A high-flying international lawyer whose firm ‘put Australian corporations on notice’ about a potential wave of class action lawsuits against miners and financial services companies has suddenly quit his post.
International class action specialists Pogust Goodhead set up shop in Australia last year and issued a warning that they were eyeing a series of business giants and planning to hold them to account over their responsibility to exhibit ‘basic decency and fairness’.
But the firm was this week hit with the surprise departure of jetsetting co-founder and global chairman Harris Pogust, who announced he was stepping down from his role after six years in order to ‘devote more time and energy to my philanthropic endeavours’.
In a statement this week, Mr Pogust wished his co-founder Mr Goodhead all the best and praised the firm for having ‘helped defend the rights of those who cannot defend themselves against the misdeeds of big business’.
Pogust Goodhead is currently taking action against BHP in the UK over the Samarco mine disaster in Brazil, which cost 19 people their lives and contaminated waterways and land spanning multiple villages in a case tipped to be worth up to $70billion in damages.
Last month, the class action specialist firm also shed up to 20 per cent of its staff – with jobs shed at its offices in both the UK and Brazil, the UK’s Law Society Gazette reported.
The New Jersey-born Mr Pogust has more than 25 years’ experience in litigation and class actions. Daily Mail Australia revealed an insight into Mr Pogust’s lavish lifestyle earlier this year.
Photographs show the crusading lawyer and his wife Carrie flying by private jet – including with their dog – sipping cocktails on luxury boats and travelling interstate for meals.
Jetsetting lawyer Harris Pogust’s family social media accounts offer an insight into the lavish lifestyle afforded to him on the back of his successful career. He’s now quit his firm
In November 2023, he shared details of his new property – a sprawling six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion boasting a pool, gym and wine cellar. A month prior he shared another photo of his laptop overlooking the ocean.
‘Nothing like flying down for dinner than back home. The fun never ends…’ he wrote, tagging his location at Philadelphia International Airport.
His wife has also shared photos of both Mr Pogust and the couple’s dog on a private jet, as well as luxurious snaps on yachts.
His firm, Pogust Goodhead, launched in 2018 and earned the title ‘the first legal unicorn’ after raising $300million in financial backing early on.
Co-founder Tom Goodhead visited Australia twice in 2023 to meet with MPs, unions and super funds over potential litigation. The firm set up an office in Sydney, headed by commercial disputes specialist Amie Crichton.
Ms Crichton cut her teeth on the other side of litigation, defending class actions on behalf of insurers for eight years. Speaking to law.com, she said that experience gives her a strategic advantage in prosecuting future class actions.
She said it had given her a much deeper understanding of how corporations seek to defend such matters – and how to counter that.
‘We are investigating a number of new cases against Australian multinational corporations, such as BHP, in which their commitment to this responsibility has been seriously thrown into question,’ said Mr Goodhead.
‘With the launch of our Sydney office, we are putting Australian corporations on notice that we are ready to hold them to account.
‘We are establishing a base in BHP’s backyard to ensure we explore every avenue in our fight for justice for victims.’
New Jersey-born Harris Pogust offers the greatest insight into their high-flying lives
The legal eagles said areas they’re targeting include the mining and resources sector, human rights issues, corporate misconduct, environmental issues and consumer law.
‘Specialists in the class action sector are becoming a little bit more creative and willing to attempt to find recourse through different channels,’ she said.
Mr Goodhead, who is both Oxford and Cambridge educated, spoke in February about the expansion and their current litigation portfolio.
He said winning one or more of the major litigations would see his team become ‘the highest-paid lawyers in the country by quiet some margin’.
And several months earlier in an interview with the Law Gazette in November 2023, Mr Goodhead spoke openly about his company’s capitalist ambitions.
‘We are here to make a profit,’ he said bluntly.
‘This isn’t an NGO though I know we look like one. We are here to make a profit… I’ve got trainee solicitors earning 150k.’
