He denies sponsoring gong
A struck-off City solicitor who was jailed in 2013 for a series of frauds amounting to in excess of £3 million has bagged himself a ‘Lawyer of the Year’ award.
Andrew Iyer — who was a partner at shipping specialist Ince & Co at the time — syphoned cash from both his clients and the firm in what the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) described as “one of worst cases of fraud” it had ever encountered. He was later jailed for almost five years for his crimes.
But it would appear Iyer has bounced back.
Having set up new “legal services” outfit IYLegal back in 2015, Iyer — who according to the firm’s website is a “commercial lawyer and arbitration specialist” — has gone on to land himself a top award courtesy of Birmingham-based business directory Corporate Livewire.
The company — which also dishes out awards across a number of business sectors — has acknowledged Iyer’s return to the big time and handed him its coveted ‘Lawyer of the Year for Energy & Natural Resources’.
But there’s another interesting twist to this already bizarre story. Iyer’s company logo can be seen on the front cover of Corporate Livewire’s glossy brochure (pictured below) promoting — yes, you guessed it — their legal awards.
However, speaking to Legal Cheek this morning, Iyer denied sponsoring the awards which he said had been supported by another company. He added:
I was notified out of the blue that I had won an award (a real surprise to me) and then later decided to take up their offer of a profile page in the awards booklet for a small fee — like the dozens and dozens of other lawyers also featured.
Corporate Livewire describes its award winners as “proven to be of high caliber, showing a strong motivation and drive to achieve fantastic results within the legal community”. The company adds that its judging panel “placed each shortlisted candidate under acute scrutiny, setting its sights firmly on the most client-focused and dedicated teams and individuals”. Corporate Livewire has not yet responded to Legal Cheek’s request for comment.
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