Andrew Smith

I resolve commercial disputes. When not doing that I am advising on risk and therefore trying to avoid disputes. For the majority of disputes the challenge is to achieve advantage for clients in the constantly shifting balance between the merits of a case set against the costs of fighting it.

Tel: +44 (0)121 685 2742

Email: andrew_smith@wragge.com

Best brains in ...

Contractual disputes in all their guises but in particular termination issues

Product liability, with a particular emphasis on product recall

Legal professional privilege

Highlight of your career so far?

Nowadays the highlights of my career are in dealing with cases of sufficient size and importance to the clients that they would rather I did not make capital out of them by making them public! Very occasionally a client's interests are best served by going to trial. In the reported case of Harman v the House of Commons (the first time this defendant had been sued in its 1,000 year history), the House of Commons was found by the judge to have breached EU and UK public procurement law and committed misfeasance in public office. It is a landmark case.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

All the good ones are challenging. I have had some cases which involved the party on the other side not acting in a commercially reasonable way. Several times this was because the opposing party was a government department. Instead of using commercial levers we made use of lobbying and the press, which appeared to assist the settlement process.

What about outside the UK?

I have done jobs involving parties in the US, Argentina, France, Italy, Malta, Israel, Sweden, Russia, Mali, South Africa, Ukraine, Germany, Japan and Taiwan. One particularly memorable trip involved spending two nights in a portacabin in the middle of nowhere between Moscow and St Petersburg.

What's your definition of going the extra mile ……. And when have you done it?

I was approached by an individual who had a misfeasance claim against a public authority. The only problem was that he was on the verge of bankruptcy and his court case had just been struck out! I could see the merits of the case and the potential recovery and so I took on the case on a CFA basis. When a deal was in the offing, I suggested that I contact the client's creditors to negotiate a settlement of the client's indebtedness. I told each of them that a deal was likely, but was up front in saying that we would not tell them the amount, but asked for their lowest settlement figures to make settlement attractive. I was relying on the fact that most of the debts would have been written off by the creditors and so any recovery would go straight to their bottom line. We recovered £1.9 million from the public authority and settled £1.7 million of debts for £800,000, leaving the client with £1.1 million net.

Best example of a creative legal solution?

A leading retailer wanted to consolidate its supplier base of 5,000 to less than 100 but wanted to assess the risk of terminating the existing contracts. A full legal review of each contract would cost the client a huge amount in legal costs because of the sheer volume. After consulting with the client about the nature of the contractors I devised a table of questions with yes/no answers that the client could complete which gave a very good indication of exposure. Our fees were less than £5,000.

When have you ever given a client a real competitive edge?

I have found that competitive edge is most often given by hard graft linked with a roving eye for an opportunity. After particularly hard fought freezing order proceedings brought by three international banks against our client were successfully defended, a settlement was brokered. The settlement agreement contained a confidentiality provision. The banks' solicitors claimed breach of confidentiality. I noticed that some of the evidence of alleged breach revealed communications that were themselves breaches of the confidentiality provision on the part of the banks and their lawyers. The claim was dropped promptly and the USD$13 million sought remained with our client.

What's your single greatest contribution to Wragge & Co's corporate responsibility?

Advising a local youth and community centre (and registered charity) regarding a claim by the Learning and Skills Council for the repayment of a grant. The effect of this claim, if successful, would have been the closing down of the centre. Our advice has helped to keep it open.

What's been written or said about you that you're most proud of?

'Unlike some external lawyers Andrew is prepared to work as part of the in-house team, which sometimes means giving a view, without the comfort of all the documents'. David Foster, Cadbury Schweppes Plc.