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).
 The Lawyer’s main Twitter account is twitter.com/thelawyermag The Lawyer twitterati now include twitter.com/lawyercatrin twitter.com/TheLawyerKaty, twitter.com/LawyermagEurope, twitter.com/TheLawyerJames, twitter.com/TheLawyerMatt, twitter.com/lawyer2bmag, twitter.com/husnarab |
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page |
Readers' comments (95)
SFO | 19-May-2011 5:27 pm
Not to worry old chap what what. Understandable mistake what what. Could happen to any of us you see. Dreadful inconveience. See you at the club this week?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 20-May-2011 2:03 pm
While plenty of support and professional staff were made redundant, myself included, there he was helping himself.
Some of us were out of work for over a year whilst seeking alternative employment, while he was lining his pockets.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Andy Esch | 20-May-2011 3:08 pm
I agree 100% with @Bobby Smith . If it is jailtime for the secretary who steals, it should be jailtime for the lawyer who steals - otherwise there is no justice.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 20-May-2011 4:33 pm
I've got a nice cell for him to share with David Charlton !!!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 22-May-2011 6:53 am
A Clifford Chance secretary was jailed for 15months for stealing £23,000 (http://www.rollonfriday.com/TheNews/EuropeNews/tabid/58/Id/1143/fromTab/58/Default.aspx).
I find it a little worrying that a secretary gets jailed for such a long time for stealing £23,000, but a respected partner can steal a million over a longer time frame and garner support.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Well everyone else has had a say so why can't I? | 23-May-2011 11:46 am
Can't people distinguish between shock and anguish and condoning the actions... Clearly, lots of people who have encountered Chrisopher Grierson find this unbelievable (and from my relatively limited experience, I am in that camp as well). He is the last person you would suspect of fiddling expenses.
And clearly, if the Lovells version of events is correct, he did have a long and distinguished career before going on the fiddle. It is pretty hard to imagine what prompted him to commence such a massive fraud 4 years ago but clearly it can't be condoned in any way. Nonetheless, you have to feel some sadness that somebody's career and entire reputation comes to such end.
P.S. I went to a comprehensive school....
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Wise Owl | 24-May-2011 12:34 pm
Is this partner blindness or complacency? Didn't the others see the annual accounts?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Gladiatrix | 24-May-2011 4:57 pm
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of Christopher Grierson's actions for a moment, there are things about this episode that are just odd.
Assuming that those who have posted here stating that they know Grierson and his actions are wholly out of character are correct in their assessment, was Lovells really so badly managed that a partner of long standing at the company could have a breakdown/develop a personality disorder and no-one noticed?
Did something happen to Grierson either professionally or personally 4 years ago? If so, what? Again, why did Lovells appear to be oblivious to whatever happened?
If the claims relate to overstated airfares, did he really claim for travel and then still come to work, or did he claim for trips he actually took but claimed more than the actual ticket cost?Most big companies have a centralised and computerised bookings procedure, and apart from looking for cheaper fares it is usually pretty difficult to claim for more than the actual fare. What kind of bookings system was in place at Lovells?
What tipped off Hogans to the fact that there was a black hole in the accounts, or did Grierson put his hands up on the assumption that due diligence would expose him in the end?
There seems to be a great deal of missing information from this story.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
London Spivs | 24-May-2011 9:21 pm
I have lost count of the number of times I have paid my taxi fare and as the driver writes out a receipt he either leaves the fare blank or asks me how much he should put on the receipt. I reiterate the I have paid and left a tip for the driver by the time this conversation takes place.
This suggests to me that the taxi drivers of London expect all of their suited and booted passengers to be up for a bit of fiddling. Are you all at it down there?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Righteous Tick | 25-May-2011 10:24 am
"Assuming that those who have posted here stating that they know Grierson and his actions are wholly out of character are correct in their assessment, was Lovells really so badly managed that a partner of long standing at the company could have a breakdown/develop a personality disorder and no-one noticed?"
It also says a lot for recruitment. HogLov partners are such poor judges of character that they let a million pound fraudster run wild on the basis that he's a good chap. So how can they assess candidates at interview if they can't spot the most egregious fraudster in partnership history?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment