Inquiries: Advice to Lord Justice Leveson

BBC Radio 4: Law in Action 26th October 2011 As the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press takes evidence, Joshua Rozenberg looks at the expanding role of public inquiries and independent reviews, their practices and procedures and how accountable they are. In his inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson is seeking an inclusive approach, holding open seminars and teach-in sessions and creating a role for "core participants" who have demonstrated a special interest in the Inquiry's work. The panel of experts working with the judge has been chosen, it is claimed, for its independence. But just how transparent will the Inquiry be? Joshua Rozenberg talks to those involved in previous high-profile public inquiries to discover what effect they have had on our law and public policy, whether they represented value for money for the taxpayer and whose interests they really served.
Among those taking part are:

Lord Falconer, former Lord Chancellor;

Inquiries expert, Richard Lissack QC;

Inquirer into the death of Victoria Climbie, Lord Laming;

Inquirer into the deaths caused by Harold Shipman, Dame Janet Smith; and

Inquirer into the Soham murders and child protection issues, Lord Bichard.

Producer: Simon Coates.

To hear the programme in full click here.

Legal professionals welcome HSBC win in latest round of landmark SARs anonymity battle

 
Oct 20 2011 Martin Coyle Thomson Reuters

Legal professionals have endorsed HSBC Private Bank's victory against a $300 million claim from a wealthy individual which, had it lost, could have forced banks to disclose the reasons for filing suspicious activity reports (SARs). The Court of Appeal decision has reaffirmed an earlier judgment which ruled that the bank should not have to disclose the names of employees who reported suspicions about multi-million pound bank transfers involving the client to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Lawyers said the decision was sensible, and a boost both for banks and those staff who had to report SARs. The ruling is the latest stage in a long-running case which dates back to September 2006, when the Court of Appeal struck out an appeal by Jayesh Shah and his wife Shaleetha Mahabeer that the bank should reveal the identities of bank staff involved in blocking a series of bank transfers totalling more than $38 million. The judgment has confirmed an earlier High Court decision which ruled that bank employees should be covered by public interest immunity, adding that it was "entirely appropriate" for the bank to protect the identities of its employees. Lord Justice Lewison said in this latest judgment: "The more I listened to the explanation of why the claimants wanted the names, the more convinced I became that, to use the familiar cliché, this was a fishing expedition." Jonathan Fisher QC, a barrister at Devereux Chambers, said that the decision was sensible and a fillip for the bank. He said that it was always likely that public interest would "trump" any request to disclose employee names. A sense of relief Fisher told Thomson Reuters: "The courts and the government authorities must bend over backwards to preserve anonymity. The reality is that reporters are being compelled by the state to act as unpaid covert informants, and if you are an unpaid covert informant the least the state could do or the courts could do is protect and preserve your anonymity. If this is the deal the government has cut with us then that has got to be right." Philip Rubens, a partner at Finers Stephens Innocent, said that banks were likely to be "relieved" by the decision. He said that Shah had been unable to demonstrate that any individual at the bank had acted maliciously towards him in blocking his funds. The ruling seemed to demonstrate that as long as doubt could not be cast on the "genuineness" of an employee's suspicion then an individual's identity was unlikely to be disclosed. Rubens told Thomson Reuters: "It is only in circumstances, I see, where a claimant is in a situation where he can demonstrate that the suspicions were not in any event justified that the individual's identity will then have to be disclosed." He added that the decision was a "setback" for Shah and said that in future claimants would have to prove that an employee had acted "maliciously" in blocking a client's funds. "Without that knowledge they are going to have very great difficulty in getting information about particular individuals within the bank structure who may have been party to the decision-making process," he explained. Brian Dilley, a partner at KPMG largely agreed and said it was a welcome verdict for banks: "It protects the identity of those reporting SARs where there is no suggestion of bad faith on the reporter’s part. However, the question of whether public interest immunity can be applied where there is an allegation of bad faith has been parked, so the judgement only partially answers the question. There is still a risk that the reporter could be identified when there is an arguable case that the initial report was made in bad faith but, for the majority of reporters, this is a small risk," he told Thomson Reuters. The case has been centred on HSBC Private Bank's decision to block four separate bank transfers between September 2006 and February 2007, and to file SARs on account holder Shah when he attempted to transfer his money to other accounts. The bank suspected that Shah was laundering money and delayed the transactions while it awaited notification from the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The freezing of his money in one particular transaction led the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe also to freeze Shah's cash which, according to Shah, meant he lost substantial interest on his Zimbabwe money. SOCA subsequently gave HSBC permission to carry out the transaction, ruling that it was bona fide. The claim was initially struck out in January 2009, but the pair where later given leave to continue their case following an appeal last year. In a witness statement disclosed at an earlier court hearing Michael Wigley, a manager in the bank's anti-money laundering department whose name was disclosed, said that the bank's money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) considered each and every SAR. Wigley, who was responsible for filing SARs to SOCA, said his team looked at all internal reports in order to weigh up their validity. "We would need to have our own independent suspicion based on the factual information known to us before submitting a SAR to SOCA," he said. Daren Allen, a partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner who is defending the bank, welcomed the ruling. "It's a very good decision for banks and bank staff who report suspicions," he told Thomson Reuters. Edwards Wildman Palmer, the law firm, which is representing Shah and Mahabeer, declined to comment. The case is expected to be heard in December.

