Class action firm Pogust Goodhead is reverting to its former trading name, PGMBM, after both namesake founders demanded their surnames be removed amid a bitter dispute over the multi-billion-pound Mariana dam litigation.
A firm spokesperson said the change followed stakeholder feedback: “We have listened carefully to feedback from our people, partners and those closest to our clients and have decided to move away from the Pogust Goodhead trading name.
Neither of the former founders has any role in the firm today, and we believe the name should reflect the firm as it exists now.”
The firm argued that returning to PGMBM offers clients continuity during a critical phase of the Mariana proceedings rather than introducing a wholly new identity.
The rebrand comes after co-founders Harris Pogust and Tom Goodhead publicly sought to stop the firm using their names. Pogust, who stepped down as chairman in 2024, had criticised the firm for issuing proceedings that named clients as defendants and sought costs if they switched representation.
“I was embarrassed to have my name anywhere on that document,” he said, adding he had never sued a client in a 39-year career. Goodhead, ousted as CEO in 2025, has joined rival Bailey Glasser International (BGI) with more than 15 former colleagues and is now on the other side of the fight for control of the claim involving more than 400,000 Brazilian claimants.
Pogust (right) welcomed the removal of his name on LinkedIn but ridiculted the revival of the old branding: “I guess my letter worked… Is it me or is this beyond silly.” He questioned whether recycling a name linked to five long-departed partners would ease client confusion.
PGMBM was the firm’s trading name from 2020 (after an earlier incarnation as SPG Law) before the switch to Pogust Goodhead in 2022.
The official company name has remained PGMBM throughout.
A new PGMBM logo has appeared on the firm’s Facebook and Instagram channels, though the website still carried the old branding at the time of the announcement.
The name change lands as the High Court prepares to rule on which firm should represent the Mariana claimants, following a two-day hearing this week. Judgment is expected imminently.
