A leading London barristers’ chambers has fallen victim to an alleged £2.75 million fraud by one of its former staffers, the High Court has heard.
Pump Court Chambers says former credit control manager Gillian Goodfield stole money while in charge of the bank account used to pay fees due to barristers.
The chambers says the matter has been reported to police, while a freezing order on Goodfield’s assets has been granted.
The missing money was revealed in a High Court judgment, after Deputy Judge Charles Morrison refused the chambers’ bid for the case to be dealt with in private.
In his ruling, he set out that Goodfield – also known as Gillian Brown – has signed a statement in which she “candidly admitted to her wrongdoing - she had indeed taken the money and now bitterly regretted it”.
“Until June of this year, Mrs Goodfield had responsibility for the bank account into which fees due to barristers were paid, and for ensuring that those funds were then paid on to the relevant barrister”, said the judge.
“Following her departure, Pump Court Chambers began to discover that during the past five years, Mrs Goodfield had stolen in the order of £2.75m from the bank account.”
She attended court and represented herself for the hearing on September 19, and did not seek to challenge the freezing order while “showing no little signs of distress”, added the judge.
“Her demeanour was consistent with the approach taken in her written evidence which was that she could not quite come to terms with the scale of her wrongdoing which she could now so very clearly see.”
A different judge, Mr Justice Edwin Johnson, agreed earlier this month to sit in private to deal with the initial application for a freezing order.
The chambers, which counts eight KCs as members, argued that the matter should continue to be kept quiet for at least the next four weeks, insisting that news of the missing money could “put at risk the integrity of the Chambers as a going concern”.
Current members of the chambers have been told about the alleged fraud, but past members were still in the dark, the court heard.
“Former members might make claims for sums unpaid to them, despite not having any continuing obligation to meet the expenses of the Chambers”, argued Saaman Pourghadiri, representing Pump Court.
“A spiral of decline could thus be the result of members of the Chambers arriving at the view that they should not be last to leave.”
But Judge Morrison concluded that the matter should now be made public, saying that while publicity “may be an inconvenience, perhaps even a severe distraction” there was no justification for a private High Court hearing.
“Former members of the chambers, and indeed solicitors’ firms having dealings with Pump Court Chambers, might want to know of the problem at the earliest opportunity”, he added.
“In my judgment it is not for the court to regulate such affairs without a proper case for doing so being put before it.”
In a statement on its website after the ruling, the chambers said: “Pump Court Chambers has discovered it has been the victim of a fraud by a former member of staff. This fraud took place some time ago and did not impact upon the operational running of chambers.
“Upon discovery we took immediate and decisive recovery action. We are pursuing all legal avenues vigorously.
“Chambers takes theft and fraud extremely seriously and has put in place new systems to address any future risks.
“Please rest assured that it is business as usual for our barristers and dedicated and trustworthy clerks, who remain fully committed to providing the highest standard of service to our clients. We appreciate your continued support during this time.
“As the matter is now in the hands of the police, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