HSBC Wins Case Over Employee Names in Money Laundering Suit

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA)’s U.K. private banking unit won a ruling over whether it had to disclose the identity of employees who reported clients’ suspicious financial transactions to authorities. A London appeals court said today that a Zimbabwean couple didn’t have the right to discover which HSBC employees reported attempted money transfers from their account to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The employees, whose names were redacted by the bank during litigation, suspected the money may have been criminal property, according to the judgment.

To view this article in full click here

Outer Temple Chambers has been recommended as a TOP TIER SET

Outer Temple Chambers has been recommended as a TOP TIER SET in 1 practice area:

LONDON BAR
- Health and safety - Leading Sets

Whilst Richard Lissack QC has been recommended asa leading Silk in seven areas of law:


LONDON BAR
Banking and finance (including consumer credit) - Banking and finance - Leading Silks

Civil liberties and human rights (including public inquiry law and actions against the police) - Civil liberties and human rights - Leading Silks

Clinical negligence and healthcare - Leading Silks

Employment - Leading Silks

Fraud: crime (including money laundering and asset forfeiture) - Fraud:
crime - Leading Silks

Health and safety - Leading Silks

Professional discipline and regulatory law (including police law) - Leading Silks

Lawyers shocked at £3m Dowler payout

Frances Gibb Legal Editor - The Times
The £3 million reported total shocked lawyers last night who said that it was without precedent. The figure dwarfs sums payable for most personal injury claims — as well as the sums paid in damages for breaches of privacy. Richard Lissack, QC, a leading lawyer with extensive experience of civil claims, said: “This award is not in any sense comparable with what you’d expect as compensation for the loss of an arm, or eye — it is a different order of magnitude. Those awards could be in six figures. “But the size of it mimics the noise surrounding this issue. If you have suffered an accident, and you are reading your newspaper and you see this award — terrible though the hacking was — you might feel there is somewhat of a disparity.”
To read this article in full click here.

Enforcement matters New Law Journal Roundtable

How Bribery Act-compliant is UK Plc? James Baxter reports from New Law Journal’s expert roundtable on how & when the enforcement agencies are likely to use their new powers.
Download the PDF

Book Review: Lissack and Horlick on Bribery – The Bribery Act from both sides of the pond

A very good book on the Bribery Act. Written and edited by Richard Lissack QC and Fiona Horlick it is available to buy from Lexis Nexis Butterworths here for £200. The book is a compendium of various contributors work all expertly reviewed by Richard and Fiona before it went into print. The book starts with a brief look at the history and context of the new Act, goes through the old legislation which it replaces, before getting into the Act in detail and taking a look at related legislation. Relevance of the US FCPA As regular readers of thebriberyact.com will know, in the absence of any decided cases in the UK under the Bribery Act (though this may change soon...), we often take the approach of looking to the US for a steer on the likely development of the Bribery Act. This book takes a similar approach. To read this article in full please click here.

The UK Government has announced a judicial inquiry into the News International phone-hacking affair.

The UK Government has announced a judicial inquiry into the News International phone-hacking affair. As both the noise surrounding the issue and the list of casualties continues to grow, in the eye of the engulfing storm sits Lord Justice Leveson, who has been appointed to chair both limbs of the inquiry. His work will provide the calm centre where matters as simple and uncontroversial as the future of constitutional governance and the interaction of the executive and the fourth estate are mulled and answers delivered – within a year, working under intense and constant scrutiny, and, oh yes, he must be careful not to prejudice any criminal proceedings. A tall order? Yes. Deliverable? Yes, probably. To read the article in full please click here.

