The little-known law firm behind the biggest case in UK history

In his early days as a lawyer, Tom Judhid learned to trade through unambiguous personal injury cases such as medical negligence and car accidents, and in one case, the person who fell in a bar called Tumble Inn.

Today he is responsible for what is believed to be the largest issue in British legal history: a collective action of 36 billion pounds against BHP in Australia due to the mining disaster in Brazil.

With the support of Big Money Investors, his company Pogust Goodhead filed a lawsuit in London on behalf of nearly 640,000 victims of the 2015 Mariana Dam collapsing, which killed 19 people, and sorted thousands of ecological harm.

It is expected to be sentenced before the summer, after the last conclusion of a 12 -week civil trial at the Supreme Court.

“It is possible that it will be the largest collective lawsuit ever in English courts,” Judhid said. For the families of the victims, it was about the accountability of the largest mining company in the world.

“We have a large amount riding on it,” he said.

This includes the reputation of the young litigant boutique, which promised to pay the payment day if he wins, but he reported an operational loss of 52 million pounds in its latest account.

In a 2022 financial statement that was published this week, which showed 53 million pounds in its rotation, the company’s auditors reported “material uncertainty” about whether he could continue as a constant interest, due to its funding needs. Judhid said that the loss of 2022 was “completely surprising” because the company “grew closer to the start of the Silicon Valley more than a law firm,” adding that it was “unknown support” for its lenders.

Pogust GOODHEAD, who specializes in protecting consumers and environmental cases, calculated damage to 36 billion pounds, in addition to inflation and interest. According to the “No Winning, No Feast” deal, it receives 20 or 30 percent for most demands, who include individuals, companies and municipalities. Customers of indigenous population societies, Bono works.

It is a high -risk case for the BHP, which is involved in the owner of the iron ore complex in Samarko where the accident occurred, and the boutique firm, which was placed instead as a sponge cross.

“This measure in London is part of a movement to discredit the Brazilian justice system and threaten our judicial sovereignty,” said Rafael Vallem, a lawyer at Ward Advujados, who represented the Brazilian mining lobby. “We stopped being a colony for a long time.”

In addition to the ongoing issues ranging from wrong medical transplants to the financing of wrong cars, Pogust Goodhead has found a place taken from corporate violations in distant judicial states to the courts, including in England, Germany and the Netherlands.

The logical basis in the BHP case is that the slow pace of Brazil courts often risk the delay or denial of justice. One of the judges in England allowed the case to partially against miners because BHP has an initial company in London at the time of the accident.

“A series of recent judicial jurisdictions related to the group’s demands against multinational companies whose mother company is located in London indicates that this trend will continue,” said Ted Greeno, the partner participating in litigation Queen Emmanuel Orkharrt and Sullivan, who has not participated in the Mariana case.

He added: “Lawyer, large or small firms can take advantage of such a shift with correct financing.”

GoodHead established the company in Liverpool in 2018 with Harris Boguste, the American lawyer whose life is documented with jet with palaces and yachts well on Instagram. The costume won its first great success in the case of data breach against British Airways and on the Diesel Volkswagen emissions scandal.

The company, which includes about 120 lawyers, has established a set of rewards of 200 million pounds and pledged to pay young lawyers of up to 2 million pounds for every three years, a model that could have become the American hedge fund.

The financing of 450 million pounds, which was presented by Gramercy, is the largest BHP case ever in the financing of a law firm for the demands, according to Goodhad.

However, high financial rewards come with high demands, according to previous employees. One former former lawyer said it was common to work well at night, adding that the company has a “toxic culture” and promotes it “competitions between colleagues.”

Another said that they were placed in 17 hours and burned. The former employee said that the speed that the company has grown means that some people have been promoted because they were nice to Goodhead instead of the competent.

“It reflects seventeen hours and operates at night regularly the truth of litigation against the largest companies in the world,” said Judhid.

He added: “I acknowledge that our hours are brutal, but the pressures associated with work of this type are not for the faint heart. However, it is funny to say that I promote the blame people with me.

Goodhead took over the BHP case three years after the destroyed waste dam, which contains waste materials, at the Samarko mine near Mariana. The resulting disaster ranks among the worst environmental disasters in Brazil.

BHP and Prazilian Diener Vale, who jointly controls Samarco, argues that the lawsuit is not in the interest of the victims and is no longer necessary after signing a new settlement of 23 billion dollars with public authorities last year, as it obtained the compensation bill to about 30 billion dollars.

Judhid replied that the new deal is not sufficient, noting that the BHP said only 40 percent of London’s claims will be qualified to obtain compensation.

“We started the case in 2018 because the companies were doing nothing,” he said. “My client does not trust in one word they said.”

The BHP case has led to a set of other lawsuits for the law firm in Brazil.

The cases included in the residents who were forced to abandon their homes in the city of Ghouraa have been blamed in underground mining, and citrus farmers who claim to be torn by an orange juice pole.

But there is nothing compared to the costs or possible victories from the Mariana case, in which the Pogust Goodhead bill extends to the north of 250 million pounds.

The victory of the court hall would prove another grassy and supporter-the capital of Pressma in Sao Paulo-for money. Gramercy has insurance in place to protect his capital, according to Goodhead. Under litigation financing model, those who have costs get a reduction in any damage.

Gramercy Investment was described as “a capitalist solution to the negative external factors of capitalism.”

If the BHP is found responsible, the amount of any compensation payment is subject to another experience scheduled in October 2026 with the need for those demanding to prove the losses. Vale agreed to divide any amounts due.

The decline in Brazil has not declined. Oppositions criticized advanced payments for the city’s governments that participated in London’s demand that they were inappropriate, although Judahid defended this step. The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that the municipalities could not use any money from the settlement last year by the BHP and Vale to pay the law office.

Judhid describes a complaint with the Brazilian Bar Association for the company as “harmful and unfounded”.

“It is a complete campaign of Lawfare, as they only try to distort the issue,” he said.

Pogust GOODHEAD has dismantled about 160 jobs recently – about 20 percent of the workforce, especially business service employees – due to the cases that have not yet settled, according to GOODHEAD. But with about 30 other active propaganda, he said that Mariana’s rule was not existence.

Judhid said: “In the end, if we do not succeed, he will not end my company.” “In terms of reputation, in terms of our financial situation, in terms of employment, in terms of confidence … it is clear that it is very important.”

With the help of Beatorese Landla in Sao Paulo