Pressure on Hogan Lovells to inform Met of fraud
Pressure is mounting on Hogan Lovells to ask police to investigate senior litigator Christopher Grierson, who was dismissed from the partnership for claiming more than £1m in false expenses over four years.
The 59-year-old worked at legacy firm Lovells for more than 30 years. He was dismissed from Hogan Lovells on 11 May. The firm reported the incident to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on 13 May and the regulator has since launched an investigation into the false expenses claims, which are mainly for air fares, as well as the firm’s expenses procedures (see story).
But the wider legal community is questioning why the firm has not brought criminal proceedings.
A former Lovells partner said: “They seem more interested in their own internal workings than the fact someone has committed fraud. It’s still theft from the firm and it’s still a crime.”
Hogan Lovells co-chief executive David Harris did not rule out police involvement in the future, but said involving them at the outset would have put the SRA investigation on ice and prevented the firm from communicating the facts to partners.
He said: “Once you go to the police there are limitations on what you can say. We put a huge emphasis on openness and didn’t want people to learn about this from elsewhere.”
Grierson is best known for having advised BCCI liquidator Deloitte & Touche for over a decade. His recent cases include advising Russian consortium AAR on its dispute on the TNK-BP energy venture in Russia.
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Readers' comments (27)
Interested Observer | 23-May-2011 10:17 am
I can't understand this. Normally criminal proceedings are dealt with first, and then any disciplinary proceedings follow later. This is why some of the SDT strikings off refer to XXXX "of HM Prison." It's hardly going to do the reputation of the profession any good, if errant bookeepers are relentlessly prosecuted, but the misdeeds of solicitors are not even reported to the police.
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City Gent | 23-May-2011 11:44 am
Getting the police involved really would be to blow this little incident out of all proportion.
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Anonymous | 23-May-2011 11:58 am
So a CC accountant gets jailed for £30k, MPs jailed for 50k expense frauds, but a partner stealing £1m is a "little incident". Hardly fair is it?
The real reason may well be because some of these claims were charged to clients and that would present HL with a little local difficulty in explaining, auditing, refunding etc.
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Guy Craft | 23-May-2011 12:01 pm
@ City Gent - £1 million is a 'little incident'? Are you a lawyer or perhaps a MP..?
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Anonymous | 23-May-2011 12:11 pm
City Gent, are you taking the mick? He defrauded the Partnership of £1M. If the Police did nothing and I was a Partner, I would be launching a private prosecution.
Going to the Police should be the second course of action, the SRA being the first.
I do hope you're trying to be ironic
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Michael | 23-May-2011 12:39 pm
How ironic that he practices in litigation, insolvency and fraud. Would he represent himself if he was taken to court?
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Anon | 23-May-2011 1:06 pm
In what way would reporting the matter to COLP have preented disclosure of the resignation / dismissal?
A very poor excuse to use for non reporting.
What is a concern is that the SRA haven't reported this, or if they have that this hasn't been disclosed and that the disciplinary investigation is on hold while the police investigate.
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Anon | 23-May-2011 1:13 pm
The man is despicable and should be in prison. Frankly if Hogan Lovells don't want to contact the police then they should be prosecuted too.
This isn't going to go away, too many are simply too disgusted by this and the sheer moral hypocrisy.
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Anonymous | 23-May-2011 1:30 pm
It's normally about this point that the man himself pops up on these comment boards to say "I worked with Chris and he's a good egg, and I think it is a great shame that people are being beastly about him"
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Interested Observer | 23-May-2011 2:19 pm
Hmmmmmm.................how would this look in the Daily Mail?
FAT CAT LAWYERS LET MILLION POUND THEFT GO UNPUNISHED
YES, IT WAS ONE OF THEIR OWN WHO DID IT
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