Lissack: No room for error in Leveson LJ hacking inquiry

The Lawyer.com 25th July 2011. Richard Lissack QC

Opinion: No room for error in Leveson LJ's hacking inquiry

As the noise surrounding the ­phone-hacking issue becomes ever louder and the list of casualties ever longer, in the eye of the engulfing storm sits Lord Justice ­Leveson’s inquiry.
It provides the calm centre, where matters as simple and uncontroversial as the future of ­constitutional governance and the ­interaction of the executive and the fourth estate are to be mulled and answers ­delivered within a year, working under intense and constant scrutiny and, oh yes, please don’t prejudice any criminal ­proceedings. A tall order? Yes. ­Deliverable? Probably. To discharge this daunting burden it is essential that the inquiry adheres to six principles vital to the efficacy of any public inquiry: #Independence: it must be beyond reproach if the chairman’s conclusions are to command any confidence. For this ­reason, the calls for a ’judge-led inquiry’ have been answered with the appointment of Leveson LJ, whose independence is beyond doubt. The appointment of his panel members will be interesting and will present a challenge if they are to bring expert knowledge to the inquiry while being demonstrably independent of press, police, government and so forth. To read this article in full pleaseclick here.

Shares rally but questions remain for Murdochs

FT.com 20th July 2011

By Salamander Davoudi and Kate Burgess in London and Dan McCrum and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York.
Shares in News Corp staged a strong rally during Rupert and James Murdoch’s marathon parliamentary hearing, but US and UK investors said questions remained over whether either man may have to surrender part of his responsibilities. Shareholders expressed relief that the session had revealed little in the way of new damaging information, and News Corp’s stock climbed steadily through the three-hour hearing.
 

To read this FT article in full click here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3dc7a39a-b223-11e0-9d80-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1SvS73kcm

Top Judge To Lead Hacking Inquiry

Leading regulatory law barrister Richard Lissack QC told Sky News that Justice Leveson was the right man for the job, describing him as "intellectually rigorous" and "fiercely independent".

To read this article and extensive interview in full click here.

Hacking inquiries 'must start now' - Lissack on Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 Today Programme 13th July 2011
Richard Lissak QC: " There would be perhaps an unhappiness at parking the entire matter while a police enquiry takes place."
A spokesman for the campaign group Hacked Off will meet David Cameron today to talk about planned judicial inquiries into the phone hacking scandal. Former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who speaks for the campaign, explains why they must be "clear and transparent". Richard Lissack QC looks at the best way to make "long and protracted inquiries" effective.
To listen to this interview in full click here.

FSA bans and fines self employed trader £700,000 for market abuse

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has obtained a court order preventing Barnett Michael Alexander, a self employed trader, from committing market abuse and ordering him to pay a £700,000 fine and £322,818 in restitution to firms which experienced a loss as a result of his actions. The FSA has also banned Alexander from performing any function in relation to a regulated activity, and he has transferred to the firms a further £306,312 held in trading accounts controlled by him. In the period 1 January 2009 to 25 May 2010 Alexander, an experienced trader and former private client stockbroker, was operating as a self-employed trader dealing in shares and retail derivative products such as contracts for differences (CFDs) and spread bets from his home address.
To read this article in full click here.

Richard Lissack QC of Outer Temple Chambers has been appointed as a corporate monitor for Innospec Inc.

The appointment is the first-ever joint US/UK monitorship. The role is part of a $40.2m bribery settlement Innospec reached with the US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the UK Serious Fraud Office. Click here for article.

Protecting businesses with the Bribery Act

Billed as one of the toughest anti-corruption and bribery legislation in the world, the Bribery Act 2010, set to come to effect on July 1, 2011 aims to ensure that UK is at the forefront of the battle against bribery and pave the way for fairer practice by encouraging businesses to adopt anti-bribery safeguards To read the full article click here.

Bribery and Corruption - another first for Bedell Cristin

Within a matter of hours of the announcement and publication of the new Bribery Act, Bedell Cristin in conjunction with Outer Temple Chambers, hosted a seminar at the Royal Yacht Hotel aimed specifically at making Jersey trustees aware of the relevance to them of this particularly long arm piece of UK domestic legislation. With the contents of the Official Guidance having been rapidly digested, the panel provided 60 or so Jersey trust practitioners with a detailed analysis on how the Act might affect their businesses. To read this extract in full please click here.

