Blackstone silk defeated in Wayne Rooney commission case
Blackstone Chambers silk Ian Mill QC has lost a high profile case in the Manchester Mercantile Court after Mr Justice Hegarty QC ruled that his client, sport management firm Proactive, was not owed commission by footballer Wayne Rooney.
Hill Dickinson head of commercial litigation Geraldine Ryan instructed Kings Chambers’ Paul Chaisty QC to act for the Manchester United striker who was accused of withholding commission on multi-million pound deals brokered by Proactive, which used to represent him.
Mill was instructed by solicitor James Martin of Harrogate-based McCormicks Solicitors to pursue the footballer for breach of contract.
It was argued that when Rooney followed Proactive’s former agent Paul Stretford when he quit the agency in 2008 the footballer failed to terminate his contract properly, leaving him owing commission to the agency. Mill argued the agency was owed £4.3m in commission.
Hegarty J, who delayed the verdict until after the recent FIFA World Cup, held that Proactive was only entitled to a ’restitutional remedy’ from Rooney amounting to around £90,000.
Mill told the court that his client would consider taking the matter to the Court of Appeal.
THE LAWYERS:
Claimant: McCormicks solicitor James Martin instructed Blackstone Chambers’ Ian Mill QC to lead Tom Weisselberg, also of Blackstone.
Defendant: Hill Dickinson partner Geraldine Ryan instructed Kings Chambers’ Paul Chaisty QC to lead Mark Harper, also of Kings Chambers.
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Readers' comments (14)
Anonymous | 16-Jul-2010 9:47 am
Mr Justice Hegarty has one of the best legal brains I have ever come across in over 40 years in the profession. I first came across him when he was defending a claim brought by my clients and he made mincemeat of our case.
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Anonymous | 16-Jul-2010 1:36 pm
He could lear to write shorter judgments though - 195 pages!
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Anonymous | 16-Jul-2010 3:02 pm
Mill's defeat is wholly atypical, and I wonder if it smacks a little of local counsel gaining the ear of a local Northern Circuit judge, for a local hero, and thus also running off Blackstone's finest.
Mill's practice is one of Blackstone's commercial cornerstones. He is heavily in demand. I can't see this as anything other than a eccentric result, probably overturned on appeal. Weisselberg is a top-quality junior.
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scott | 16-Jul-2010 5:36 pm
The decsion is entirely in accord with the existing law regarding restrictive covenants and contracts made by minors and/or inexpeienced persons. If the facts and aw are clearly against one's client then no matter how emminent one's counsel one is likely to lose.
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Could Rooney's case have simply been stronger? | 17-Jul-2010 6:32 am
Anon@ 3:02 - clearly, the outcome can't have been anything to do with Rooney having had the stronger case.
If the great Ian Mill loses, something must be amiss - provincial bias in this case.
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Anonymous | 17-Jul-2010 1:40 pm
Well, if Proactive do decide to pursue this in the Court of Appeal, as the previous posts are egging them on to do, all of the sports world will take note and ponder other agents. Rooney chose to go with Paul Stretford for a reason - that he thought he was the best choice for him. Is sports agency just a "what's in it for me game ?" or does Jerry Maguire's "the sportsman comes first" mean nothing ?
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Anonymous | 17-Jul-2010 10:01 pm
First, I'll declare an interest as a northern circuit lawyer. But it is astoundingly disrespecful for the person writing above me to suggest Proactive may lost because the judge was favouring a northern litigant and his northern circuit counsel. This judge was, I'm sure, and judges generally are, I hope, guided by the merits, rather than geography. Or is that just a parochial northern attitude of mine? If so, I'd better be putting on an estuarial twang next time I'm in the Strand.
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njr1330 | 18-Jul-2010 12:52 pm
Surely, the words "silk defeated" are unfair - the outcome of litigation [always uncertain] has more to do with the material and the witnesses than the abilities of those presenting it. ...No silk purse from sow's ear!
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Anonymous | 18-Jul-2010 10:19 pm
Stop the self-glorification you bunch of fools. We all know you are writing your own reviews.
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Anonymous | 19-Jul-2010 10:26 am
Oh Dear! We cant have Londons finest losing to anyone in the provinces without good reason can we? I wonder if the Judge agrees with your comments?
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