“The gist of the claim is that, in breach of an agreement (which I shall call “the investment agreement”) entered into on13 May 1998 between Mr Carr and a Bahamian company called Kelci Management Consultants Limited, under which Bower Cotton was to protect the$4 million fund belonging to Mr Carr and others, Bower Cotton, acting by a Mr Paul Simms, wrongly allowed the fund to be transferred out of client account to an account of an entity known as Kelly Pahl & Associates Limited at UniBank in Copenhagen whereby it was lost. There is a separate claim that Bower Cotton are in breach of the investment agreement by failing, in breach of clause 9, to return the$4 million following service on the firm of a notice under that clause. There is a yet further claim for damages for breach of an implied representation said to have been made by Bower Cotton that the investment scheme for the$4 million and those operating it were bona fide and honest. At the time of the events which gave rise to these proceedings Mr Simms was the senior partner of Bower Cotton. The firm was dissolved in April 2000 since when Mr Simms has been a partner in a successor firm called The Bower Cotton Partnership.”
“The impression I formed of Mr Simms was that he had approached the instructions he received -- both the information communicated to him and the actions which his clients asked him to take -- somewhat too credulously. It did not occur to him until some time after the money was lost that the strange transaction in which he was asked to involve his firm in was a dishonest device to part Mr Carr from$4 million . Indeed, he was as much duped by the fraudsters’ activities as was Mr Carr. The question which I have to determine is whether Mr Carr is able to shift onto Bower Cotton any of the blame for the$4 million loss.”
“This is an extraordinary tale of one man, the Appellant, Mr Carr, who, driven by the hope of fabulous profits, was duped into parting with a very large sum of money, and of another, Mr Simms, a solicitor in the respondent firm, who was prepared to allow himself and the facilities of his firm to be used in what turned out to be a huge financial swindle. The fraud appears to have been carried out by a company called Kelci Management Consultants Ltd (”
“No one has suggested that Mr Simms was a knowing party to the dishonesty.”
“Members of the public start from the basis that solicitors will not be involved in a transaction unless they have satisfied themselves that the transaction is appropriately documented and structured. Even if the respondents are successful on this appeal I do not think that they can claim that they are covered in glory. For that reason I regard the respondents’ characterisation of the appellant’s case as “opportunistic” as somewhat one-sided. I hope, in the interests of the good name of the legal profession, that solicitors, especially those from well established firms with a high reputation, will resist becoming involved in the same manner in future.”
“I find that The Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal made the following findings and the following comments about Mr Simms’ conduct of his profession as a solicitor.”
“The Tribunal finds that the schemes themselves involved promises of returns which no reasonable or competent solicitor could have regarded as obtainable without one or other party being involved in transactions which were likely to be fraudulent, illegal or otherwise improper. The involvement of Mr Simms, and often as someone who might benefit from such transactions, and the association that he had with Intermediaries and others who were promoting such transactions, made it impossible for him to give independent advice to all his clients. The Tribunal is satisfied that no such independent advice was given.”
“The Tribunal has no doubt that a transaction which on the face of it promises fantastic and incredible returns for no risk, does not have the quality of a likely lawful and honest transaction. Mr Simms did not establish the veracity of the transactions he encouraged nor the bona fides or honesty of those with whom he was dealing. He made no proper enquiry and he took on trust the extravagant and unlikely claims. This was not the conduct of an honest solicitor and he put his and the Profession’ reputation for prudence, integrity, honesty trustworthiness at serious risk. This is all the more so where (as the Tribunal has found) he acted in circumstances of acute conflicts of interest, ignored warnings from responsible third parties, eg banks or professional colleagues, and where he had an actual or potential or financial interest beyond any proper legal fees.”
“The most serious finding of the Tribunal was, of course, that Mr Simms was dishonest. We agree with the Tribunal that the pattern of behaviour by Mr Simms establishes that he was not merely foolish and credulous. He was prepared on occasion dishonestly to mislead in relation to the purpose of various transactions.... Accordingly we agree that his activities were, unfortunately, properly described as dishonest. That being the case, the order for Mr Simms be struck of the Roll is inevitable.”
