Max Schaefer > Brick Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Brick Court Chambers Offices
7-8 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3LD
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Max Schaefer
Position
Max has been instructed in some of the most significant commercial disputes of recent years, often involving complex financial or economic issues. Current and recent instructions acting for Hewlett-Packard group companies in their US $5 billion fraud claims against former executives of Autonomy; for Asda and other high-street retailers in competition damages claims against MasterCard (and, previously, Visa) relating to the networks’ multilateral interchange fees (Max’s clients succeeded before both the Court of Appeal in 2018 and the Supreme Court in 2020); for Goldman Sachs International in a jurisdiction dispute relating to US $830 million claims against Novo Banco, a Portuguese “rescue bank” (before the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court); and for Banco Central de Venezuela in its efforts to release €930 million of the value of gold bars held in the Bank of England to fund COVID-19 relief via the United Nations Development Programme.
Other notable cases include acting for John Walker at every stage of the Walker v Innospec litigation, which concluded in a landmark Supreme Court judgment upholding the right of Mr Walker and his husband (and thousands of other civil partners and same-sex married couples) to the same pension benefits as spouses of the opposite sex; and for Sebastian Holdings Inc in its mammoth dispute with Deutsche Bank; and for Iveco in competition damages claims in the wake of the European Commission’s Trucks decision.
Max came to the Bar after a previous career in media and technology.
Career
Year of Call: 2010
Worked on venture projects in media and technology before coming to the Bar; called 2010, Inner Temple. Legal publications include ‘Al-Skeini and the elusive parameters of extraterritorial jurisdiction’ [2011] 5 EHRLR 566.
Memberships
COMBAR.
Education
King’s College, Cambridge (1996 BA Classics (Double First)); Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1997 Frank Knox Fellow); The City Law School, City University London (2009 Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction)); BPP Law School, London (2010 Bar Vocational Course; (Outstanding)).
2010–11: Pupillage, Brick Court Chambers
2009–10: Bar Vocational Course, BPP Law School, London (Outstanding)
2008–09: Graduate Diploma in Law, The City Law School, City University London (Distinction)
1996–97: Frank Knox Fellow, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University
1993–96: BA Classics, King’s College, Cambridge (Double first)
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4Max Schaefer –Brick Court Chambers ‘Max is an exceptional barrister. Super-bright, incisive, and phenomenally productive, with beautiful written work. He is a complete team player and his advocacy at trial is excellent.‘