The former leadership team of collapsed Manchester firm Cobbetts, most of whom are now partners at DWF, are to be prosecuted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for incompetence.
Ex-managing partner Nick Carr, ex-senior partner Stephen Benson, ex-finance director James Boyd, along with ex-partners Paul Brown, Mark Gibson, Richard Webb, Jeremy Green and non-lawyer Stephen Thornton, are all accused of being “responsible individually and/or collectively for providing misleading information and/or for failing to provide material information" to relevant parties. By doing so, says the SRA, they "exhibited manifest incompetence". Carr, Boyd and Brown are also charged with providing misleading information and/or failing to provide material information to the SRA.
All except Thornton face the further charges of causing Cobbetts to be unable to meet its debts*, causing partners’ drawings to exceed profits, and failing to have an appropriate contingency plan in place. According to the SRA this meant they were responsible for "failing to run the business" or carry out their roles "effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles". As a result they "exhibited manifest incompetence”.
When Cobbetts collapsed in 2013 over 400 staff and partners were acquired by DWF as part of a pre-pack administration. Five of the eight individuals to be prosecuted, Carr, Benson, Brown, Gibson and Webb, all joined DWF as partners. Benson is currently the firm's client strategy partner and sits on its client development executive board, while Brown is head of its Birmingham corporate team. Webb has subsequently become a consultant for TLT, while Boyd is now CEO of Manchester financial services firm Stanton Fisher. Boyd wisely does not refer to Cobbetts by name on his LinkedIn profile, citing 13 years as FD at a "Top 100 legal firm" instead.
A spokesperson for the former Cobbetts partners said, “The SRA allegations, coming some four years after Cobbetts’ sale, are misconceived and are fully, and strenuously, denied. The evidence demonstrates that we acted appropriately and with propriety throughout”. A DWF spokeswoman said, “The individuals concerned now at DWF have our full support. Given the allegations relate to a time when they were at Cobbetts, it is not a matter for DWF to comment on”. A spokeswoman for TLT said, "We continue to support Richard during this time, but won't be commenting on this case which relates to his time at Cobbetts and before he joined the firm".
Asked why it had taken four years to tackle Cobbetts mismanagement, a spokesman for the SRA told RollOnFriday, “This was a complex case involving an unusually large number of respondents, so it has taken a long time to bring this prosecution”.
*Spooking responsible law firm managers everywhere, the SRA's original charge sheet stated that the Cobbetts team were being prosecuted for causing the firm to be able to meet its debts. The error was corrected once RollOnFriday pointed it out. Sorry, defendants. That would have been a real boon at the tribunal.
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Ex-managing partner Nick Carr, ex-senior partner Stephen Benson, ex-finance director James Boyd, along with ex-partners Paul Brown, Mark Gibson, Richard Webb, Jeremy Green and non-lawyer Stephen Thornton, are all accused of being “responsible individually and/or collectively for providing misleading information and/or for failing to provide material information" to relevant parties. By doing so, says the SRA, they "exhibited manifest incompetence". Carr, Boyd and Brown are also charged with providing misleading information and/or failing to provide material information to the SRA.
All except Thornton face the further charges of causing Cobbetts to be unable to meet its debts*, causing partners’ drawings to exceed profits, and failing to have an appropriate contingency plan in place. According to the SRA this meant they were responsible for "failing to run the business" or carry out their roles "effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles". As a result they "exhibited manifest incompetence”.
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A couple of these are artist's impressions. |
When Cobbetts collapsed in 2013 over 400 staff and partners were acquired by DWF as part of a pre-pack administration. Five of the eight individuals to be prosecuted, Carr, Benson, Brown, Gibson and Webb, all joined DWF as partners. Benson is currently the firm's client strategy partner and sits on its client development executive board, while Brown is head of its Birmingham corporate team. Webb has subsequently become a consultant for TLT, while Boyd is now CEO of Manchester financial services firm Stanton Fisher. Boyd wisely does not refer to Cobbetts by name on his LinkedIn profile, citing 13 years as FD at a "Top 100 legal firm" instead.
A spokesperson for the former Cobbetts partners said, “The SRA allegations, coming some four years after Cobbetts’ sale, are misconceived and are fully, and strenuously, denied. The evidence demonstrates that we acted appropriately and with propriety throughout”. A DWF spokeswoman said, “The individuals concerned now at DWF have our full support. Given the allegations relate to a time when they were at Cobbetts, it is not a matter for DWF to comment on”. A spokeswoman for TLT said, "We continue to support Richard during this time, but won't be commenting on this case which relates to his time at Cobbetts and before he joined the firm".
Asked why it had taken four years to tackle Cobbetts mismanagement, a spokesman for the SRA told RollOnFriday, “This was a complex case involving an unusually large number of respondents, so it has taken a long time to bring this prosecution”.
*Spooking responsible law firm managers everywhere, the SRA's original charge sheet stated that the Cobbetts team were being prosecuted for causing the firm to be able to meet its debts. The error was corrected once RollOnFriday pointed it out. Sorry, defendants. That would have been a real boon at the tribunal.
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