addleshaw goddard
dishonest

Addleshaw Goddard LLB  versus  Web4orce Ltd

In the blue corner

49 yr old Andrew Johnston - Relatively young solicitor

Job Title – Managing Partner

Annual Income over £1 mllion

Number of staff – 2,700

In the red corner

86 yr old John Duggan – Relatively old litigant in person

Job Title - Director

Annual Income over £9,000

Number of staff - 1

ADDLESHAW GODDARD LOSERS

Prior to the trial at Leeds county court Addleshaw Goddard LLB (acting for the claimant) was represented by – 1 barrister, 2 partners, 6 solicitors, 3 trainee solicitors and 3 paralegals. It begs the question why did they delegate so many lawyers to represent the claimant when the defendant was unrepresented apart from an 85 yr old litigant? The answer, it’s all about their legal costs that were about £170,000 however this time their strategy failed.

WEB4ORCE WINNERS

Web4orce Ltd was represented by John Duggan a cold war veteran and clearly quality beats quantity every time.

ADDLESHAW GODDARD SHAME

At the end of the trial, the judgement was reserved for 20 days. During that period it was discovered by the defendant that Addleshaw Goddard’s legal team had incriminated themselves when they not only tampered with evidence but also witheld evidence and the claim was ultimately dismissed.

ANDREW JOHNSTON SHOCK

Subsequently, John Duggan wrote to Andrew Johnston offering to settle out of court for £1.6 million but, he failed to respond. Probably because he was still recovering from the shock on discovering that his eminent top 20 law firm had not only been defeated by an 85 year old litigant but also had to forfeit £84,000 in legal costs.

ANDREW JOHNSTON IN DENIAL

Some weeks later John Duggan wrote again to Andrew Johnston who on this occasion delegated the task to a lovely female colleague who is Head of Professional Indemnity. This prompted him to question Artificial Intelligence asking why law firms have to purchase professional indemnity and the answer was as follows.

ANDREW JOHNSTON'S BIG MISTAKE

Law firms pay for professional indemnity (PI) insurance primarily because it is a mandatory regulatory requirement for them to practice, and it provides crucial protection for both their clients and the firm itself against claims of negligence or other professional mistakes. This I suggest is a clear acknowledgement that Addleshaw Goddard has accepted being both negligent and made extremely serious professional mistakes in relation to Web4orce and is fearful the 85 year old might launch a private prosecution against their law firm which is more than likely.

ANDREW JOHNSTON LESSON

The American president who popularized the phrase "the buck stops here" was Harry S. Truman. He was the 33rd President of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. Truman famously kept a sign with this inscription on his desk in the Oval Office to emphasize that he accepted the ultimate responsibility for the decisions made during his administration. The phrase means that one is prepared to take responsibility for an issue and will not shift the blame to anyone else. Truman was a great success and went on to serve two successive terms as president.

ANDREW JOHNSTON'S NEXT MOVE

Bearing in mind he was promoted less than 12 months ago, this clearly is not the auspicious start he had hoped for. Whoever from the legal team at Leeds are responsible for this catastrophic failure has left him inescapably between a rock and a hard place. The problem is that time is not on his side and grasping the nettle is unavoidable. As the longer he puts off negotiating a compromise the more likely it is that members of the public are going to discover Addleshaw Goddard’s most embarrassing failure and then they will be well and truly in the sh*t.

ADDLESHAW GODDARD'S ACHILES HEEL

If they genuinely think they are going to walk away from this unscathed then they are living in cloud cuckoo land. The reality is their once eminent law firm is going to learn a hard lesson and that is, it cannot break the law and get away with it. Your Leeds based team in the final month before the trial desperately tried to buy the defendant off on three separate occasions with an out of court offer amounting to more than £160,000 but they were all rejected. This is why they employed criminal tactics as a last resort and as we all know that also failed miserably.

Addleshaw Goddard Office Markers

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