Lord Charles Falconer KC KC > Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Offices

London
    Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
    TELEPHONE HOUSE
    2-4 TEMPLE AVENUE
    LONDON
    EC4Y 0HB
    England
    Visit website 020 7071 4000 020 7071 4244

    Lord Charles Falconer KC KC

    Charles Falconer KC photo
    +44 20 7071 4270 cfalconer@gibsondunn.com

    Work Department

    Dispute Resolution

    Position

    Charlie Falconer is an English qualified King’s Counsel and partner based in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s London office. The former UK Lord Chancellor and first Secretary of State for Justice spent 25 years as a commercial barrister, becoming a QC in 1991 and a KC in 2022. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, international arbitration and investigations.

    Career

    In June 2003, he became the Lord Chancellor and the first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. He was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1974 and was appointed Solicitor General in May 1997. Between 1974 and 1997 he was a commercial barrister, and was involved in many significant commercial, industrial and financial issues of the day.

    In 1997 he joined the Blair government as Solicitor-General, moving a year later to the Cabinet Office, becoming involved in all the critical issues which faced the government from 1998 until the 2001 election.

    In 2001, after the general election, he became Housing, Planning and Regeneration Minister and in 2002 he became Criminal Justice Minister. In both these jobs he was engaged in leading genuine public service reform, for example in relation to the planning system and the criminal justice system.

    In 2003 he became Lord Chancellor. In conjunction with the then Lord Chief Justice he worked out a detailed new relationship between the judiciary and the executive, which was embodied in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

    His reform included the creation, for the first time, of a Supreme Court for the UK, the creation of a commission to appoint judges, making a full-time independent judge the Head of the Judiciary for England and Wales, and introducing an elected Speaker for the House of Lords.

    In 2007 he became the first Secretary of State for Justice bringing together courts, prisons and justice policy for the first time.

    Lawyer Rankings

    London > Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail

    Composed of ‘very experienced and expert partners’, the team at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represents financial institutions in disputes in various jurisdictions, including offshore. Osma Hudda and Doug Watson jointly lead the team. Boasting extensive experience in the financial services sector, Philip Rocher specialises in litigation, as well as regulatory and internal investigations. Charles Falconer KC is name to note, and Allan Neil represents financial institutions in multi-jurisdictional disputes and investigations. Susy Bullock is an active member of the team, along with Daniel Warner.

    London > Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium

    Specialising in commercial litigation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is regularly called upon to handle multi-jurisdictional disputes, including offshore litigation. Boasting an active multi-party litigation practice, the ‘expert and experienced‘ team has a strong background acting for claimants and defendants. Osma Hudda co-leads alongside Doug Watson, who excels in cross-border litigation, focusing on the telecoms, energy, aviation, media and sport sectors. Susy Bullock heads the firm’s transnational litigation team. Philip Rocher focuses his commercial litigation practice on the financial services sector, while Patrick Doris represents a diverse list of corporations, UK public bodies and sovereign states. Charles Falconer KC and Daniel Warner are names to note.

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