Disgraced ex-Hogan Lovells partner pleads guilty to fraud
30 March 2012
Former Hogan Lovells litigation supremo Christopher Grierson pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud to the tune of £1.3m before Southwark Crown Court this week.

Grierson was rumbled back in May 2011, after an investigation revealed he'd supplemented his £830k pay by claiming over a million pounds in false travel expenses. His MO, it emerged, was to book flights on his credit card, charge the cost to the firm and then cancel the flights. Starting off relatively low key, he claimed £167k in 2008, according to a Lawyer report. The amounts shot up to £527k in 2009 and £517k in 2010. And in the first half of 2011, before he was caught a mere four years into the scam, he stole another £64k from the firm.

Grierson's bedroom - how it might have looked.

Grierson, who according to his barrister has been suffering from a psychiatric illness, remained expressionless in court, only speaking to plead guilty to the four charges. He was told by Judge John Price that prison was "inevitable" and he's facing a maximum of seven years. Grierson will get "full credit" for repaying the cash in full. That combined with an early guilty plea means he'll probably spend rather fewer than seven years in jail, but it's still a sharp fall from grace for a man who was once one of the highest profile litigators in the City.

Despite his barrister requesting that Grierson be allowed to return to France to tie up his affairs, the judge refused and ordered that his passport be confiscated. Which will also put a stop to the ex-lawyer's recent job working for a Monaco based fund.

Hogan Lovells declined to comment.