Fountain Court's Brindle QC wins role in Berezovsky litigation
Fountain Court’s Michael Brindle QC is to have a second outing in the mammoth Berezovsky legal battle, having been instructed for the estate of Arkady ‘Badri’ Patarkatsishvili in chancery proceedings due to start in October. The case has already had a six-month outing in the commercial court.
Michael Brindle QC
Brindle is instructed by Graham Huntley, a former Hogan Lovells partner who left the firm in March to launch boutique Signature Litigation along with fellow Hogan Lovells partner Helen Brannigan.
Huntley was instructed for the Patarkatsishvili estate throughout the commercial tranche of the proceedings with Serle Court’s Jonathan Adkin leading the counsel team.
The estate is named as a defendant in the chancery dispute alongside Russian metal magnate Vasily Anisimov and and investment company Salford. Sources close to the case said the team wanted to bring in a heavyweight QC to lead the team (30 January 2012).
Macfarlanes partner Iain Mackie, who has represented Salford throughout the commercial and chancery trials, has instructed Brick Court Chambers’ Alan Maclean QC on the chancery proceedings, leading Maitland Chambers’ David Mumford, who has worked on the matter since the claim was launched.
Boris Berezovsky
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ian Terry, meanwhile, has returned to 3 Verulam Buildings for Ali Malek QC and Sonia Tolaney QC for Anisimov. The pair acted for Anisimov throughout the commercial case.
It is not Brindle’s first involvement with the Berezovsky dispute. In 2010 Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom partner Paul Mitchard QC instructed the silk to represent Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich at pre-trial strike-out hearings in the commercial court legal battle (31 March 2010). Brindle was drafted in to replace Brick Court’s Andrew Popplewell QC, who had to stand down from the case because of other diary commitments.
Earlier this year Berezovsky’s lawyers at Addleshaw Goddard were forced to find new counsel for the chancery proceedings after One Essex Court’s Laurence Rabinowitz QC pulled out following the commercial case, citing prior diary commitments (24 January 2012). The firm turned to Brick Court’s Mark Hapgood QC for the chancery trial (30 January 2012).
The chancery dispute revolves around allegations made by Berezovsky that a significant proportion of assets and funds worth between $2bn and $3bn (£1.3bn and £1.9bn) held by the Patarkatsishvili estate, or a large number of trusts and funds set up by Patarkatsishvili, as well as assets held by Anisimov, are in fact part-owned by Berezovsky.
On Friday (31 August) Mrs Justice Gloster will deliver her verdict in the commercial proceedings.
