Biglaw

Spying On A Biglaw Partner Is TOTALLY NORMAL, Attorney Tells Judge

This is... one way to deal with litigation.

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This is, well, something. We don’t cover every time a Biglaw partner sues someone, but this one is a doozy.

Neil Gerrard is partner in the London office of Dechert’s white collar, compliance and investigations practice. In a complaint, Gerrard alleges a plot of long-term surveillance carried out by a former client, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC), and says the scheme was illegal harassment designed to intimidate him. He’s suing for misuse of private information, trespass, harassment, and data protection breaches. According to the complaint, operatives for ENRC placed a tracking device on his car and followed. He also alleges hidden cameras were installed at his home and there was a bungled attempt spy on him and his wife while they were on vacation in St. Lucia.

In a separate, but apparently related matter, ENRC is suing their former attorneys at Dechert and inter alia, the former prime minister of Kazakhstan, in a legal fight over the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation into bribery and corruption allegations, though SFO has not, as of yet, filed any charges against ENRC. In that case ENRC general counsel, Beat Ehrenberger, alleged Gerrard referred to billing practices in that case as being, “in rape mode.” 

In a recent hearing, as reported by Law360, Tom de la Mare, ENRC’s counsel, said there was nothing wrong with the surveillance, besides, it’s totally normal:

Installing camouflaged hidden cameras in a hedge outside Gerrard’s home supported ENRC’s “legitimate aim” of investigating suspected wrongdoing intended to be the subject of the mining company’s lawsuits against the SFO and Dechert, de la Mare said.

ENRC didn’t intend for Gerrard to uncover what it was doing, and so it makes no sense for him to claim the company was intentionally harassing him, de la Mare argued. The firm ENRC hired, Diligence International, carefully concealed its equipment up to professional standards and employed tactics used by the British military, he added.

“Where is the harassment if the surveillance was undetected,” de la Mare asked. “Let’s be blunt about it, this type of surveillance used to be common in commercial litigation.”

Surveillance isn’t illegal just because there’s a risk of detection, it has to be “oppressive” or “unreasonable,” de la Mare told Richard Spearman QC, sitting as a judge of the High Court.

A spokesperson for ENRC called the case “misconceived.” Regardless of the legal merits, it at least gets a gold star for weirdest Biglaw story of the day.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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