My father had been a lawyer in India and East Africa but wasn’t keen on me becoming a lawyer. It’s a bit of a standing joke but it’s true – every Indian parent wants their kid to become a doctor, whether or not you have any skillset in that direction! My dad was dead against the Bar in particular because it didn’t have a regular income attached. There was no family encouragement whatsoever.
I defied my dad and did the subject I was most passionate about at university. History. I wanted to become a historian, and had a place to do a doctorate in modern British history at Oxford, but I changed my mind. My tutor at college suggested I wasn’t necessarily suited to a solitary existence writing a thesis for three or four years. He suggested the Bar as it would be intellectually satisfying and I’d make some money.
My degree was ancient and modern history. I specialised in Roman history and modern British and European history from the 18th to the 20th century. I’d rather pick up a history book than a novel if I was on holiday.
You don’t learn law from doing history, but handling a large set of facts and marshalling them – being able to put them together into a compelling narrative – is very much a historian’s craft. Jonathan Sumption QC has spoken in similar terms about transferring history to the law. I would agree.
I hated Bar School. I found the conversion course boring. But I really enjoyed pupillage. I had marvellous pupil masters who were fun to be with. That’s what convinced me I had gone down the right path.
I had Trevor Philipson QC as a pupil master. He sadly died a few years ago. He was the most marvellous and suave advocate, very smooth and polished in court, although he must have been like a duck furiously paddling under the water. While he prepared very thoroughly, he was effortless in court. Just a lovely man who loved the high life! He made a good living at the Bar and enjoyed his down time.
At Fountain Court, you don’t do any advocacy in your second six months. In those days we used to be sent out to a criminal set of chambers under an exchange scheme. I came back briefly to Fountain Court and won a pro bono industrial tribunal hearing. The senior clerk at the criminal set must have thought I was a good advocate so he unleashed me on summary trials in the Magistrates’ Court.
I got to do three jury trials which were utterly terrifying. My first experience I can remember vividly was making a plea in mitigation for someone at Hastings Magistrates’ Court. While I was saying why he’s such a great guy, he did a runner. I just heard a scuffle at the back of the room – he’d legged it. It wasn’t a very auspicious beginning!
The most interesting early case I worked on involved a painting stolen from Berlin at the end of the Second World War by a Russian soldier. We think it went from the eastern part of Berlin back to Russia then back to East Germany, then to unified Germany. Then it ended up for sale at Sotheby’s. It went to trial in front of Justice Moses for several weeks and it involved the most complex conflict of law issues. The ownership of the painting transferred between Nazi Germany, communist Russia, communist East Germany, Germany and then finally the UK. Legally it was very complicated!
My dispute resolution style is not overtly confrontational. I don’t tend to pick fights with opponents. If an opponent is very aggressive or unpleasant I have ways of dealing with it, which tends to be speaking with the judge rather than reaching a compromise with an opponent. As a style it has served me well in cross-examination. The judges trust you more as being reasonable and balanced. And being co-operative advances both sides’ cases.
It’s organised warfare in court, and there’s no need to extend it to outside the courtroom. I find that 95% of the time I get on perfectly well with the opposing counsel. There’s no need for aggravation.
I have a good relationship with Mark Howard QC of Brick Court Chambers. I’ve done a lot of work against him, particularly the Russia v Ukraine case. He’s got a reputation as an aggressive advocate but I haven’t experienced that. I think we’ve formed a mutual respect. He’s one of the best advocates I’ve seen. He’s very polished and effective, and he has a commanding presence in court. What people say about him doesn’t match my experience.
I did a recent case against Nigel Tozzi QC of 4 Pump Court. He was extremely nice to deal with outside court, but was very effective and tough in court in a way you wouldn’t have predicted.
If there’s anyone I try to model myself on in advocacy, it’s Michael Crane QC at Fountain Court. He has a non-confrontational style. Smooth and effective, works ferociously hard, but also just nice. There’s an infectiousness to it. Judges like him.
