City lawyer in High Court ‘torture’ case

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the mining company, hopes to claim up to £70 million in damages from the Serious Fraud Office
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the mining company, hopes to claim up to £70 million in damages from the Serious Fraud Office
ENRC

A High Court judge last week described a City lawyer as being “obsessed with making money” in his ruling on a row between a mining company and fraud investigators. No wonder, then, that after Neil Gerrard and Dechert, the law firm where he was a partner, were sacked by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation over his unauthorised contact with the Serious Fraud Office, the solicitor cast around for another big-money client to fill the gap.

Gerrard and Dechert turned to Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates that form the UAE, and to its ruler, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al-Qasimi. However, the Philadelphia-based Dechert’s involvement with the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority quickly became cloaked in intrigue and now is the subject of lurid