Saaman Pourghadiri successful in Internal Investigation costs assessment claim

Saaman Pourghadiri (instructed by Signature Litigation) acted for ENRC in its application to subject to detailed assessment bills rendered by Dechert LLP whilst assisting ENRC in relation to an internal investigation. As a result of the application succeeding c£16m in fees will be assessed, which according to the Times will be “one of the biggest-ever battles over City corporate legal fees“.

ENRC’s application was granted as the Master found there were “special circumstances” justifying such assessment, those circumstances including the peculiar nature of internal investigations conducted during the course of a dialogue with the SFO.

The SFO have also brought a claim concerning whether certain documents in the possession and/or control of ENRC were privileged. Saaman again acted as counsel for ENRC in that case, which the Lawyer has ranked as one of the top 20 cases of 2017.

The judgment, which can be found here, was widely covered in the press, including:

• http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/miner-battles-dechert-over-unrealistic-16m-legal-bill-xlwq7zzcp
• https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/decherts-16m-bill-in-fraud-office-case-unrealistic–judge/5059807.article

News 3 Mar, 2017