Sarah Abram KC > Brick Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Brick Court Chambers Offices
7-8 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3LD
England
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Sarah Abram KC
Work Department
Member of Chambers
Position
Sarah Abram KC was called in 2006 and took silk in 2022; she is described in the directories as a “without a doubt a star of her generation”.
Sarah has for some years – including prior to taking silk – been acting as lead counsel or sole advocate in the most high-profile litigation and arbitration across the fields of competition, EU and commercial law. Her wide-ranging practice involves multi-jurisdiction and multi-party cases, raising novel points of law.
In addition to commercial and competition disputes of all varieties, Sarah regularly acts in class action litigation, FRAND litigation, jurisdiction disputes and matters involving data/big tech. Examples of her current and recent case-load include acting unled in the Rail Fares CPO litigation; acting as sole counsel for the successful claimant in the Commercial Court trial Acerus v Recipharm; leading on global FRAND issues in Nokia v Oppo; acting for Telefonica in the litigation regarding the collapse of Phones4U (The Lawyer Top 20 case for 2022). She is instructed in substantially every large competition damages matter of the day, including Trucks, FX, Power Cables and RoRo.
Career
Call: 2006
Silk: 2022
Languages
Fluent French, conversational German.
Memberships
Bar European Group; Administrative Law Bar Association; Common Law and Commercial Bar Association.
Education
Kendrick Girls’ Grammar School, Reading; Bristol University (2004 LLB Law and French First Class Hons); University of Poitiers, France (2003 Diploma of French Law Mention Très Bien); University College, University of Oxford (2005 BCL Distinction); Inns of Court School of Law, City University (2006 BVC Outstanding).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Group litigation
(2022 Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Sarah Abram KC – Brick Court Chambers ‘Sarah is technically excellent, extremely user-friendly, and her written and oral advocacy stands up very well.’
Brick Court Chambers’ members in the group litigation space includes instructions in Lloyd v Google, Alex Neill Class Representative Ltd v Sony, and Merricks v Mastercard, in which Marie Demetriou KC continues to act for a claimant group, effectively including almost all adults in the UK, concerning the card networks’ interchange fees on all card transactions. Sarah Abram KC is instructed in emissions litigation for BMW, as well as in BSV Claims v Bittylicious & ors, an application for collective proceedings on behalf of investors in a cryptocurrency derived from Bitcoin, including allegations of collusion via public statements on Twitter. Tony Singla KC is acting for Barclays in a case brought by hundreds of shareholders under sections 90 and 90A FSMA for allegedly false and misleading statements.
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(2022 Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Sarah Abram KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘Sarah has great technical skills, but also fantastic at explaining complex legal issues with ease, and this is why clients really like her. She is also a fantastic advocate.’
London Bar > European Union law
(2022 Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Sarah Abram KC – Brick Court Chambers ‘An emerging force in silk after many years as a leading junior in competition law. Clients love her enthusiastic application to their cases.’
Brick Court Chambers continues to handle a steady stream of complex and high profile contentious EU mandates. Recent instructions include Marie Demetriou KC acting for the appellant in British Sugar v Secretary of State for International Trade, a judicial review challenging measures adopted by the UK Government under the post-Brexit UK General Tariff Regime. Jemima Stratford KC has been kept busy handling financial and pharmaceutical related matters, and Sarah Abram KC is ‘across all of the major claims and her knowledge cannot be bettered‘. Among the juniors, Tim Johnston regularly advises local authorities and government departments on a range of EU matters, and Richard Blakeley KC is sought after for his expertise in handling sanctions issues.
London Bar > Competition
(2022 Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Sarah Abram KC – Brick Court Chambers ‘A brilliant barrister with superb judgement, and a smiling assassin in cross-examination.’
Brick Court Chambers continues to handle the leading cases in the field of competition law, advising both claimants and defendants across the spectrum of competition areas, from state aid and cartels to abuse of dominant positions and contested mergers. Mark Hoskins KC leads, among others, Sarah Abram KC, who took silk in 2022, in acting for leading mobile operators, including O2 and Telefonica, in a damages claim brought by Phones4U for around £800m; the retailer collapsed into administration in 2014 alleging that the networks conspired to drive it out of business. Marie Demetriou KC continues to lead Victoria Wakefield KC among others in Merricks v Mastercard, the first collection action certified by the CAT, with more proceedings in 2023 following the success in the Court of Appeal in late 2022 – the case seeks damages for virtually every adult in the UK, who allegedly paid inflated prices owing to the payment network’s interchange fees. In Allergen & Ors v CMA, Robert O’Donoghue KC led Emma Mockford when acting Cinven – previous owner of a business now forming part of Advanz Pharmaceuticals – in its appeal against the regulator’s 2021 decision that drug companies overcharged the NHS for hydrocortisone tablets.