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.
You must be logged in to view full premium content.
Leading set Fountain Court Chambers has boosted its commercial offering and with the recruit of two silks and five junior barristers.
Littleton Chambers’ Stuart Ritchie QC, Serle Court Chambers’ Jonathan Adkin QC have joined alongside 3 Verulam Buildings’ Laura John and Erskine Chambers’ Alex Barden.
Cited as a leading figure in commercial litigation, Ritchie is described by The Legal 500 as ‘a no-nonsense genius; probably the best all-round junior silk.’ Fellow commercial litigator Adkin is described as an individual who ‘works at a ferocious pace and his advocacy is sublime.’
Meanwhile, the set has also launched a commercial crime practice which will be headed by banking heavyweight Richard Lissack QC – who joined in May from Outer Temple Chambers – alongside newly recruited juniors Nicholas Medcroft from Wilberforce Chambers, and Outer Temple Chambers duo Robin Barclay and Eleanor Davison.
Juniors Ian Bergson, Max Evans and Max Kasriel have also been invited to join the chambers on completion of their pupillages, where they will focus on building practices in the set’s core areas.
With the new recruits, and the recent appointments to silk of Fountain Court tenants Rosalind Phelps QC and Ben Valentin QC, the set’s membership now stands at 34 Silks and 48 junior barristers.
Lissack said: ‘There is a significant gap in the offering of the commercial bar at the point at which civil litigation, regulation and enforcement collide – a gap which Fountain Court is now perfectly placed to fill.’
Chambers head Stephen Moriarty QC said: ‘Commercial crime is a major growth area among solicitors and increasingly at the Bar. It is an area where we have been seeing an increasing level of demand from our clients, particularly those in financial services. But because it sits at the junction of commercial and criminal law it has not, until now, been easy to instruct appropriate teams from the same set.’
‘In creating this team, we are setting out to fill this gap, providing new and existing clients with what we hope will be a unique service.’
Lissack is one of London’s most established finance silks. Called to the Bar in 1978 and taking silk in 1994, his practice covers a broad range of advocacy across finance, regulatory, white collar crime and professional negligence.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
Read more the Bar in : ‘Set in stone – testing time for mid-tier sets as elite London sets tighten their grip’
Fountain Court Chambers has bolstered its bench of finance silks after attracting banking heavyweight Richard Lissack QC (pictured) from Outer Temple Chambers.
Set to join the elite commercial and chancery set on Tuesday (3 May), Lissack is one of London’s most established finance silks. Called to the Bar in 1978 and taking silk in 1994, Lissack’s practice covers a broad range of advocacy across finance, regulatory, white collar crime and professional negligence.
His CV boasts high profile regulatory and criminal work including acting on the US and UK London Whale investigations, advising Barclays on regulatory matters, cases relating to Libor and Forex, high-stakes litigation between HP and Autonomy and a multimillion professional negligence dispute between ENRC and Dechert.
Lissack also serves as a consultant to New Law standard-bearer Riverview Law and was involved with Riverview’s inception.
Fountain Court deputy head of chambers Bankim Thanki QC told Legal Business: ‘I’ve been working extensively with Richard in both commercial and criminal work. We made the approach. The rationale is we see the big growth area being regulation and investigation work – it seems the right time to add to that capability. Richard’s USP is bridging that gap between heavy criminal work and commercial work. I can’t think of anyone else who occupies that space. We expect to make more high calibre hires and are interviewing over the next month.’
Thanki added: ‘Richard is in the front rank of senior QCs. He is a joy to work with and Fountain Court is delighted to acquire such an outstanding talent.’
Fountain Court senior clerk Alex Taylor added: ‘Richard is undoubtedly one of the star silks in the London and international disputes market.’
Lissack’s arrival comes amid a period of flux at the Bar that has seen London’s elite commercial sets generally strengthen their grip at the expense of mid-tier sets.
High profile recent moves include Sonia Tolaney QC from 3 Verulam Buildings to One Essex Court. Tolaney, who is currently instructed on the sprawling Royal Bank of Scotland rights issue litigation, was appointed after One Essex this year signed up Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer disputes veteran Ian Terry as a mediator.