Chambers has been lonely and quiet at times since the pandemic. Because I’m head of chambers I see it as a duty, because I’m asking staff to come in, to come in most days myself. For large parts of 2020 and 2021 it has been very quiet. In normal times I’ve found chambers to be very collegiate and friendly. We’ve tended to have an open-door policy, where you can stumble into someone’s room for advice.
I experienced the collegiality most profoundly after my wife died seven years ago. That’s a time when you know you’re in a genuinely supportive atmosphere. I had a lot of support from my head of chambers, and it couldn’t have been a nicer and more supportive environment from the staff and all the members. I felt very lucky to be here.
I’ve been here since 1988 and I have a lot of affection for chambers. I’ve given a lot of my career to chambers in an unpaid capacity: I was head of our pupillage committee for many years, I’ve been deputy head of chambers and now head for the last four years. I’ve given a lot to chambers but I’ve got a lot out of it as well.
The ENRC/SFO case was an interesting one. I came in to do it for the appeal, and it was quite satisfying because I don’t think the court was terribly sympathetic to my client. It was a tough appeal to argue because we had lost it at first instance comprehensively on the facts and the law. We had a very tough tribunal with Justices Leveson, Vos and McCombe. It was an uphill struggle.
Being a silk is a different existence, the buck stops with you. The existence you had sitting behind grand silks is gone – suddenly you’re in the front row.
Early as a silk I did a case against Michael Jackson. I was acting for one of the princes in Bahrain who was suing Jackson over a recording contract. Jackson was lying low in the Middle East for a year after the allegations, and he stayed with my client who was the second son of the king of Bahrain. He set Jackson up in a studio and entered into a recording contract, which Jackson then tried to get out of. It was all over the papers.
The social media road is not one I’ve gone down. People who are good explainers and can do it well provide a valuable role in busting myths. I’m too busy with my practice to spend time on my media exposure.
I sometimes find it’s dangerous commenting on cases you don’t know about. I’m often shocked when people are willing to comment on things they don’t fully understand. They may be good lawyers, but they might not have grasped all the nuances.
Being a silk is a different existence, the buck stops with you. The existence you had sitting behind grand silks is gone – suddenly you’re in the front row. It’s scary in the beginning, but ultimately more enjoyable than life as a junior. If you don’t enjoy advocacy then it’s probably not for you!
Every barrister, bar a few, aspires to those two little letters.
We like slightly left-field holidays. The most exciting holiday we did was to Alaska with the whole family. There was lots of trekking and hiking and being quite close to grizzly bears! The last lodge we stayed in was only reachable by light aircraft. It’s one of the advantages of being a barrister, you can allocate yourself a big slot of time and take a holiday.
I am a great fan of Woody Allen. I know I probably shouldn’t say that seeing as he’s been cancelled, but I really like him. My favourite film is Play It Again, Sam, which is a very funny take on Casablanca. Not a very fashionable opinion! Next on my list is Parallel Mothers, which is linked to the Spanish Civil War.
I’m a great fan of opera. It was one of the early things I went back to once we were able. Verdi is my favourite composer. The last opera I saw was Rigoletto.
I’m out of touch with contemporary music. My kids regarded me as a bit old-fashioned because I love people like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. But I’ve now converted them because they think modern music is crap.
I hate Marmite. Give me peanut butter any day. Tony Singla QC must have gone down well with you then. He loves Marmite, which had me surprised.
Crunchy or smooth? Smooth. I don’t know why that rubs crunchy fans up the wrong way. I have this thing about mixed textures, I don’t like the mixture of crunchy and smooth.
My favourite quote? “Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.” From Tolstoy’s War and Peace, the best novel ever written. The reason I like it is that life at the Bar has taught me that, because barristers are consummate bullshit merchants, one should never be beguiled by the confidence with which nonsense can sometimes be uttered in court!
Bankim Thanki QC is a barrister at Fountain Court Chambers.