City-based law firm Fox Williams is positioning itself to act for private clients against banks in the expected credit crunch fallout.

Head of dispute resolution Tom Custance said very few City firms were able to act against the major banks.

“There’s a perception that there’s nobody who can act for those who want to sue the banks, as most City firms are instructed in one way or another by the major banks,” said Custance. “Our firm is such that we’re able to position ourselves to meet these clients’ needs.” Custance said Fox Williams was in a unique position after representing Belgian investment fund IFE against Goldman Sachs International earlier this year, where the global bank did not notify due diligence reports that cast doubt on IFE’s investment (The Lawyer, 20 August).

IFE lost the case, but Custance said: “It’s the only English reported case on the duties and obligations of a bank which underwrites and syndicates debt instruments.”