Today it has been widely reported that BNP leader Nick Griffin has been declared bankrupt. According to BuzzFeed, Griffin’s crippling debts arose following a “dispute with a legal firm”. But which one?
We did some digging and found out that the firm is Gilbert Davies & Partners, which has represented Griffin on several matters, including the initial part of his response to the Equality Commission’s 2010 attempt to outlaw the BNP.
But things turned sour between Welshpool-based Gilbert Davies & Partners and Griffin on that case, with the BNP chief sacking the firm part-way through.
At a previous hearing in February last year Griffin was ordered to pay nearly £120,000 in outstanding fees and costs to Gilbert Davies & Partners.
Griffin responded by applying for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) offering to pay 42p in the pound over five years to the firm. The offer was rejected, leading to the judge hearing the case to dismiss the IVA application and grant the bankruptcy petition.
In a statement posted this morning on the website of BNP spokesperson Simon Darby, Griffin is quoted as saying: “I have been advised that I have good grounds for multiple claims against Gilbert Davies & Partners for professional negligence.”
Griffin is reported to have added: “Under these circumstances my offer of an IVA pending the final outcome of court proceedings was very reasonable and the Insolvency Advisor acting for me yesterday was stunned by Gilbert Davies’ decision, which she volunteered may have been influenced by unseen factors as it makes no commercial sense.”
When contacted this morning by Legal Cheek, Gilbert Davies & Partners declined to comment.