Dechert has paid a total of about £600,000 to the ENRC in disclosure-related matters this year.

Dechert has agreed to pay the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) £225,000 after both sides reached an agreement regarding document disclosure on their long-running dispute last week.

A London Commercial Court hearing, which was meant to start on Thursday and end on Friday, did not take place as Dechert and its white-collar crime head Neil Gerrard agreed to search for and disclose documents the ENRC claims are relevant to its civil claim against the firm and Gerrard.

As part of that agreement, Dechert also said it would pay £225,000 of the ENRC's costs in relation to the ENRC's application for disclosure of documents, according to people close to the matter. Dechert itself had brought an application for disclosure against the ENRC in March but nine out of 11 claims were thrown out in Court.

In total, the firm has paid about £600,000 in costs to the ENRC this year on disclosure matters alone, one person said. The person added that the firm is likely to have spent about the same amount in legal fees.

However, the ENRC also paid about £200,000 in security for costs to the firm in March, according to another person close to the matter, who added the net amount the firm has paid to the ENRC was about £450,000

Adding together both its own legal fees and costs paid to Dechert, the ENRC has spent between £600,000 and £1.5 million, according to two people close to the matter.

The ENRC launched civil proceedings against Dechert and Gerrard claiming breaches of trust and fiduciary duties, reckless conduct, and the unauthorised disclosure of privileged and confidential information to the media and the SFO while advising the ENRC between 2011 and 2013. An eight-week trial is set to commence in the Commercial Court on June 8, 2021.

Last October, Dechert disclosed approximately 120,000 documents relating to the matter, but the ENRC applied for the disclosure of further documents, which the firm and Gerrard have now agreed to disclose by August.

The firm has now agreed to search for and disclose documents that the ENRC alleges were leaked to the Sunday Times by Neil Gerrard in 2011, and to provide copies of Dechert's job offer letter to Gerrard when he joined in 2011, as well as copies of his payslips and other financial reports.

Meanwhile, Gerrard agreed to have his own email and voicemail inboxes, and expense records searched for alleged evidence of his relationship with the Serious Fraud Office.

A spokesperson for the ENRC said in a statement: "This volte-face by Dechert and Neil Gerrard is a clear recognition that their objections to ENRC's requests were not credible and unlikely to stand up to scrutiny in court. It is remarkable for a reputable legal firm not to understand the basic principles of disclosure, and this setback should lead them to reflect on the extraordinary sums it is expending to defend Mr. Gerrard. We have consistently maintained that Dechert's only course of action should be to undertake a rigorous inquiry into Mr. Gerrard's actions."

A spokesperson for Dechert said: "We refute all the allegations being made against us. We have, and will continue to, comply with full disclosure requirements."

By the end of the case, total costs that Dechert and Gerrard spend in defending their claim against the ENRC could come in at around £40 million, court documents showed in April.

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