Julian Randall

Julian is a senior partner is our Disputes & Investigations team. He has a broad based commercial litigation practice focused on the financial services sector, in particular the operation of complex financial instruments, insurance disputes, injunctive and administrative law relief and insolvency issues.

Julian has 30 years' experience in claims and regulatory investigations involving the major accountancy firms. He acted for Coopers & Lybrand in the Barings case, Moore Stephens in Stone & Rolls and Deloitte in the FRC investigation into Autonomy.

Clients value Julian's clear-mindedness, analytical skills, wealth of experience and his excellent strategic judgement.

Julian is ranked by the legal directories and is qualified to practice in both the UK and Hong Kong.

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Career

Since 2011

Partner, Taylor Wessing

Education

Admitted as a lawyer, England & Wales	Admitted as a lawyer, Hong Kong
1983	MA Jurisprudence, Jesus College, Oxford

Additional languages

English

Expertise

Sectors Business & professional services

Experience

FCR investigation into Carillion PLC.	We act for the former CFO of Carillion plc in relation to an investigation by the Enforcement Division of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) into the affairs of Carillion plc.
FRC v Deloitte (Autonomy)	Acted for Deloitte in relation to legal and regulatory issues arising from the GBP5 billion restatement of Autonomy’s financial statements in 2012 following the acquisition of Autonomy by Hewlett Packard.
FCA business interruption test case - UKHospitality Industries (FCA v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd and others).	We acted for UKHospitality and its 200 members in relation to the well-publicised Covid-19 business interruption insurance test case brought by the FCA who advanced the claims against insurers on behalf policyholders and which was determined by the Supreme Court in January 2021.

Defence of a claim for GBP1.6 billion	PwC in defending a claim for GBP1.6 billion arising out of the collapse of the sub-prime lender, Cattles plc and its trading subsidiary, Welcome Financial Services Ltd, following the discovery of a shortfall in its bad debt provision.
PricewaterhouseCoopers	PriceWaterhouseCoopers in their successful defence of regulatory proceedings arising out of the collapse of the Mayflower Group.
Moore Stephens	Moore Stephens in their successful defence of the USD175 million claim brought against them by the liquidator of Stone & Rolls.

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Awards

Chambers and Partners UK 2023	Julian Randall is particularly skilled at providing advice to accountancy firms and individual partners facing FRC and FCA investigations. He regularly advises on proceedings involving allegations of negligence relating to audits. "He is an intellectual who likes getting under the bonnet of cases. He enjoys complex appellate-type legal cases."
Chambers and Partners UK 2023	Julian Randall focuses his practice on professional negligence claims stemming from the financial sector, often representing international accountancy firms, administrators and auditors.
Legal 500 UK 2023	Professional Negligence - Leading Individual: "I have worked with Andrew Howell and Julian Randall mostly, and I would recommend them to anyone with a difficult professional negligence or audit regulatory issue." "Julian Randall and Andrew Howell: decades of experience in audit defence work for the big four and other major auditors. They have a depth of knowledge of the reality of auditing beyond any other London litigation team." "Some of the best individuals in this area – Andrew Howell, Julian Randall, Stuart Broom – mean the team has a real depth of expertise/experience to draw on. In this area, Taylor Wessing punches well above its weight in disputes generally." "Julian Randall has a really sharp mind and digs into the really difficult legal problems to make sure the best points for the client are being identified."
Legal 500 UK 2023	Professional Negligence - Leading Individual: "I have worked with Andrew Howell and Julian Randall mostly, and I would recommend them to anyone with a difficult professional negligence or audit regulatory issue." "Julian Randall and Andrew Howell: decades of experience in audit defence work for the big four and other major auditors. They have a depth of knowledge of the reality of auditing beyond any other London litigation team." "Some of the best individuals in this area – Andrew Howell, Julian Randall, Stuart Broom – mean the team has a real depth of expertise/experience to draw on. In this area, Taylor Wessing punches well above its weight in disputes generally." "Julian Randall has a really sharp mind and digs into the really difficult legal problems to make sure the best points for the client are being identified."
Legal 500 UK 2022	Leading individual - Insurance: Professional negligence: "Julian Randall is the 'go to' individual for defending accountancy firms against negligence cases with unrivalled experience in the field."
Chambers UK 2022	Leading individual - Professional Negligence (Band 2): "He is supremely bright, and gives prompt and perceptive advice."

Chambers UK 2022	Leading individual - Professional Discipline (Band 5): "He is supremely bright and gives prompt and perceptive advice."
Chambers UK 2020	Leading individual - Professional Negligence (Band 2): Julian Randall is a specialist in financial professional negligence, with an impressive client list that includes large accountancy firms. Sources report: "He's very experienced at handling very big cases, knows the accountancy field backwards, and is a well-trusted adviser to big firms."
Legal 500 UK 2020	Leading individual - Insurance: Professional negligence
Chambers UK 2019	Leading individual - Professional Negligence: Financial (Band 2): Julian Randall garners "huge respect" from commentators, who state that he is "impressive and highly regarded." He commonly represents clients in civil and regulatory proceedings, most recently in matters related to FRC investigations.
Legal 500 UK 2019	Leading individual - Insurance: Professional negligence: Team head Andrew Howell and Julian Randall are ‘outstanding litigators’; Randall has ‘a brilliant mind and an eye for the killer point’.
Chambers UK 2018	Leading individual - Professional Negligence: Financial (Band 2): The "very charming" Julian Randall "continues to impress with his intellect and tactical agility." He is "incredibly knowledgeable about auditing and has a very good feel for how he can conduct an auditing negligence defence. He takes a very realistic approach to what will work."
Legal 500 UK 2017	Leading individual - Insurance - Professional Negligence: Julian Randall is also ‘fantastic for accountancy disputes’ and is ‘extremely clever, a deep strategic thinker, utterly reliable and has excellent judgement’.

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