When I came to the Bar I didn’t know anybody, but fortunately got introduced to Tom Bingham and I was his marshal during my pupillage for about six weeks. He was a very inspiring figure. He was quite a junior judge then but he had tremendous insight. I was only with him for six weeks but he’s the person I’ve learnt the most from.
At that stage I liked the sound of my own voice too much. The problem at the Bar is that you’re always arguing a corner, it’s very difficult in your personal life. My wife always says ‘stop cross-examining me’.
I was 38 when I took silk, so about as young as one can generally be. I was known to the commercial judges as somebody who was conducting cases on my own. I felt I was ready.
Silk is a recognition you’ve reached a certain stage and helps solicitors sell you to clients, particularly if someone thinks ‘this chap’s pretty young’. But the mere fact that you’ve got two letters after your name is not going to make a difference. When you take silk you should have a silk’s practice, and if you haven’t, you’re going to have a problem in silk.
The only word I can use to describe how I felt when the VTB decision came out is gutted. They made the wrong decision on jurisdiction. When we got into the Supreme Court there was no question that we had won the argument and my opponent, Mark Hapgood QC, was equally convinced he had lost. Most of the time one is very clear as to what the outcome is going to be but in that case I was completely surprised – the most I’ve ever been.
The impression I was left with on VTB was the judges felt ‘we don’t want all these Russian cases here’. $300m had been stolen from an English account and I felt strongly that if someone hatches a plan to steal money from an English account the English courts should try the case.
The only word I can use to describe how I felt when the VTB decision came out is gutted.
Lots of people say acting in Russian cases, first for the Rubens, then Abramovich, Cherney and Deripaska, would be dangerous, but in none of those cases have I felt under personal threat. I went to Israel to see Cherney and he was nothing like all these tales that he was a Russian gangster. He appeared to me to be just like anybody’s uncle.
I’ve been against Deripaska a lot and he’s an intimidating figure but I have never had the pleasure of cross-examining him. He has backed down each time we’ve got close.
My most nervous moment came in the case between Sky and EDS. Joe Galloway was the witness for EDS and it all rested on him as he was who we said was guilty of fraud. We wanted to undermine his credibility by showing he purchased his degree off the internet, so I purchased one for my dog Lulu. I started asking him questions and he said he’d never seen it before and he had been to Concordia College. I thought we’d got it completely wrong. I could feel a frisson behind me from the solicitors as this was our first big cross-examination in a very high-profile case. I wanted to disappear. I then asked him do you teach basketball at Missouri Baptist University, he replied ‘yes’ and I knew we were on firm ground. We led him to tell more and more lies. He was in the stand for five days. He loathed me but was cool as a cucumber and just carried on lying. Once he had brazenly lied for hours on end it was hard for the judge to accept anything he said.
Most witnesses lie, often about lots of little things. The clever witness is one that realises that if he’s caught in a lie then back out.
My hardest opponent in court is Laurie Rabinowitz. He’s a good friend of mine. Although it’s always good-natured there’s always an undercurrent.
I would get rid of all wigs and gowns. We’ve got ourselves into a terrible mess where you don’t wear them at first instance, you wear it in the Court of Appeal, and then you wear it in the Supreme Court unless all counsel agree not to.
It’s not embarrassing to talk about money anymore. The chambers are now professionally run and people see it as a business rather than some amateurish club where we’re all pretending we’re here just for the love of the law.
Mark Howard QC is a tenant at Brick Court Chambers