Lawbit directors appeal as creditor seeks to recover its money

The directors of a defunct ‘Ping your lawyer’ app have appealed to the High Court, as a creditor of the business seeks to recoup its money.

Barrister Clive Rich and his wife Joanna, who co-founded Lawbite, an online service which promised to ‘democratise’ legal advice for small businesses, claim they will suffer ‘short-term prejudice’ if one of the company’s secured creditors is able to enforce its debt against them.

The business and assets of the company behind LawBite, Lawbit Ltd, are being sold off after the company fell over £5.8m into debt. The administrators concluded it was ‘unlikely’ that any dividend would be paid to unsecured creditors.

Companies House documents show that The Trade Credit Company Ltd, a short-term working capital supplier trading as Creditable, is a secured creditor. That business was granted fixed and floating charges worth £430,000 twice in August 2023. The Trade Credit Company took the Richs to Guildford County Court and obtained a money order against them on 28 May. 

Mr Justice Fancourt, in the High Court, said an appellant’s notice had been received from the Richs. The pair appeared as litigants in person on 1 July and submitted an application for a stay of the order, which the judge refused.

In a judgment dated 8 July, the judge stated: ‘The application is rather vague about what the short-term prejudice is, and does not say that immediate enforcement is threatened. The application for a stay seems to be made as a precaution, in case any enforcement action is taken. If the appellants really just need time in which to manage their affairs in order to raise the judgment debt, they should apply for an order deferring the time to pay, or permitting payment in instalments, which application will require full and frank disclosure of their finances to the court. 

‘It is impossible to assess whether there is any real prospect of a successful appeal until after the transcript of the judgment in the court below has been filed. The grounds of appeal are not promising, but there may be something that is apparent once the judgment can be considered.’

The appellants were ordered to obtain and file the transcript and an appeal bundle at the earliest opportunity. Fancourt said the question of whether a stay should be granted would be reconsidered when the court decides whether to grant permission to appeal. 

On his website Clive Rich now markets himself as an ‘international deal maker and trouble-shooter’, promoting his book containing ‘negotiation strategies for today’s business world’. He has recently launched a new app called ‘Close My Deal’, enabling people to understand the basis of successful negotiation and apply the skills to everyday scenarios.