City firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) 'scored an own goal against every large company in the country' last week with a newspaper advertisement that left general counsel at some of the UK's biggest businesses 'appalled' and 'outraged'.

Legal heads at Barclays, BP and Rio Tinto have written to its senior partner to vent their annoyance, with one calling for a published apology.


The advertisement for BLG's litigation team listed more than 250 general counsel by name, and claimed: 'If you'd like your name kept out of the legal pages, take a note of ours.' The lawyers complained that it implied that they needed BLG's help because they personally were involved in litigation or had suffered negative press coverage, which was not the case.


Barclays' general counsel Mark Harding said the advertisement was 'outrageous'. He said: 'I strongly object to it - not just because of the use of my name and my company's name, but the implication behind the advert. It seems to suggest in some way that we are involved in litigation and we have been named in the press. I want them [BLG] to publish an apology and retract it.'


Charles Lawton, legal advisor to Rio Tinto, said: '[The advertisement] is an outrage. It infers that we are a client - we are not. It infers that we are involved in litigation - we are not... It is full of falsehoods.'


He added: 'I am appalled. I have told them that if I would ever have considered using their firm, I would not think about it now. They have scored an own-goal against every large company in the country.'


BP general counsel Peter Bevan said the advert was 'counter-productive' and 'stupid', and that consent should have been sought before using the lawyers' names.


A BLG spokesman said: 'This advert was the first shot in a varied campaign designed to raise awareness of our commercial litigation practice. Evaluation of the campaign will take place... when the full run of ads is completed.'


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