A partner at the City-based law firm Carter-Ruck, renowned for its libel work, has been referred to a prosecution hearing by the legal regulator over an “improper” threat to sue.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) referred Claire Gill to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal regarding a letter sent in April 2017 that allegedly contained an “improper threat of litigation.”
The regulator made its decision on 21 March, certifying that there is a case to answer in relation to the allegations against her, which were published on Wednesday.
All allegations against Gill remain unproven and are subject to a hearing at the SDT.
In a media statement, Carter-Ruck said: “We are disappointed by the SRA’s decision to bring these proceedings against our colleague, whom we will be fully supporting in her defence of this matter.”
It has since been revealed that the complaint against her was submitted to the regulator following a collaboration between The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Economist on its feature about one of the firm’s clients, OneCoin.
In 2023, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Economist reported that the Carter-Ruck sent a letter threatening defamation proceedings to a person who spoke out about alleged fraud at OneCoin.
Separately, in December, the SDT found an Osborne Clarke partner guilty of using the strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) strategy to try to silence Dan Neidle over a story involving Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.