Hogan Lovells dismisses senior litigator over £1m of false expenses
Hogan Lovells senior litigator Christopher Grierson has been dismissed from the partnership after claiming over £1m in false expenses over the course of four years.
Following an internal investigation that was set in motion at the beginning of this year, Grierson was dismissed last week and has now been reported to the SRA.
Partners were informed over the weekend while the rest of the firm was told of Grierson’s dismissal yesterday.
A spokesperson at the firm said that Grierson had co-operated fully with the firm’s inquiries and has agreed to repay the full £1m within 14 days.
The spokesperson added: “An investigation carried out by the firm has revealed that no clients were affected as a result of Christopher’s actions.
“Christopher acted entirely on his own. He was a long-standing partner in the firm and highly regarded. We’re very saddened and concerned by these events, which represent a major breach of trust.
“We’re very clear as to our professional responsibilities as solicitors and we’ve promptly taken the appropriate action.”
Grierson, who is in his late fifties and who was on legacy firm Lovells’ partnership council from 2006 to April 2009, is a distinguished international litigator. His recent cases have included advising AAR, the consortium made up of Russian conglomerates Alfaa Group, Access Industries and Renova Group, on its dispute on the TNK-BP energy venture in Russia.
He is best known for having advised BCCI liquidators Deloitte & Touche for over a decade. That work came to an end after Deloitte’s controversial £850m claim against the Bank of England sensationally collapsed in November 2005 (7 November 2005).
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Readers' comments (95)
Hugey | 17-May-2011 11:04 am
Gotta love that hog.
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Wow | 17-May-2011 11:13 am
That's £5k per week over a 4 year period. Apparently all on PD as no clients were affected. How on earth was this not picked up earlier????!
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Eric Illsley | 17-May-2011 11:28 am
What was Lovells PEP last year? Around £600k was it?
Frankly, who can blame the guy? Let's start a whip round now. I've got 38p and a Eurolottery ticket in m pocket which I'm prepared to donate. Anyone with me?
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mary | 17-May-2011 11:41 am
This is a very strange situation. He clearly didn't need the money if he's going to be able to pay it back within two weeks. Have the police been called? This is, after all, theft.
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Business Coach | 17-May-2011 11:50 am
Well, that's one way to boost your PEP!
(Maybe he felt the firm wasn't paying him what he they owed him and tried to claim the difference on expenses - strangely similar to the MPs' expenses scandal.)
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lowslungdenim | 17-May-2011 11:51 am
Fruit & flowers?
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Thor | 17-May-2011 11:57 am
@mary
Is it theft? Who has he stolen from?
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Anonymous | 17-May-2011 11:59 am
Well I worked with him for years and he was always polite and friendly and I feel desperately sorry for him. I can't imagine it was just greed - something else must have driven him to this
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Turtle Face | 17-May-2011 12:29 pm
Congrats to Lovells for facing up to this and dealing with it. Certain other firms (to name no names) turned a blind eye to their "robber barons" doing this for years.
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Glossover | 17-May-2011 12:41 pm
to be fair that's probably only a cab to and from the strand and a Pret butty every day BCCI was in court...'poor' chap
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