Solicitors go under after losing £1.35 million claim

Published 5 Dec 2009 11:00 9 Comments

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A FIRM of Windsor solicitors has ceased trading after losing a £1.35 million negligence claim.

Willmett Solicitors, established in Windsor in 1946, went into administration following a case involving one of the partners who went missing in March.

Sixty jobs will be lost across the firm's four offices in Sheet Street, Windsor; Broadway, Maidenhead; Reading and Woodley.

Staff were informed on Monday (November 30) and a removals firm was clearing the Windsor office on Wednesday (December 2).

The collapse of the firm centres around former partner, Jonathan Gilbert, who worked from Woodley and went missing after he had acted for Guernsey-based Elegant Homes on a development site in Bray.

Elegant Homes (Guernsey) secured a £6m loan from Bank of Scotland using the land as a form of security.

The developer then sold two plots on the site to Thames Valley Housing Association (TVHA) for £975,000 and Willmett gave undertakings that the charges relating to the plots being used as security would be removed.

However, Mr Gilbert transferred ownership to Elegant Homes (Guernsey) without removing the charge. The housing association sued Elegant Homes (Guernsey) and Willmett for negligence and won its case last month.

Speaking in the High Court, Mr Justice Mann said: "The associations (both divisions of TVHA) are innocent in this matter. It is Willmetts who are at fault. One does, of course, have sympathy with the other partners in Willmett who seem, prime facie, to have been let down by Mr Gilbert, but there is no reason why the associations should be saddled with the consequences of that."

Nick Powe, a senior partner of the firm, said this week he did not know the wherabouts of Mr Gilbert.

On Wednesday, the office was closed with a notice on the door advising existing clients their cases were being transferred to other solicitors.

A remaining member of staff in the office said: "I've been told I can't say anything. Please leave now."

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

Anon
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Dec 14, 10:51
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I would welcome an anonymous interview with one of your reporters, to "put the record straight"

28 of my colleagues were made redundant well over a year before Mr Gilbert resigned. This was due to financial strain the firm were experiencing because they relied heavily on conveyancing and the market had turned for the worse.

A few months later the remaining staff were all placed on a 4 day week with 20% pay cuts because they were still struggling to cover overheads. Several staff were asked to take further pay cuts on top of the 20%. Again, Mr Gilbert was still an active partner in the firm at this point.

A couple of months down the line, there were further redundancies made.

My point is, the firm were heading down the toilet, long before Mr Gilbert resigned from the firm and "disappeared." It is also funny how Powe does not know his whereabouts as he managed to turn up at Slough County Court with Mr Berryman when Gilbert was attending a divorce review hearing with his ex wife. She was the one giving them all the information as to his whereabouts, as she is a bitter, twisted person!

Powe and Berryman continually told staff that there was nothing to worry about, and that if they accepted pay cuts, the firm would be fine. They are the real reason that 60 people lost their jobs, not the action of Mr Gilbert which was covered by the insurers. It is far easier to use their ex partner as a scapegoat rather than admit that they had mis managed the firm for years.

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observer
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Dec 14, 18:08
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Anon is probably correct with the suggestion that Willmett was 'heading down the toilet, long before Mr Gilbert resigned..' however Mr Gilbert did disappear from Windsor overnight and did his utmost to conceal his whereabouts.

As to the suggestion that his ex wife was giving information to the partners, this is totally false. Willmett had been acting for Mr Gilbert against his ex wife and it should be quite obvious that they would know the date of the hearing and it was an opportunity to confront the runaway Gilbert.

Anon is obviously very close to Mr Gilbert and the loyalty is very touching but definitely misplaced. There is a lot more to come out of this particular story and it may be in court.

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Anon
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Dec 15, 10:24
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Facts Relating to Observers Comment.

1. Gilbert dis-instructed Willmett from dealing with his divorce matters when he resigned.

2. Conversations between Berryman and Mr Gilbert's ex wife were overheard by staff.

Berryman was speaking to Gilbert's ex wife and if Willmett were still instructed, Berryman would have been in clear breach of Solicitors Code of Conduct.

Loyalty is rewarded with loyalty, and Mr Gilbert did far more for his staff than any of the other partners.

Point being, whether or not Gilbert is found guilty of any mal-practice, the headline of this report, and the blame of the firms collapse being Mr Gilbert's sole fault is false.

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onlooker
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Dec 17, 22:35
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Anon. Your strenuous defense of Gilbert makes me think that you are probably his 2nd wife? why does it matter to you who his ex speaks to if he has nothing to hide. get over it and move on.think it probably is you who is bitter and twisted.

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observer
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Dec 18, 09:01
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To anon: You seem to have spent an awful lot of time defending Gilbert for the collapse of Willmett not only on this forum but also on Topix. What is puzzling me is that you have made no attempt to defend him against the alleged accusations of fraud particularly in the comment made by mitch. Could this be because he is guilty of these claims? Was it really necessary to disappear the night he tendered his resignation? Surely an innocent man who made a professional error would have stayed with his partners and made every effort to save the business!

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Anon
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Dec 18, 11:38
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onlooker, I assure you I am not his 2nd wife, nor bitter and twisted.

observer, I am not defending Gilbert, as I have no idea whether the allegations on the other website mentioned are true or not. Quite frankly, I do not care either.

I reiterate, the point is, Gilbert is not the sole reason for the collapse of Willmett, and the other partners should not use him as a scapegoat!

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Caroline Tarlin
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Feb 11, 16:59
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Whoever this anonymous delusional person is needs to know their facts (and it probably is his greedy 2nd wife) - jonathan gilbert is a thieving scumbag who has ruined a lot of innocent peoples' lives. Hopefully he'll rot in jail and get what is coming to him along with the other people involved. If only you knew the facts about the lying, cheating (thats fraudulent and marital - and yes to his second wife as well, we all know that), then perhaps you wouldn't be so quick on the loyalty front.

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Caroline Tarlin
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Feb 11, 16:59
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Whoever this anonymous delusional person is needs to know their facts (and it probably is his greedy 2nd wife) - jonathan gilbert is a thieving scumbag who has ruined a lot of innocent peoples' lives. Hopefully he'll rot in jail and get what is coming to him along with the other people involved. If only you knew the facts about the lying, cheating (thats fraudulent and marital - and yes to his second wife as well, we all know that), then perhaps you wouldn't be so quick on the loyalty front.

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joe
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Feb 22, 18:21
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a law firm going down the pan.....no pity there. solicitors in many cases are parasytes. making money out of people with very little money in the first place

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