During that time, he says he was interviewed by Gerrard, Black and Hughes and that Gerrard threatened to have his wife arrested if he did not confess. He also claims he was not given medical attention for injuries sustained as a result of his interrogation.
Gerrard and the firm deny the allegations but this is just one of a number of lawsuits and countersuits concerning Dechert and Gerrard.
In another development, the Law Gazette reports that Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) filed a negligence claims for their dealings with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
ENRC is in a long running battle with the SFO over serious fraud allegations. The company, which denies the allegations, had employed Dechert, but parted company in 2013.
The lawsuit centres on a period between 2010 and 2011 when Dechert was assisting the ENRC over self-reporting allegations. They claim that Gerrard leaked information to a reporter for the Sunday Times and that a subsequent report led the SFO to launch a formal investigation.
This prompted a battle over professional privilege which was resolved when the High Court ruled that ENRC’s documents were not protected by professional privilege and that the case could go ahead.
ENRC’s relationship with Dechert had already turned frosty. They had accused the firm of gross overcharging for advice given. Dechert, for its part, strenuously denies all allegations.
(Written by Tom Cropper)