Brick Court Chambers

Commercial law and EC law.

Colin practises in commercial law and competition law. His commercial law practice covers contractual disputes of all kinds, including shipping/shipbuilding, offshore construction/exploration, insurance and reinsurance, shareholder disputes, civil fraud and conflict of laws. His competition practice consists primarily of damages claims, whether in relation to anti-competitive agreements or abuse of dominance, although he has also had substantial involvement in FRAND litigation recently. His practice encompasses industry sectors including financial services, telecoms, media, sport and entertainment, transport, food and drink, consumer goods and professional services. He appears both in litigation and arbitration.

Important recent cases in which Colin was instructed include the following:

Conversant Wireless Licensing SARL v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. [2020] UKSC 37 (Supreme Court) (heard together with the Unwired Planet appeal). The leading judgment concerning jurisdictional aspects of FRAND litigation in England and Wales.

OnePlus Technology v Mitsubishi Electric Corp [2020] EWCA Civ 1562 (Court of Appeal). Judgment concerning confidentiality protection for comparable licences in FRAND litigation.

IPCom v HTC [2020] EWHC 2941 (Pat) (Birss J). Judgment concerning jurisdictional scope of damages inquiry in claim for infringement of standards-essential patent.

Allianz Global Investors v Barclays Bank [2021] EWHC 399 (Comm). Judgment concerning pass-on in massive follow-on litigation arising out anti-competitive manipulation of the forex market.

iiyama UK Limited v Samsung Electronics Ltd. [2018] EWCA Civ 229 (Court of Appeal). The leading case on the territorial scope of competition laws in private damages proceedings.

Renate Blauel v Sir Elton John. Litigation concerning whether superstar musician’s memoir and involvement in biopic contravened the contractual terms upon which he had separated from his former wife.

Michael Standing and Axis Football Investments Ltd. v Lee Power. Litigation concerning ownership and future management/control of Swindon Town Football Club.

Qualified 1999, Inner Temple.

Fluent French.

Inner Temple; South Eastern Circuit; Bar European Group; European Circuit; COMBAR; London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association (committee member); Human Rights Lawyers’ Association.

Hutchesons’ Grammar School; St Anne’s College, Oxford (1997 BA First Class; 1998 BCL First Class).

Travel, classical music.