Mark Howard KC > Brick Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Brick Court Chambers Offices
7-8 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3LD
England
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Mark Howard KC
Position
Mark Howard is the joint Head of Brick Court Chambers. He is widely regarded as one of the leading commercial silks at the bar, and has very wide experience of commercial and ‘City’ litigation, along with banking, professional negligence, fraud, energy and insurance and reinsurance. He also has significant experience of Competition Law and Administrative Law cases. He is an experienced advocate appearing before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal frequently, as well as dealing with high value and complex first instance disputes. He also has great experience of appearing before arbitral tribunals, including ICC, FIA (F1 Sports) and BIT panels. He has appeared on many occasions in cases before the Courts of the BVI. Mark Howard has also advised clients and appeared before the Takeover Panel.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Competition
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2London Bar > Energy
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘Mark is in the star category and at the top of his game, a wonderful advocate with a top-ticket practice.’
London Bar > Insurance and reinsurance
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Brick Court Chambers continue to be instructed on significant insurance and reinsurance cases, including Aercap v AIG (& Others), in which Mark Howard KC was involved and raised significant legal issues both about the US, UK and EU Sanctions law, and English insurance law alongside raising factual issues, concerning the effective seizure of aircraft leased to Russian airlines after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tony Singla KC acted for Zurich Insurance in a $1bn claim arising out of the abandonment of a mobile offshore production unit in the Norwegian North Sea subject to a construction all risks policy, whereas Simon Salzedo KC is noted for his involvement in business interruption insurance cases concerning Covid-19 lockdowns.
London Bar > Professional negligence
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘Mark has an Olympian court presence. He exudes authority. Many people regard him as the best in the business.’
London Bar > Fraud: civil
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘He is superb in this area.’
Brick Court Chambers‘ members are consistently sought out to act in the market’s most high-stakes civil fraud cases. Mark Howard KC repeatedly acts in complex fraud matters with offshore elements and sums at stake exceeding $1bn; while Tim Lord KC is representing three defendants in SKAT v Solo Capital Partners, a multi-party claim by the Danish tax authority, which seeks to recover £1.5bn paid out through withholding tax refunds, the claim including fraud and conspiracy allegations and involving complex issues of public international law. Craig Morrison KC, who recently led the successful defence of a £30m-plus construction dispute that involved allegations of serious dishonesty; and Richard Eschwege KC, currently representing the two principal defendants in a $330m civil fraud claim involving oil trading in West Africa, were both raised to silk level in March 2023. Among the juniors, Sophie Shaw regularly acts in heavyweight civil fraud cases, while Tom Wood is another name to note among the set’s juniors.
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘Certainly remains in the top handful of barristers in the country. A devastating cross-examiner.’
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘Mark is a superb silk.’
Instructed in the market’s most high-profile disputes, Brick Court Chambers ‘deservedly has an outstanding reputation in the field of commercial litigation‘. In Federal Republic of Nigeria v Process & Industrial Developments, Mark Howard KC, leading Tom Pascoe and Joanne Box, represented Nigeria in a dispute concerning the enforcement of a $9.6bn arbitral award against Nigeria; and in a major boost to chambers, Richard Eschwege KC and Craig Morrison KC both took silk in March 2023. Eschwege KC acts unled for the two principal defendants in a $330m civil fraud claim involving oil trading in West Africa; and Morrison KC’s track record includes representing the Ingenious Media Group and Patrick McKenna in a film production schemes-related dispute, where Ingenious was sued by hundreds of former investors for deceit, misrepresentation, and breach of contract.
London Bar > International arbitration: counsel
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Mark Howard KC –Brick Court Chambers ‘A titan at the Bar.’