Lissack and Horlick write easy to use guide to new Bribery Act 2010

Are you prepared for the new Bribery Act?
This LexisNexis publication offers a comprehensive
overview of the new legislation set in both a national
and international context with a full explanation of
the scope of the Act together with guidance on anticorruption
measures and sentencing.
To pre-order your copy
please visit www.otilaw.com/bribery

Leaked Bribery Act changes 'unfair to UK companies'

Institutional investors have reacted with fury to leaked changes to the Bribery Act that could exempt foreign domiciled companies that are listed in London from prosecution under the new law. To read this article in full click here.

Justice minister tries to ease anti-bribery rules

Foreign companies that are listed on the London stock market but have no other presence in the UK should not be liable for prosecution under the Bribery Act, according to guidance being drawn up by the Ministry of Justice. Draft wording, seen by the Guardian, appears to indicate that the justice minister, Kenneth Clarke, is seeking to tightly define the scope of the otherwise wide-ranging act, which was passed by parliament in the last days of the Labour government. To read this article in full click here.

Company guilty of Cheltenham geologist's manslaughter

A Gloucestershire firm has become the first company to be convicted under new corporate manslaughter legislation. Geologist Alexander Wright, 27, from Cheltenham, died at a development site in Brimscombe Lane, near Stroud, when a trench collapsed on him. Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings denied killing Mr Wright in the accident which happened in September 2008.
To read this article in full click here:

Norwich student launches £2m damages claim against former Beccles landlord

A Norwich student who lost all the skin below her neck during a horrific fire in her rented flat has launched a £2m damages claim against her former landlord. Catering student Layla Skalli was 19 in April last year when she suffered 80pc burns in a blaze which tore through her flat in Magdalen Street, Norwich. Layla, now 20, was subjected to such intense heat that her hair melted to the floor of her bedroom and she burnt the hands of the fireman who rescued her through his protective clothing. Her landlord, Michael Billings, 55, of Barsham, near Beccles, was jailed for 30 months on May 7 at Norwich Crown Court, when he admitted 14 breaches of health and fire safety laws. That was later cut to 21 months after he agreed to pay Miss Skalli £20,000 in immediate compensation. But now Miss Skalli, who told the EDP in May that her life had been “destroyed” by her injuries, has launched a £2m civil claim against her former landlord at London’s High Court. Christopher Wilson-Smith QC, for Miss Skalli, told Judge Richard Lissack QC that the landlord’s insurers have refused to indemnify him for the damages claimed by Miss Skalli, and that a £2m freezing order has been imposed over his assets.

To read this article in full click here.

Family awarded £500,000 after man dies of seizure

The family of a London man who died after he was incorrectly prescribed a combination of drugs has been awarded £500,000 in damages. Theo Osgerby, 29, died at his home in May 2005 after suffering a seizure.

Deputy Judge Richard Lissack QC said at London's High Court Mr Osgerby was the victim of "error after error".
To read the article in full click here

Lissack wins Chambers UK Bar Awards 2010

Richard Lissack has won the Chambers UK Bar Award 2010 for his work in the area of Health & Safety law.

Lissack speaks at International Securities Litigation Conference 23rd Nov 2010

International Securities Litigation Conference 23 November 2010 Central London
Financial institutions find themselves more exposed than ever to potential claims arising out of transactions carried out in the frenzy that preceded the credit collapse. This conference, chaired by Lord Goldsmith QC, represents a unique opportunity for you to examine the complexities of these claims with a panel of leading experts including:

• John O’Conor, Allen & Overy LLP


• Ian Moulding, Clifford Chance


• Philip Parish, Hogan Lovells


• Richard Lissack QC, Outer Temple Chambers


• Hardeep Nahal, Herbert Smith


• Chris Warren-Smith, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP


• Ewan Brown, Slaughter and May

 
To see the full details of ths conference click here

New whistleblowing legislation puts US regulators on the back foot

Dodd-Frank Act paves way for a slew of claims and new entrants to the market. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other US regulators will be unable to cope with the expected flood of fraud-related allegations following the introduction of new whistleblower legislation. That is the conclusion of one high-profile New York litigation partner, who adds that the ­expected avalanche of new claims will be “a real challenge” for the SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Outer Temple silk Richard ­Lissack QC, who will be in New York this week for his chambers’ launch, says he is currently involved in four cases with US clients, two of which include issues relating to whistleblowing. . “The rationale for it is that too many people were frightened of losing their job if they blew the whistle, but this is a very big shift in the opposite direction,” argues Lissack. “You’ve got a situation now where the whistleblower’s protected and can’t have their employment terminated, where the company that’s been accused of fraud must continue to embrace the person who blew the whistle and, what’s worse, consider the fact that they may have done it quite wrongly, either out of spite or simply for financial gain.”
To read the article in full click here

Postcard from... Glastonbury

Glastonbury has it all: 1,000 acres of Somerset is turned for a week in June into a city within a steel ring.

