The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined White & Case £250,000 and one of its partners £50,000 for breaching conflict of interest rules.
Handed the largest penalty the SDT has ever levied, the firm accepted that it had "acted recklessly" in relation to a former client, Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.
The firm was instructed by Pinchuk in his $2 billion mining dispute with two other Ukrainian billionaires, Belgravia-based Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Geneva-based banking tycoon Igor Kolomoisky, famous for building a private army to fight Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine. But in 2014 the High Court barred White & Case from acting for Pinchuk after finding that the firm had failed to identify a conflict of interest.
Pinchuk settled out-of-court with Bogolyubov and Kolomoisky in 2016, but White & Case was referred to the SRA. This week the SDT, whose full ruling will be released in a few weeks, found that White & Case allowed work to be carried out without taking "adequate steps" to ensure that no conflict or significant risk of conflict existed between the interests of clients. It also ruled that the firm had failed to take adequate steps to ensure information provided by clients remained confidential, and that it acted recklessly. David Goldberg, an international arbitration lawyer and the lead partner on the matter, was found to have provided confidential information to another White & Case partner acting on a conflicting matter. He was ordered to pay £50,000 in addition to the firm's £250,000.
It means Clyde & Co's record for the highest ever SDT fine, £80,000, has been smashed in just four months. But rather than offer a jubilant rendition of "Dedication", a spokesman for White & Case said, "While it would not be appropriate to comment until the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has published its judgment, we have been cooperating fully with the SRA and accept the orders which will be made by the SDT. We are committed to upholding the legal industry’s highest standards at all times, in all of the jurisdictions where we operate".
Meanwhile, in an unfortunate coincidence, the SDT has itself been caught failing to keep information confidential.
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Handed the largest penalty the SDT has ever levied, the firm accepted that it had "acted recklessly" in relation to a former client, Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.
The firm was instructed by Pinchuk in his $2 billion mining dispute with two other Ukrainian billionaires, Belgravia-based Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Geneva-based banking tycoon Igor Kolomoisky, famous for building a private army to fight Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine. But in 2014 the High Court barred White & Case from acting for Pinchuk after finding that the firm had failed to identify a conflict of interest.
Pinchuk settled out-of-court with Bogolyubov and Kolomoisky in 2016, but White & Case was referred to the SRA. This week the SDT, whose full ruling will be released in a few weeks, found that White & Case allowed work to be carried out without taking "adequate steps" to ensure that no conflict or significant risk of conflict existed between the interests of clients. It also ruled that the firm had failed to take adequate steps to ensure information provided by clients remained confidential, and that it acted recklessly. David Goldberg, an international arbitration lawyer and the lead partner on the matter, was found to have provided confidential information to another White & Case partner acting on a conflicting matter. He was ordered to pay £50,000 in addition to the firm's £250,000.
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"I want your Pinchuk." "How dare you." |
It means Clyde & Co's record for the highest ever SDT fine, £80,000, has been smashed in just four months. But rather than offer a jubilant rendition of "Dedication", a spokesman for White & Case said, "While it would not be appropriate to comment until the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has published its judgment, we have been cooperating fully with the SRA and accept the orders which will be made by the SDT. We are committed to upholding the legal industry’s highest standards at all times, in all of the jurisdictions where we operate".
Meanwhile, in an unfortunate coincidence, the SDT has itself been caught failing to keep information confidential.