Fountain Court Chambers

Barrister with a broad commercial practice including art law, banking and finance, civil fraud, aviation, energy, crypto, and commercial crime.

Aaron has a particular interest in art and cultural property. He is currently writing a book about financial crime in the art market, an early proposal for which was shortlisted for the FT Bracken Bower Prize 2021. He was awarded a 2023 Churchill Fellowship to support his research, and will be a Visiting Fellow in law at Magdelene College, Cambridge, in 2025.

Notable recent cases include:

Federal Republic of Nigeria v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA [2022] EWHC 1447 (Comm)

Acting (with Rosalind Phelps KC and David Murray) for the successful defendant in a high-profile $1.5 billion+ claim for breach of Quincecare duty. The background to the claim was an alleged “fraudulent and corrupt scheme” perpetrated by former government ministers, concerning the proceeds of an oil prospecting licence. The judgment of Cockerill J, following a seven-week trial, contains a valuable discussion of the nature of the Quincecare duty, the meaning of gross negligence in private law, and the scope of the Foreign Act of State doctrine.

FTAI AirOpCo UK Ltd v Olympus Airways SA [2022] EWHC 1362 (Comm)

Acting (as sole counsel) for the successful claimant in a $5 million+ aviation claim in the London Circuit Commercial Court. The claimant lessor was awarded unpaid rent, various costs and expenses incurred in the recovery of the aircraft, and damages for the aircraft’s diminution in value. The claim gave rise to questions of interpretation of a standard commercial aircraft lease, including the provisions on termination, indemnitees, and relief. It also involved disputed issues of fact as to the condition and return of the Aircraft, and expert evidence as to valuation. Aaron also acted as sole counsel at the CCMC, DGH, and two full-day application hearings (including FTAI AirOpCo UK Limited v Olympus Airways [2021] EWHC 2614 (Ch)).

Tai Mo Shan Limited v Persons Unknown [2024] EWHC 1514 (Comm); [2024] EWHC 2532 (Comm)

Acting (with Nik Yeo) for the claimant high-frequency trading firm, in respect of a hack of crypto assets valued at $450 million+. The case involved several hearings in two related sets of proceedings, including obtaining injunctive relief against an algorithmic trading platform (a non-cause-of-action defendant) to bring about the seizure and detention of the assets, and obtaining permission to serve a claim for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment against unidentified hacker out of the jurisdiction and by NFT (a first-of-its-kind application).

Voltaire Capital Holdings Limited & Ors v Eric Watson & Ors

Acting (with Tamara Oppenheimer KC) for two defendant companies in high-value multi-party civil fraud proceedings, involving allegations of unlawful means conspiracy and dishonest assistance. The trial is listed for 2026.

AXA France IARD SA v Santander Cards UK Limited

Acting (with Adam Zellick KC and David Murray) for the defendant bank in a dispute about the allocation of hundreds of millions of pounds of liability for historic PPI mis-selling losses. The trial is listed for 2025.

Call 2017 (England & Wales); 2019 (BVI).

Appointed to the SFO C Panel of Counsel for Proceeds of Crime – International Assistance.

Judicial Assistant, Commercial Court (Teare and Butcher JJ), 2018-19, including for the trials of Danilina v Chernukhin [2019] EWHC 173 (Comm) and TGTL v CATS North Sea [2019] EWHC 1220 (Comm)

Visiting Fellow, Magdalene College, Cambridge (Easter Term 2025); Visiting lecturer in art law, London School of Economics (from 2023); Associate Lecturer and Visiting Research Fellow in Law, Goldsmiths, University of London (2019-2023); Tutor in law, St Edmund’s College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (2017-19); Teaching Fellow in law, University College London (2016-17).

Aaron has published widely in leading academic and practitioner journals, including ‘Resale Restrictions in the Contemporary Art Market’, (2023) 28 Art Antiquity and Law 275; ‘Civil claims for secret commissions’ (2022) 80 CLJ 452; ‘Concurrent Duties’ (2019) 82:1 MLR 17; ‘Interpretation of Industry-Standard Contracts’ (2017) LMCLQ 261; ‘In search of the ratio decidendi’ (2019) 135 LQR 556. He sits on the editorial board of the specialist journal Art Antiquity and Law.

Institute of Art & Law Art Lawyers Association Professional Advisers to the International Art Market COMBAR Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association Financial Services Lawyers Association

Diploma in Art Professional Law and Ethics, Institute of Art and Law (Distinction)

Keble College, Oxford, BCL (Distinction)

St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, BA Law (accelerated) (Double First Class)

University of Bristol, BA History (First Class, top of cohort in each year; starred first final year)

Lincoln’s Inn: Lord Mansfield Scholarship, Sunley Scholarship, and Hardwicke Entrance Scholarship

Art; squash; classical music; coffee.