Fabian Krougman plus wig and gown.
Bloomsbury has withdrawn an upcoming legal textbook from its website after questions were raised about one of the author’s qualifications.
Bloomsbury Professional listed The Law and Practice of Private Prosecutions for release in August, but this week the book was replaced by an error page on the publisher’s website.
The textbook was to be co-written by Fabian Krougman, a Dutch lawyer whose biography stated that he was a CILEx Advocate with higher rights of audience whose practice specialised in private prosecutions.
Last week Krougman confirmed to ROF that he wasn’t currently a CILEx advocate, and that he had stated that he had higher rights of audience in anticipation of passing exams which he unexpectedly failed.
Krougman also acknowledged that he didn’t carry out private prosecutions, but said, “I think it isn’t relevant. I can write about [it] because I know the law and the precedents”.
Before Bloomsbury deleted the book, it replaced its profile of Krougman with a much briefer version, but now that has also gone.
Further questions have been raised about Krougman’s habit of donning a barrister’s wig and gown, with critics accusing him of "cosplaying" as a barrister when he was not one.
Archived webpages from 2017 show that his old Netherlands company, ‘Krougman Chambers’, was accompanied with the tagline ‘Barrister + Juristen’, while emails show Krougman also described himself as a barrister.
Correspondence which Krougman posted on X showed that he asked the Bar Standards Board in 2016 whether he could call himself a barrister, signing his name "Fabian Krougman Esq - Barrister at Law".
“I have applied for a transfer as a foreign Lawyer. I do the BTT in August. I believe that during the process of transferring I can call myself Barrister. Is that correct”, he wrote.
The BSB replied, “You cannot call yourself a Barrister”.
Krougman responded, “But I believe I read that I can use the title on an ex temp basis during the process. It Said so in the reglementary document I read”.
The BSB’s reply is unavailable, although Krougman’s response indicates that the regulator's tone hardened. Under a new subject heading, “Holding Out as a Barrister”, he wrote back to the BSB, “There is no basis for any criminal charges because I did not hold myself out as barrister in England and had the genuine belief I was entitled to do so”.
Posting the exchange with the BSB on X, Krougman commented, "If you see some posts about me holding out as a barrister, please check these emails and my response. FYI this was in 2016 almost 10 years ago".
If anyone could write with authority on the pitfalls of appearing before a judge for Bloomsbury, it was Krougman. The Netherlands court archive reveals that many of his recorded cases have been dismissed, with judges holding that various claims were “filed entirely unnecessarily”, “initiated prematurely”, “manifestly unfounded”, and “groundless”.
Krougman told ROF, “The cases I try are difficult ones with specific problems” and said that "My practice consists of making settlements and not to litigate, except in the last resort”. The lawyer provided copies of two settlement agreements in favour of his clients.
Asked about his book’s disappearance from Bloomsbury and whether he had a law degree, Krougman said, "I don’t know nothing about Bloomsbury. So I can’t comment" and that “My CV speaks for itself”. Taking a leaf out of the BSB's book, he also told ROF, "I did not give you permission to use my first name”.
Bloomsbury did not respond to requests for comment.
Comments
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I think the deeper issue is how Bloomsbury came to commission what was going to be THE definitive textbook from a total chancer. How poor was their due diligence, and how easy is it to get a legal book contract?
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They Will be sorry - he had the genuine belief he was entiteld to call himself a Barrister as it indubitably Says so in the reglementary document. Simply and evidently the BSB and other bad actors causing trouble - when have they Won a private prosecution? Never.
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@09:09 - Hi Fabian! 👋
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Krougman isn’t a qualified lawyer in NL but an unqualified representative permitted to act in small claims in local courts. There is some doubt as to whether he even has a law degree.
If he had read the rules he must have known he was not even eligible to take the Bar Transfer Test as he is not a NL advocaat. It is a route for qualified foreign lawyers to become English barristers. The BSB made it clear to him that they weren’t even processing his application as he had not provided material that they needed in order to consider it.
It also defies belief that he made an honest mistake in thinking that he was entitled to call himself a barrister during the application process. Temporary call to the Bar is also only for qualified foreign lawyers and for the duration of a specific case in which they are appearing in an English court. And even temporary call requires joining an Inn of Court and the formality of being called to the Bar by the Inn, although without a ceremony. If Rumpole of Bergen Op Zoom had been genuinely pursuing the Bar Transfer Test route he also would have had to join an Inn of Court and could only describe himself as a barrister after a ceremony of Call to the Bar. How could a man as infatuated with the traditions and the court dress of the English Bar as he appears to be not know this?
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Why does he keep engaging????!!!
