The CEO of the law firm, behind the BHP suit 36 billion pounds, was suddenly replaced

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The founder of the law office has been replaced behind a collective lawsuit worth 36 billion pounds against BHP as CEO, in a move that is likely to have great effects on one of the largest legal claims that were ever submitted in English courts.

Tom Judhid is no longer at the head of Pogust Goodhead, based in London, after the tension with the American hedge fund, which has placed more than 450 million pounds in financing the BHP case, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Elisia Alienia, General Manager of Operations at the company, took over a temporary basis, according to one of the persons and the internal memorandum seen by The Financial Times, who said that Goodhead was on vacation. Goodhead, Pogust GODHEAD and Gramercy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on changing the CEO.

This step comes in a critical moment for the company, which is currently waiting for An imminent ruling on the BHP Mariana litigation. The short lawsuit was filed on behalf of about 640,000 victims of the 2015 Mariana Dam collapse, which killed 19 people, and thousands of ecological harm explained.

The amount offered by Gramercy is one of the largest amounts ever in the financing of the claim firm. An experiment to determine the level of damage that the BHP may have to pay if a responsibility is found that has already been set in October 2026.

A new council was appointed to Pogust Goodhead, according to the memo. Howard Morris, the former president of the International Lawyer, and the former public prosecutor of the United States, Joseph Moreno, were added as members alongside Alineia. Goodhead will remain as a member of the Board of Directors, according to the memo.

In a statement announcing the change of the Board of Directors, Pogust Goodhead said that the financiers of companies “still believe in the power of litigation and will continue to provide financing to support its efforts.”

“For the sake of clarity, our financiers are not members of the Board of Directors and will not participate in the daily business administration,” Alienia said in the memo. “I understand that this may be unexpected, but please make sure that the role of the new council is to ensure that the company operates in a clear, fair and effective way.”

Pogust Goodhead, specialized in consumer protection and environmental situations, was founded in 2018 and took in a number of prominent cases. Her great successes included a case of data breach against British Airways and a issue stemming from the Diesel Volkswagen emissions scandal.

However, a late introduction to her 2022 accounts earlier this year showed that auditors had a sign of “material uncertainty” about whether it could continue as a constant flammation, due to their funding needs.

Judhid Financial Times told at the time that the uncertainty in the 2022 accounts was not surprising because the company has grown “in a way that is closer to the start of the Silicon Valley operating more than a law firm” and that it is “unbroken support” for its lenders.

Harris Buguste, co -founder of Judahid, from the company at the end of last year. The Brazilian miners, which jointly control the Samarco mine at the heart of the disaster, are also on a hook for potential damage.