Settled in 2009, the claim secured $30m in damages from Trafigura in relation to a largescale spill of toxic waste in 2006 from a tanker chartered by the global commodity trader. Late last week, Mr Justice Andrew Smith ruled that Leigh Day should not have deposited a $30m settlement awarded in relation to the spill into an Ivory Coast bank account because of the risk of a dishonest legal claim being made against the funds, as eventually occurred. The court found Leigh Day guilty of professional negligence and ruled in favour of spill victim and plaintiff Sylvie Aya Agouman. Ms Agouman was suing Leigh Day in pursuit of her share of the settlement sum, estimated to be around £1,000.

Misappropriated funds

Of the 30,000 victims of the spill represented by Leigh Day, the court heard that 6,624 claimants did not receive their share of the multi-million-dollar settlement as the result of a deal struck between Leigh Day and La Coordination Nacionale des Victimes des Decherts Toxiques de Cote D’Ivoire (CNVDT), a local organization which had obtained a ‘freezing order’ over the settlement monies stored in the Ivory Coast. Under the terms of the deal, 23,000 claimants represented by Leigh Day received their fair share of the settlement, while the remainder sum was paid instead to CNVDT in exchange for lifting the freeze on the funds.

‘Breach of duty’

Though the case against Leigh Day did not pertain directly to legal advice or conduct of litigation, the court found that Leigh Day had failed in its responsibility ensure that the settlement sum was received and subsequently distributed in a secure manner to all claimants. ‘The type of loss that was suffered was that, as the result of Leigh Day not taking proper steps to protect the sum from being acquired dishonestly by third parties making claims to it, Ms Agouman (and apparently other Trafigura claimants in her position) did not receive her due. In my judgement, the loss was exactly of the kinds that would be contemplated as the likely result of a breach of duty,’ said Mr Justice Smith.

Possible appeal

Leigh Day has indicated that it may appeal against the ruling: ‘We were devastated when some of the monies were misappropriated,’ said a spokesperson for them firm. ‘We did our damndest to recover the monies resulting in the great majority of our clients having received their compensation.’

Sources: Legal Futures; Legal Business