Tamara Oppenheimer QC > Fountain Court Chambers > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Fountain Court Chambers has particular travel-related expertise in acting for bespoke tour operators, as well as other commercial disputes in the travel industry. Akhil Shah QC was engaged in Blanche v easyJet, a second appeal and test case of a passenger claim for compensation under EU Regulation 261; while Rosalind Phelps QC was involved in Volare v Civil Aviation Authority, acting as the external legal adviser to the CAA Panel deciding a contested case about the use of aircraft parts and their impact on the airworthiness of passenger aircraft. New silk Tamara Oppenheimer QC has extensive aviation sector expertise.

At Fountain Court Chambers, Richard Lissack QC is representing the CFO of software company Autonomy in the ongoing case concerning allegations of corporate fraud brought against the company by the SFO and the FRC in the UK, as well as the Department of Justice in the USA, relating to the $8bn sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard. Strengthening the team on the senior end, 2020 saw Robin Barclay QC (described as ‘very proactive and hardworking‘) and Tamara Oppenheimer QC (who ‘expresses opinions succinctly and with clarity‘) be elevated silk.

Fountain Court Chambers is ‘a top chambers and does a great deal of fraud work‘. The set is commended for its ‘very real strength in depth at all levels‘ and in recent years it has ‘actively built out by lateral hires in the market‘, particularly in the intersection of civil and criminal fraud. The HP v Autonomy dispute saw Richard Lissack QC representing Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, while, on the opposing side, Patrick Goodall QC was among those representing the claimants. Another landmark case was SFO v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, where Bankim Thanki QC and new silk Tamara Oppenheimer QC successfully represented ENRC in the Court of Appeal. Edward Levey QC was another member of chambers to talk silk in early 2020; considered a ‘creative thinker‘, Ian Bergson is a rising star in chambers.

Fountain Court Chambers is ‘quite simply one of the best chambers in London with the bench strength and quality to handle the largest and most complex cases‘. The set has a ‘good range of silks and senior juniors in the financial services field‘, several of which, including Richard Coleman QC and Andrew Mitchell QC offer strong non-contentious advisory support. On the contentious side, members have been involved in proceedings arising out of Barclays Bank’s Qatar capital raising, with Richard Lissack QC and Eleanor Davison among those representing Barclays. Lissack, Tamara Oppenheimer QC, Bankim Thanki QC and Rebecca Loveridge were also on ENRC’s team in Director of the Serious Fraud Office v ENRC.

With a presence in both London and Singapore, Fountain Court Chambers is a top tier set for commercial litigation, including banking and financial services and aviation matters. This year’s guide sees Fountain Court among the top ten sets for the most overall barrister rankings and most silk rankings. In a strong year for the set, Giles Wheeler QC, Edward Levey QC, Robin Barclay QC, Chloe Carpenter QC, Ben Lynch QC, and Tamara Oppenheimer QC all took silk in 2020; former UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Wilson has joined chambers as an arbitrator and mediator door tenant; Nico Leslie  is a new member of the Court of Arbitration for Art; and Michael Green QC was elevated to the High Court.