Brian Doctor QC
Call Date
1991
Silk date
1999
Practice Areas
Brian Doctor has a broad commercial and civil practice, specialising in:
- All areas of commercial law;
- Competition; and
- Civil Fraud
Recommendations (Practitioners' Guides)
Brian Doctor is recommended in Civil Fraud by The Legal 500 (2007 edition) which commented, “Brian Doctor QC has been involved in noteworthy cases..... and is highly rated as one of the leading commercial silks at the Bar.”
Education
BA, LL.B, BCL
Professional Experience
Brian Doctor has a broad commercial law practice. He started his professional career as a solicitor in London, then practised at the Bar in South Africa (took Silk there after 10 years), and has practised at Fountain Court since 1992 (took Silk in England in 1999). His case experience includes banking, insurance, competition and general hard-fought business disputes, many of them between international litigants. He also sits as an arbitrator, and has extensive arbitration experience as counsel both here and abroad.
Notable Cases
Jurisdiction and Conflict of Laws
Tajik Aluminium v Ermatov: challenge to jurisdiction by Part 20 Defendants: judgment of Commercial Court : [2006] EWHC 2374 (Comm)
Ansol v Rusal: jurisdiction challenge in computer hacking case: judgment of Commercial Court [2006] EWHC 2545 (Comm)
Connelly v RTZ Corporation [1998 AC 354 (HL); [1996] 2 WLR 251(CA): acted for RTZ in forum non conveniens proceedings: clam by employee of foreign subsidiary against English parent company. House of Lords
Lubbe v Cape Plc [1998] CLC 1559;
Afrika v Cape Plc [2000] 1 WLR 1545 (HL); [2000] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 283. House of Lords. Acted for Cape Plc in forum non conveniens proceedings: group action by thousands of foreign claimants alleging asbestos injuries.
Simon Engineering Plc v Butte Mining Plc and Ernst and Young [1996] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 104. Anti-suit injunction.
Hellenic Mutual War Risks Insurance Association (Bermuda) Limited v Wave City Shipping Company Limited. Anti-suit injunction involving a foreign defendant to enforce a London arbitration clause.
Casio Computer Corp v Kaiser (CA) [2001] I.L.Pr 43. Brussels Convention Articles 6(1) and 5(3)
Insurance
Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd [1997] Ll. Reins. L.R.265 Professional negligence: Represented the Lloyd's Names in their successful claim against their Agents and Auditors. Also in the contribution proceedings: [1997] Ll. Reins. L.R.247.
Colin Baxter v Lombard Continental Insurance Plc Moral hazard and liability of principal for fraud of agent.
Dodson v Peter Dodson Insurance Services (CA) [2001] 1 Lloyd's Rep 512; [2001] 1 WLR 1012. Interpretation of motor insurance policy.
Society of Lloyd’s v Dougan [2003] Strike out for want of prosecution.
Banking and Financial
Advised OFT in connection with Credit ard default charges, leading to OFT Guidance in April 2006.
Three Rivers District Council and BCCI v Bank of England [2004 - 2005]
Shamil Bank of Bahrain v Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd [2004] 1 WLR 1784 choice of law, Islamic banking
Komercni Banka AS v Stone & Rolls Ltd [2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 383 Fraudulent presentation of letters of credit
UPC v Deutsche Bank 2000. Banking confidentiality, and alleged duty not to compete with customer
Swiss Bank Corporation v Premier League, The Times, 9 February 1995 Financial advice by bank. Claim for success fee.
Islington Borough Council v Morgan Grenfell Interest rate swaps
Islington Borough Council v Hambros Bank Interest rate swaps
The Bank of England v Gibson and others, The Times, 9 May 1994. Mareva application against employees of the Bank who stole notes from the printing workers. Then, the trial for successful recovery of the money.
Competition
The Medicaments Reference, (2001) Represented the Director-General of the Office of Fair Trading in the successful application to remove Resale Price Maintenance on over-the-counter medicines.
Argos and Littlewoods v The Office of Fair Trading; acted for the OFT in various applications, and the trial regarding Chapter 1 price fixing [2004] CAT 24; [2004] All ER (D) 203 (judgment on liability). Court of Appeal:
Argos and Littlewoods v The Office of Fair Trading [2005] CAT 13 judgment on penalty
Advised OFT on Credit Card Default charges.
Advising OFT on on-going matters, both competition and regulatory.
Freezing Injunctions and witness summons
Tajik Aluminium v Ermatov and others [2005] EWCA Civ 1218 (CA) (witness summons, arbitration)
Tajik Aluminium v Ermatov and others [2005] EWHC 2241 (Ch) (discharge of freezing order)
Limitation
Cave v Robinson Jarvis and Rolf [2002] WLR 1107 (House of Lords) Deliberate concealment
Connelly v RTZ Corporation [1999] CLC 533. Foreign Limitation Periods Act.
Hallam-Eames v Merrett Syndicates Ltd The Times, 25 January 1995 (C.A.)
Art claims: Advised in various art-work claims, including as to ownership resulting from limitation expiry.
General
Advised and acted as expert witness on a number of claims relating to works of art: possession, ownership, limitation, Nazi-seizure. 2005 - 2007
Computer hacking: Ansol v Rusal [2006] EWHC 2545 (Comm).
G A Ltd v H N Jewelry (Asia) Ltd [2004] EWCA (Civ) 674; construction of distribution agreement: rolling term contract
Fiat-Kobelco Construction Machinery SpA v HM Plant Limited. Excavator distributorship agreement, on-going High Court litigation, followed by international arbitration: 2002 - 2007
Eurofi Limited v Teletech UK Limited, 1998. Claim for commission on contract to provide assistance with Regional Development Subsidies
Pandora Investment SA v Momentum Films Ltd. (CA) 1999. film distribution contract (“Shine”); claim for license fee.
Equity
Tajik Aluminium v Ermatov and others [2006] EWHC 7 (Ch) (proprietary injunction)
Westdeutsche Landesbank v Islington [1996] AC 669 (H.L.) and [1994] 1 WLR 938 (C.A.). Leading case on equitable proprietary remedies, and compound v simple interest.
Transag Haulage Ltd v. Leyland Daf Finance [1994] BCC 356. Relief from forfeiture.
Re ASRS Establishment (In Administrative Receivership) [2000] 1 B.C.L.C. 727. Whether debenture creates fixed or floating charge.
Casio Computer Corp v Kaiser, (CA) [2001[ I.L.Pr 43. Knowing receipt; knowing assistance.
Professional Negligence
Bristol and West Building Society v Kramer & Co The Times, 6 February 1995. Professional negligence claim (solicitors) that succeeded on summary judgment.
Young v Robson Rhodes [1999] 3 All ER 524; [1999] Lloyd’s Rep. P.N. 641. Professional negligence; confidentiality and the role of Chinese walls;: auditors of Lloyd’s syndicate.
The Professional Negligence section in Bullen Leake & Jacob’s Precedents of Pleadings
Languages
Afrikaans