A Birmingham judge has described tax advice provided by Friend LLP tax partner, Frank Upton, as “an exemplary scheme.”

The comments were made in the judgement delivered by His Honour Judge Simon Brown in a recent case taken by a Friend LLP client against his former accountants.

The case, which was reported in The Birmingham Post on 6 August, concerned an entrepreneur, Mr M, who had appointed another firm of accountants to advise him on inheritance tax planning.  The judge described the advice received from the other firm as “a negligent tax avoidance scheme” and damages of £580,000 were awarded against them.

The advice provided by the previous accountants was given between 2000 and 2004.  Having received inadequate advice, Mr M approached Friend LLP in 2005 and Frank was able to advise on the myriad issues that Mr M had to deal with in order to protect his family’s assets.

As well as obtaining advice from Friend LLP, Mr M began legal action against his former accountants which culminated in the Birmingham High Court hearing in December 2009.  Frank appeared as a witness in the case and clearly impressed the judge, who referred to him as:

“a highly competent accountant and suitable tax adviser who would have provided appropriate advice if he had been instructed rather then the Defendants in the first place.”

Naturally, Frank was delighted to be able to help Mr M protect his family’s assets and to win damages for negligent advice.  Commenting on the case, Frank said;

“This legal victory for Mr M is justified and well deserved.  It is extremely gratifying that our work in advising Mr M and supporting him in court was so well regarded by the judge”.

For future information on our private client tax services, led by Frank Upton, please click here or call 0121 633 2008.

Our litigation support and forensic accounting teams have been involved in many court actions and other contentious matters involving companies and shareholders.  For further information, please click here or contact Malcolm Friend on 0121 633 2004.