On the inside 180,000 live, love, lounge and long for a connection with this unique event. What is special about this festival is that it works in spite of itself: its many faces, the contradictions and tensions, this is where for a few days reality and myth collide but do not crash. To read the article in full click here

Tulkinghorn: Rock, roll and home for bed

Outer Temple ­Chambers’ Richard Lissack QC is not only all over The Lawyer’s back page this week. Later this week he will be all over the ­Glastonbury festival, whooping it up watching acts such as ­Stevie Wonder, Florence & the Machine and his ­personal fave, Muse. For the full article click here

Outer Temple's Lissack teaches RADA students a thing or two about courtroom drama

“There’s a lot of similarity between acting and the law,” says Victoria Ross. It is an observation many lawyers may make at leisure, but Ross is coming at it from a ­different perspective: she is one of around 40 students at RADA who spent a couple of hours last week with Richard Lissack QC of Outer Temple Chambers in a session on advocacy and rhetoric. To read this article in full click here.

Innocent's loss

The FSA’s pursuit of Andrew Rimmington and two others for insider trading failed when all three were found not guilty. But is it fair that the loss of his job can be written off as collateral damage?

To read the article in full please click on

City lawyer acquitted of insider dealing

A City lawyer accused by the financial services watchdog of insider dealing was today acquitted by Southwark Crown Court. Michael McFall, a former partner at US firm McDermott Will & Emery, was acquitted of eight counts of insider dealing by the Financial Services Authority (pictured). Finance director Andrew King was also acquitted of the same charges. Andrew Rimmington, former partner at US firm Dorsey & Whitney, had also been on trial on the same charges. However, Judge Testar discharged the jury from considering the case against him midway through proceedings for personal reasons. The FSA offered no evidence against Rimmington and not guilty verdicts were entered on his behalf. To read this article in full click here

FSA loses first insider dealing case

An accountant and two lawyers accused of insider dealing walked free from court today, marking the first time the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has lost such a prosecution. Andrew King, former finance director of NeuTec Pharma, and Michael McFall and Andrew Rimmington, former partners at US law firms, were acquitted of all charges by a jury after less than 90 minutes of deliberations. To read the article in full pleaseclick here.

Lawyers named in FSA insider dealing case acquitted

The two lawyers accused by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of insider dealing have been acquitted at Southwark Crown Court.

Former Dorsey & Whitney partner Andrew Rimmington and former McDermott Will & Emery partner Michael McFall were in 2006 accused of being passed information about Novartis’ £305m takeover of Neutec by the latter’s finance director Peter King, who was also acquitted (20 May 2009).

The case marks the first time the FSA has lost a criminal prosecution for insider dealing since the first case was launched in 2008. Rimmington was represented by Saunders Law Partnership regulatory partner Stephen Gilchrist, who instructed Richard Lissack QC and Oliver Assersohn of Outer Temple Chambers. Rimmington was originally represented by Barlow Lyde & Gilbert financial services partner Ian Mason.

To read this article in full please click here.

Richard named in The Lawyer's 'Hot 100 2010' Awards

"The Lawyer Hot 100 2010 recognises a group of lawyers who have been at the top of their games throughout the economic crisis. As ever, individuals included here are a mixture of the great, the good and the gifted." To read the whole review click here...

The Chambers. The BBC Radio 4 'fly on the wall' documentary about Outer Temple Chambers.

The Chambers Part 2. BBC Radio 4  follows the barristers, clerks and staff of one of London's leading law chambers as they prepare for the upheaval caused by the implementation of the 2007 Legal Services Act.
To listen to the programme in full please click on: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lrv4w/The_Chambers_Episode_2/
 

The Chambers - Part 1 of BBC Radio 4's barristers documentary

BBC Radio 4 follows the barristers, clerks and staff of one of London's leading law chambers as they prepare for the upheaval caused by the implementation of the 2007 Legal Services Act.
Listen to The Chambers on Radio 4
 

Are some of the UK's biggest corporate fraudsters now practically immune from prosecution? BBC Radio Four investigates. To listen to the BBC Radio 4 programme in full click on http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lp32g/File_on_4_21_07_2009/