Fountain Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers based in the Temple in London and with offices in Singapore. It has 105 full members (in addition to door tenants), of whom 45 are silks. It is in the Magic Circle.
The head of chambers, since 2023, is Richard Handyside KC. The deputy head of chambers is Patrick Goodall KC, the senior clerk is Alex Taylor and the head of administration is Julie Parker.
History
It is possible to trace Fountain Court's origins to the early part of the Twentieth Century, but its period of sustained success dates from after the Second World War.
Its reputation for commercial litigation developed in the late 1940s and 1950s and its standing as a 'magic circle' chambers was cemented in the 1960s and 1970s.
Notable current members include Richard Lissack KC, David Railton KC, Timothy Dutton CBE KC (head of chambers 2008–2013 and former chairman of the Bar), Stephen Moriarty KC (head of chambers 2013–2018 and chairman of the Commercial Bar Association), Bankim Thanki KC (head of chambers 2018-2023), Patricia Robertson KC (past Vice-Chair of the Bar Standards Board), Richard Handyside KC (current head of chambers), Andrew Mitchell KC (current vice-chair of the Bar Standards Board) and Patrick Goodall KC (current deputy head of chambers).
Other previous heads of chambers include Anthony Boswood QC (1999–2003) who died in 2022, and Michael Brindle QC (2003–2008), who is now a door tenant.
In 2014, Fountain Court opened an office in Singapore's financial district.
Notable cases
Members of Fountain Court Chambers have appeared in many landmark cases and high-profile commercial disputes.
In the well-known House of Lords’ case of Caparo v Dickman, all counsel on both sides were from Fountain Court. Several members of the Chambers were also prominent figures in acting for the Bank of England in the celebrated Three Rivers litigation, a case which led to several appeals to the House of Lords. Numerous members of Fountain Court Chambers were involved in the Lloyds litigation which dominated the work of the Commercial Court in the 1990s, and produced two significant appeals in the House of Lords.
In addition, members were involved in the Bank Charges litigation (a test case which ended up in the House of Lords), the RBS Rights Issue case, various high-value PPI matters and the FCA Test Case regarding business interruption insurance claims arising as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic (proceeding both to the High Court and by way of 'leapfrog' appeal to the Supreme Court).
Other recent substantial cases in which members of Fountain Court appeared include SFO v ENRC,Autonomy/Hewlett-Packard v Lynch & Hussain, the Ingenious litigation, Law Debenture v Ukraine, litigation arising from Barclays' $11 billion 2008 capital raising in Qatar, Palladian Partners & others v Republic of Argentina, R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others and the so-called 'Tuna bonds' litigation.