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“I regret any confusion on my part and Will refrain from use the title…”
“With kind regards, Fabian Krougman Esq - Barrister at Law”
🤔
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By that analysis, am I an astronaut (I built the Airfix Saturn V, aged 10) and Michelin chef (because I've watched a few and I do a mean cheesy-beans)? Where do I sign? Shorry, shign?
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@09:09 – Fabian, if you must post anonymously you could at least disguise your the grammatical error that appears in your email ("They Will" / "I Will").
More to the point, the co-author (who has impeccable credentials) has been badly let down by you. You should be ashamed of yourself.
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As further information emerges, and given there is plainly more that is not yet in the public domain, it is legitimate to ask what, if anything, the relevant Inn of Court can and should do.
He has presented himself with Middle Temple branding, including the tie, which naturally invites the inference that he is connected to that Inn, at least as a student member[?]. If that is untrue, it risks misleading the public further and those considering the profession. If it is true, it raises a different question about whether his conduct is compatible with the standards expected of those seeking admission to the Bar and the rules of the Inn.
Should Middle Temple now be looking at this?
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@10:37 - I'm not entirely sure that the co-author doesn't have a few questions to answer about how and why they came to agree to a co-authoring agreement with a bounder like Krougman.
Like, did she think to do any research into his background before agreeing? One is charitably assuming that she didn't know him in person, so wouldn't just a little bit of a Google to find out who the guy was have been a wise idea before saying Yes?
"Oh hey Chloe I've got a potential co-author for that dull book you're writing, he's called Osama bin La..."
"Yeah sweet, can he do Chapters 1 - 20 and I'll get to work on the Foreword? Hey, when's that advance royalty cheque coming from Bloomsbury again?"
Like, be for real, she was willing to put her name down alongside his but didn't once think to ask who the dude was and why she'd never heard of him?
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"Simply and evidently the BSB and other bad actors causing trouble - when have they Won a private prosecution?"
More to the point, when has Krougman?
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@09:56 - so happy that someone else got a laugh out of this. Lost a full mouthful of coffee when I read the emails the first time.
Top trolling Krougo.
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@Anonymous 30 January 26 09:23, Anonymous 30 January 26 10:37, Anonymous 30 January 26 11:03
To you guys and those who have upvoted you:
How stupid can you be? I (an anonymous REAL solicitor) wrote the comment at 09:09 OBVIOUSLY sarcastically USING THE SAME TYPOS HE USES IN THE EMAILS FFS.
It's not even fun trolling you turnips. You can't seriously be actual lawyers, can you? Who on earth is using this website and reading this. I could post this on Reddit and people without a tertiary education would see it for what it is.
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"I believe I read that I can..."
...
"[I] had the genuine belief I was entitled to do so"
So, he had this genuine belief on a point of regulatory law based on something that he cannot be certain he read?
I don't think the law is for Fabian.
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@11:22
You don't see that they are merely playing along with you?
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@11:03 - To be honest, if I was the co-author, I wouldn't plan on asking my co-author for his certificates. As far as Chloe was aware, he was a CIArb, CILEX, and presumably sold her a dream about how invested he is re: private prosecutions.
The buck certainly, however, falls on Bloomsbury. The lack of due diligence was shocking, and as an extension, they have also let her down.
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"It's not even fun trolling you turnips."
You seem more upset than anyone else on the thread.
I worry that the person you've trolled hardest is yourself.
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@09:23 He did NOT give you permission to use his first name.
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If this had happened to a Dutch person, hypothetically, what should they enter when asked "Have you ever been adjudged bankrupt or made a composition with creditors", when applying to join CILEx? https://www.faillissementenregister.com/Faillissement/249159/Oudenbosch/rechtspraktijkkrougman
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@11:03 - To be honest, if I was the co-author, I wouldn't plan on asking my co-author for his certificates.
Which I guess is why nobody on this thread has suggested such a thing.
What they seem to be saying is that it's remarkable that his co-author appears to have entered into the arrangement without doing even the slightest bit of diligence at all (charitably assuming that he was introduced by Bloomsbury as a complete stranger to her).
Just a brief Google of his name would have given one cause to ask some searching questions.
But no, too much to expect before slapping one's name down alongside theirs, apparently.
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The two authors met at the South Eastern Circuit Advanced International Advocacy Course at Keble College, Oxford in 2022. The course does accept international participants, but how did the administrators come to accept this one, who isn’t even a qualified advocate in his home country? And how did his co-author, who is a bona fide English barrister of impeccable credentials, come to agree to collaborate with him on the book? An intriguing question to which we are unlikely ever to learn the answer
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Calling himself 'Esq' was enough to expose him, as was using 'try' in its American sense.
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Arise the replacement to Lord Harley