Law firms have been warned by their regulator that they should not act as “hired guns” to silence critics of the wealthy, amid a spate of allegations of abusive litigation by Russian oligarchs since the invasion of Ukraine.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, has revealed it is investigating 40 cases of alleged strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps). There are “significant concerns being raised about solicitors making meritless claims on behalf of oligarchs to stifle public discourse about corruption or money laundering”, it said in a report published this week.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened scrutiny of the super-rich using litigation to try to silence critics and journalists reporting on allegations of corruption. That has in turn increased scrutiny by MPs and campaigners of British lawyers who act for wealthy foreign clients, including those subject to financial sanctions from the UK or its allies.
“Solicitors are not simply ‘hired guns’,” the SRA wrote. “That means they should not bring cases which are not properly arguable, bring excessive or oppressive proceedings, or act in a way which could mislead or take advantage of others during proceedings.”
The SRA also noted that lawyers have an obligation to report potential Slapps to the regulator. Its review of 25 firms found three instances where lawyers failed to report potentially abusive litigation.
One alleged Slapp case being investigating by the SRA is action by a London-based law firm on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who runs the Wagner group, a notorious mercenary army. Wagner has been accused of human rights abuses and murdering civilians in Mali and Central African Republic, and it has taken an increasingly important role in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
The SRA is investigating Discreet Law, a firm set up by the British lawyer Roger Gherson, in relation to a suit brought by Prigozhin against Eliot Higgins, a journalist and the founder of the Bellingcat journalism organisation, which had reported on his links to the Wagner group. The case was dismissed by the high court in London, and Higgins’s lawyers later complained to the SRA that this was a Slapp suit. Discreet Law stopped representing Prigozhin in March 2022, the Financial Times reported.
Discreet Law also acted in a libel action for Anar Mahmudov and Nargiz Mahmudova, the children of Eldar Mahmudov, a former Azerbaijani security minister. They tried to sue a Spanish journalist and five Spanish news outlets for defamation over “allegations about the origins of the family’s wealth”. A London judge said the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the claim.
Prigozhin is not the only Russia-linked oligarch under UK sanctions who has been represented by Gherson, who also operates the firm Gherson Solicitors, which he founded in 1988. Gherson worked with Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven to challenge EU sanctions placed on them because of the Ukraine war.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also prompted increased scrutiny of other services on offer from UK-based legal advisers. British MPs and transparency campaigners have raised concerns about abuse of “golden visa” schemes – which typically allow wealthy investors to apply for citizenship in return for investments. In the UK, the government’s “golden visa” scheme was targeted by people with suspected criminal links as well as 10 Russian oligarchs who were later subjected to sanctions, a government review disclosed last month.
Gherson is also linked to Discreet Advisory Services, a Monaco-based company offering advice to overseas clients that includes “secondary citizenship” services, which offer very wealthy clients the chance to apply for visas for different countries. OpenDemocracy first reported the link to the Monaco company.
A spokesperson for Discreet Law said: “As you will appreciate, as lawyers we are unable to disclose confidential information relating to our former clients. It is public knowledge that Discreet Law LLP acted for Mr Prigozhin and our position is that at all times we complied fully with our legal and professional obligations.”
A spokesperson for Gherson Solicitors LLP said: “As lawyers, we are unable to disclose confidential information about the legal services that we have provided to our clients.”
• The headline and text of this article were amended on 16 February 2023 to make it clear that the warning relates to solicitors in England and Wales who are regulated by the SRA.
