International firm Dechert has reached a multi-million-pound settlement with airline tycoon Farhad Azima over his claims regarding the firm’s alleged involvement in hacking his emails.

The settlement is for £3m plus Azima’s ‘reasonable costs, which have yet to be agreed between the parties or determined by the court’, Dechert said. 

A spokesperson for Azima said the settlement for damages is $3.8m and added that Azima’s costs reached $14m, making an estimated total of ‘up to $15m’.

A spokesperson for Dechert LLP said: ‘The Dechert parties and Mr Azima have agreed terms without any admission of liability in order to bring about a commercial resolution to proceedings brought by Mr Azima in the English High Court.’

The settlement means the long-running London litigation against Dechert over alleged hacking of Azima’s emails will now end, though a spokesperson for Azima said he would ‘continue to pursue the significant claims he has brought against Dechert and others in the US’.

The development  is the latest twist in litigation brought by Azima against Dechert arising from its work on behalf of the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) in the UAE.

Azima alleged RAKIA hacked his emails and obtained documents which it relied on in support of its case at a High Court trial. Dechert denied the hacking claim.

In June 2022, RAKIA made an open offer to Azima to settle the hacking counterclaim for $1m plus the costs of that counterclaim, which was rejected. A Court of Appeal judgment last year revealed that RAKIA had written to the court shortly after the rejected settlement offer and said it did not intend to take any further part in proceedings. 

Last year, the court concluded Azima ‘clearly does’ satisfy the threshold of showing he had a real prospect of success in his counterclaim. 

 

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