HCL will not respond to revived US legal proceedings
14 August 2012
Healthcare recruiter Healthcare Locums (HCL) has announced it will not respond to legal proceedings filed against it and two former directors in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Tue, 14 Aug 2012
Healthcare recruiter Healthcare Locums (HCL) has announced it will not respond to legal proceedings filed against it and two former directors in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
These proceedings were announced last month and came from the same seven companies that had originally filed proceedings in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in March.
Those earlier proceedings were dropped, and on hearing of their revival HCL chair Peter Sullivan said the HCL board was 'surprised to hear that the plaintiffs continue to pursue their claim and maintains its opinion that the plaintiffs’ filed legal proceedings are wholly without merit”.
HCL has “considered the matter very carefully with the company's legal advisors”, and decided not to “submit to the US jurisdiction by filing a defence”, according to a statement.
It notes five major reasons for arriving at that decision, mainly based around the fact that HCL is a UK company regulated by UK law and the London Stock Exchange, and has no US operations or assets.
HCL’s legal advisers have written to the counsel of the plaintiffs to inform them that “if they wish to pursue a claim, they should do so in the proper forum, namely, the English High Court of Justice”.
The HCL statement concludes: “The plaintiffs’ US counsel have also been informed that the board considers the underlying claim to be wholly without merit and that if proceedings are commenced in the proper forum they will be strenuously defended.”
Healthcare recruiter Healthcare Locums (HCL) has announced it will not respond to legal proceedings filed against it and two former directors in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
These proceedings were announced last month and came from the same seven companies that had originally filed proceedings in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in March.
Those earlier proceedings were dropped, and on hearing of their revival HCL chair Peter Sullivan said the HCL board was 'surprised to hear that the plaintiffs continue to pursue their claim and maintains its opinion that the plaintiffs’ filed legal proceedings are wholly without merit”.
HCL has “considered the matter very carefully with the company's legal advisors”, and decided not to “submit to the US jurisdiction by filing a defence”, according to a statement.
It notes five major reasons for arriving at that decision, mainly based around the fact that HCL is a UK company regulated by UK law and the London Stock Exchange, and has no US operations or assets.
HCL’s legal advisers have written to the counsel of the plaintiffs to inform them that “if they wish to pursue a claim, they should do so in the proper forum, namely, the English High Court of Justice”.
The HCL statement concludes: “The plaintiffs’ US counsel have also been informed that the board considers the underlying claim to be wholly without merit and that if proceedings are commenced in the proper forum they will be strenuously defended.”
