Martyn Day stared at tanks from his window. In 2006, Leigh Day’s co-founder travelled to Ivory Coast in order to fight a lawsuit against Trafigura. Trafigura was accused of dumping toxic materials off the coast. When the Yorkshire-bred attorney checked into his Abidjan hotel, the Ivorian Civil War was raging. Tanks were literally parked outside his room. Day said, “I was a little iffy.” “I spent my first night wondering ‘God, what have I gotten myself into ?’.”
This was only one of many memorable moments in a long and exciting career. Day’s company has become the bete Noire for multinational companies. Volkswagen, Shell and British Airways all paid settlements in the millions after battling Leigh Day. Martyn Day is not in the mood to retire anytime soon.
Harrods is the latest target. The firm represents women who claim to have been sexually abused Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods. Leigh Day represents one woman, but has been contacted 70 times by women who have had similar experiences. Richard Meeran, who is representing Leigh Day, says: “This case should be viewed as a severe example of sex-trafficking, because it involved an organisation within Harrods and elsewhere that enabled the abuse by Al Fayed. Without this assistance and cooperation, it would not have been possible.”
Last week, new allegations involving his tenure as Fulham FC chairman emerged. The dispute has spread to other parts of Al Fayed’s empire. Meeran wants a public investigation, he says “this organisational structure facilitated abuse in many ways.”
Michael Ward, the Managing Director at Harrods, stated that he was “appalled by” these allegations, and Al Fayed had “operated Harrods as his personal fiefdom”. He continued: “The Harrods today is not the Harrods that existed under his ownership.” In response to the detailed information that has been revealed over the last 18 months, Harrods has developed a settlement procedure, which was designed with the help of independent experts in personal injury litigation. We encourage our former colleagues to use this process to reach out and get the support they need.
Leigh Day is one of the firms that represents women who have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods, of sexual abuse. Leigh Day, one of the last traditional partnerships (rather than a limited-liability partnership as are most law firms today), is not required to submit its financial statements to Companies House.
The scale of the fees is evident in its successes. Leigh Day has now 263 lawyers and runs the majority of its cases under a “no-win, no-fee” policy, which allows them to charge losing parties if they are successful in getting payouts for their claimants. Leigh Day, which now has 263 lawyers, runs most of its cases on a “no win, no fee” basis, allowing it to charge the losing party if it manages to get payouts for its claimants. In the Trafigura Case, Leigh Day won about £30 millions for their 30,000 claimants. The firm tried to charge £105,000,000 in fees to Singaporean trading giant. Leigh Day has not revealed how much it earned from Trafigura, but according to a source at the firm the amount was less than £105 million.
Leigh Day’s smaller, less-publicized cases are what keep the lights on all year. The firm has five divisions – human rights abuses; personal injury claims; medical negligence; employment claims and international claims.
Personal injury practice, for instance, represents cyclists who are knocked from their bikes. These cases are easier to prosecute, and more likely to be successful. Leigh Day could charge a fifth of the claimant’s winnings if they are over £10,000. They end up subsidizing the larger international cases that are less likely pay out, and which cost millions of dollars to prosecute.
Meeran said, “It’s important to do different types of jobs, some which are more lucrative and bring in more money steadily, and others which may be riskier but more profitable.”
This is the type of work that was once called “ambulance chasing”. In 2017, two paralegals from the firm were suspended for allegedly posting flyers in the vicinity of Grenfell Tower offering their services as legal counsel to the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. The firm claimed to have no knowledge of these flyers at the time. Paralegals also said that they were independent from the firm.
Meeran is not a fan of the term “ambulance chasing.” “Our cases are intended to provide legal recourse to clients who would otherwise have no access to justice, and to deter future wrongdoing.”
The company is also involved in a battle over equal pay with some of the UK’s largest retailers such as Sainsbury’s Asda, and Morrisons. These companies could be paying out hundreds of millions of pounds to claimants. Even with the cash generated from smaller wins, upfront costs can be high. Leigh Day then turns to specialist hedge funds as a source of external funding. Seven people were killed by toxic waste dumped on Abidjan rubbish dumps in 2006, a total of 500 tonnes.
These litigation funds invest huge sums in law firms, and then they take a cut, typically 25 percent, of their winnings. Pogust Goodhead is another firm that takes on international human rights cases. Its funding comes from litigation funders. The Gramercy investment manager, headed by economist Mohamed El Erian has a large litigation funds division, which is paying for Pogust Goodhead’s class action lawsuit against BHP in Brazil over the 2015 Samarco mine disaster.
Leigh Day’s equal pay battle against the UK’s largest retailers is one area in which it is believed to have used such external funding. The dispute centres on the fact retailers paid their male-dominated warehouse staff more money than their female-dominated shop floor staff. Leigh Day claims that this is a violation of the Equal Pay Act 2010. Retailers argue that the pay levels are a reflection of the huge differences between the roles. The warehouse job is physically and antisocial, so it requires a higher salary to attract employees.
A tribunal last month sided with the majority of Next’s female employees and awarded them a total of £30 million in back pay. Lord (Simon) Wolfson warned that the retailer could be forced to close certain stores as a result of the decision.
He said that “anything done to increase the costs, whether it’s wages, rents, or rates, will likely have an effect on the viability” of some stores. Wolfson said, “This certainly is not a danger.” We are simply pointing out that store closures and openings happen. It’s about costs going up in relation to sales.
Day ignored the warnings. Day dismissed the warnings.
Day began his legal career with Clifford Chance. It is one of London’s five “magic circle” law firms, which advises on corporate transactions. “Within five minute. He said, “I knew it wasn’t me.” He met Sarah Leigh at Bindman & Partners, and they formed a personal injury law firm in 1987. (Leigh retired from the firm in 2002).
In 1990, Greenpeace enlisted the firm to provide advice on a case against a nuclear leakage at Sellafield. In part, the case involved children who developed leukaemia allegedly due to exposure to radiation. Richard Meeran left his corporate law position at this time to join Leigh Day. He said that when he joined the firm, there were less than 10 of them. The firm has 839 employees, including 263 lawyers.
Sellafield’s case received significant media coverage, which is important to the company today. This month, it was one of the firms who took part in BBC’s Panorama documentary about the allegations against Al Fayed.
Martyn Day and supporters of three Kenyans, who claim to have been tortured by the British during the Mau Mau Uprising of 1950, celebrate a victory
It would also win compensation in the decades to come for Kenyans jailed or persecuted as a result of the Mau Mau revolt, Nigerians whose rivers were polluted by Shell and Windrush victims who struggled to prove their right to remain in the UK.
It also represented Iraqis who were mistreated by British troops. Day was brought before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for his handling of certain cases.
The firm acted for nine Iraqi soldiers, who claimed that the British Army murdered detainees in a battle. Al-Sweady’s inquiry into the deaths concluded that, while there had been abuse of prisoners, the worst allegations were made up. Day was cleared in 2017 of all charges. Day said, “I accept the fact that the evidence was not as strong as I thought when we did it.”
Day personally deals with Asda’s and Co-op’s equal-pay disputes. Dates for tribunals with Asda will be announced in the next few months. He said, “We’re pretty confident that we will win.” The 67-year old appears not to be planning to retire anytime soon. “Many people are excellent lawyers, but they just like to go into the office and have a stable job. “That’s fine, but not for me,” said the man.
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