“Therefore, the question I have to answer is not whether I would have reached the same decision to the Deputy Master but whether the Deputy Master erred in principle. The Claimant ... puts his case very clearly and forcefully, but he failed to persuade me that the learned Deputy Master made any error that would justify my interfering with his conclusion. He was right, in my judgment, to reject the Claimant’s submission that Master Bragge was misled as to the role of the bank. He was not. Mr Monty was right to say that none of the findings of dishonesty referred to and made in the judgments of Etherton J and Lawrence Collins J (as he then was) related to transactions in the Claimant’s funds. Certainly, those funds were referred to in the relevant judgment but neither judgment made any finding of dishonest in relation to such transactions.”
“Since this conversation I have had no wish to assist or be associated with the Plaintiff (that is Kelci) who I believe has seriously misled the court and persists in misleading the court, despite its knowledge to the contrary of what is proposed to in a certain affidavit.”
“I am most concerned about the wilful use of misinformation by the Plaintiff to harm Mr Pahl.”
“The Action has now been dormant for nearly 5 years. The events in question took place 7 years ago.”
“...on behalf of my firm and the Claimant that the freezing order granted be set aside and the undertakings and guarantees etc would all be (inaudible)...”
“This statement was not true, as Kelci was not aware that Mr Conlon had made the application. Mr Conlon had no instructions from Kelci to make such an application. Kelci was not advised prior to the application or after the order, of Mr Conlon’s action. The Bower Cotton Partnership had never accounted to Kelci for the cash obtained for supporting the cross-undertakings and I requested it from them in late 2006.”
“The power of the court under these rules to make an order includes the power to vary or revoke the order.”
“The Deputy Judge exercised a discretion under Rule 13.3. It is not open to me as a judge exercising a parallel jurisdiction in the same division of the High Court to entertain what would in effect be an appeal from that order. If the Defendant wished to challenge whether the order made by Mr Berry was disproportionate and wrong in principle, then he should have applied for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. I have been given no real reasons why this was not done. That course remains open to him even today, although he will have to persuade the Court of Appeal of the reasons why he should have what, on any view, is a very considerable extension of time. It seems to me that the only power available to me on this application is that contained in ruleCPR Part 3.1 (7), which enables the court to vary or revoke an order. This is not confined to purely procedural orders and there is no real guidance in the White Book as to the possible limits of the jurisdiction. Although this is not intended to be an exhaustive definition of the circumstances in which the power underCPR Part 3.1 (7) is exercisable, it seems to me that, for the High Court to revisit one of its earlier orders the Applicant must either show some material change of circumstances or that the judge who made the earlier order was misled in some way, whether innocently or otherwise, as to the correct factual position before him. The latter type of case would include, for example, a case of material non-disclosure on an application for an injunction. If all that is sought is a reconsideration of the order on the basis of the same material, then that can only be done, in my judgment, in the context of an appeal. Similarly, it is not, I think, open to a party to the earlier application to seek in effect to re-argue that application by relying on submissions and evidence which were available to him at the time of the earlier hearing, but which, for whatever reason, he or his legal representatives chose not to employ. It is therefore clear that I am not entitled to entertain this application on the basis of the Defendant’s first main submission that Mr Berry’s order was in any event disproportionate and wrong in principle, although I am bound to say that I have some reservations as to whether he was right to impose a condition of this kind without in terms enquiring whether the Defendant had any realistic prospects of being able to comply with that condition.”
“In truth, Mr Carr was inviting the court to speculate as to what might have been the outcome of the Mareva proceedings in the absence of evidence that the proceedings had produced an outcome which saved the fund and in circumstances in which there was material before the Master on which he could properly base his conclusion, that no assets were secured by the Mareva injunction.”