A bid by the former chief executive of the Jewish National Fund UK to stop law firm Mishcon de Reya acting in a dispute over his suspension failed today.

Simon Winters told the High Court that Mishcon should be prohibited from acting for JNF in the employment case because its leading lawyer, Anthony Julius, had previously advised him personally on a libel matter.

But Mr Justice Henderson ruled today that although Mr Winters did give information to Mr Julius, there was no reasonable expectation of confidence because the solicitor was also acting for JNF at that time.

The judge dismissed the application for an order barring Mishcon from representing JNF.

Mr Winters became chief executive of the charity in 1996 and held the position until June this year when his solicitors, George Davies LLP, wrote to the president of the fund claiming his role had been undermined by changes being made to the management structure, breaching his contract of employment.

Mishcon replied denying any breach and Mr Winters was suspended with immediate effect.

Mr Justice Henderson said: “The letter went on to explain that the suspension was in connection with various allegations of financial misconduct in his role as chief executive and that the purpose of the suspension was to enable the JNF to carry out an investigation . . . ”

Mr Winters’ solicitors replied to Mishcon, alleging it was improper for the firm to act for the JNF in relation to the employment dispute, as Mr Winters was a client of Mishcon and it had advised him in the past about the same matters.

The judge said he was “in particular impressed” by the evidence of Mr Julius but “by contrast, I regret to say that I found Mr Winters’s evidence, both written and oral, to be highly unsatisfactory in a number of respects”.

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