Dechert has declined to comment on the dispute.

The Dechert partner embroiled in a long-running controversy related to the U.K.-based international mining company ENRC has been accused of conspiring to damage the reputation of a businessman, in a second high-profile dispute.

According to documents filed at London's High Court, Dechert's head of white-collar crime Neil Gerrard is alleged to have conspired with a sovereign wealth fund client to "damage" a businessman's reputation in the event he did not assist in settling a corruption dispute.

Although he has not been named as a defendant, it is the second major dispute Gerrard finds himself embroiled in. In an unrelated case involving mining company ENRC's ongoing wrangle with the Serious Fraud Office, Gerrard has been accused of handing privileged documents to officials at the enforcement agency. He is not a defendant in the ENRC case and has previously denied the allegations made against him.

The current case, which has now reached the High Court, follows fraud and corruption claims made by a major UAE sovereign wealth fund – known as RAKIA – against businessman Farhad Azima following the collapse of a hotel contract.

According to court documents filed on Friday, Gerrard – as key legal adviser to RAKIA – asked Azima in 2016 to assist in mediating a dispute between RAKIA and its former CEO Khater Massaad. However, after talks broke down, Azima alleges that Gerrard threatened that if he could not help settle the dispute with the former CEO, he would be made "collateral damage" in a "war that RAKIA would then wage on Dr Massad", the counterclaim document details.

Azima then alleges that his "emails and computer servers" were hacked and confidential documents obtained. Websites were created along with links to "covert" sites on the "dark web" where his private data was published, he alleges.

In an attempt to establish a chain of causation, Azima underscored the "very close sequence in time" between Gerrard's alleged "collateral damage" statement, the failure of the mediation to resolve the dispute, and the creation of the websites. Azima is claiming $16 million in losses from RAKIA, due to the damage this caused his reputation.

A person close to the situation said Gerrard robustly denies the allegations.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the UAE's Government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), which runs RAKIA, said: "Mr Azima's baseless counterclaim, while filed, was immediately stayed and will never be heard if, as anticipated, RAKIA prevails at trial in January 2020. He has furthermore been ordered to pay RAKIA's costs of responding to this misguided application."

The statement continues: "Mr Azima has yet again attempted to divert attention away from his role in an international fraud committed against RAK entities. Mr Azima is accused of bribery, receipt of secret commissions, fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy, and RAKIA looks forward to presenting its case against Mr Azima robustly when the U.K. trial commences in January 2020."

Azima's claim was originally heard in the U.S, but the proceedings were rejected on jurisdictional grounds. RAKIA then asked for the case to be transferred to London, waiving its sovereign immunity defence, according to a person with knowledge of the case.

A person with knowledge of the matter also said Azima had been through various legal teams since 2016. He is currently instructing Burlingtons and Tim Lord QC of Brick Court Chambers, while RAKIA has turned to Stewarts Law and Matrix Chambers.

A spokesperson for Azima said: "These so-called fraud charges have been entirely trumped up by Ras Al Khaimah in an attempt to make Mr Azima collateral damage in their dispute with a former CEO of RAKIA, as threatened by Mr Neil Gerrard of Dechert, shortly before Mr Azima's emails were illegally hacked.

"We are pleased that the judge has allowed our hacking claims to be heard, because this will show the bad faith and unlawful way in which Ras Al Khaimah and their advisers have acted in order to bring these false claims against Mr Azima. We look forward to hearing what the ruler and Dechert and those persons hired by them to hack and frame Mr Azima have to say about their actions, on the stand."

Before Azima's counterclaim is heard, the High Court will consider RAKIA's main claim in January 2020.

Dechert declined to comment.