Richard Handyside QC
Call date
1993
Silk date
2009
Summary of Practice
Richard Handyside has a wide ranging commercial law litigation and advisory practice.
He is recommended by Chambers & Partners and by the Legal 500 as a Leading Silk in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Banking & Finance and by the Legal 500 in the field of Energy.
Comments about him in the legal directories in recent years include:
“a master advocate”
“he’s a pleasure to work with, quickly picks up the key issues and produces work of a superb quality”
“extremely clever, very hardworking”
“excellent”
“quick-thinking and tenacious; he has sound judgment and an ability to immerse himself in the detail better than anyone else”
“a class act, just the full package - he’s diligent, clever, a good team player and has an excellent sense of humour”
“he’s a really sharp cookie who’s approachable and yet has a no-nonsense stance”
“there’s none of the pomposity with him that you sometimes get from other barristers”
“a brilliant banking lawyer”
“intensely committed”
“his clarity of thinking is amazing”
“can handle the most complicated matters”
Banking and Finance
Notable cases:
Representing a number of banks in various swaps disputes with European public bodies.
Representing a provider of leverage to a Cayman fund under an option agreement in a dispute with investors in the fund as to the entitlements of the leverage provider following exercise of the option.
Representing a bank in a claim arising out of the valuation of shares by the bank as Calculation Agent under the terms of notes issued as part of a repackaging transaction.
Representing an affiliate of a bank in a dispute arising out of transferable certificates representing rights to shares in various Russian utility companies.
Representing a bank in a dispute with a hedge fund following the closing out of repurchase transactions in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Representing a major UK financial institution in a test case under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Representing a major UK financial institution in the Bank Charges test case in which the issue was whether the charges levied by banks for unauthorised overdrafts were assessable for fairness under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
Representing a Middle Eastern bank in an international cheque collection dispute arising out of the gambling by one of its customers of millions of pounds at a London casino.
Representing a financial institution in a test case to determine whether a bank notified of a freezing order against its customer owes a duty of care to the person who obtained the injunction to take steps to ensure that payments are not made from the customer’s account in breach of the order.
Representing a bank in proceedings where a client in whose IPO the bank had been involved claimed that the bank had acquired a business in breach of a duty of confidence and fiduciary duties said to have been owed by the bank to the client.
Representing a bank in a substantial action against the Italian export credit agency. The action was entirely governed by Italian and Hungarian law but was tried in England (in a trial lasting 3 months).
Representing a central bank in proceedings brought by debt traders which gave rise to numerous court hearings, including three appeals to the Court of Appeal. The issues that arose related to, among other things, assignment and champerty; a freezing injunction over unissued currency notes; and a garnishee order in respect of foreign exchange earnings and the enforcement of foreign public law.
Representing a manufacturer in a case concerning the assignment of future proceeds of a letter of credit and bankers’ rights of set-off.
Representing a central bank in proceedings brought by debt traders in which one of the issues arising was whether a default interest clause in a loan agreement constituted a penalty.
Commercial Dispute Resolution
Notable cases:
Representing a credit card issuer in a dispute as to the construction of a Strategic Partnership Agreement entered into with a partner.
Representing a private equity firm in proceedings brought by a disappointed bidder following an auction of an automotive business being sold by the firm.
Advising a vendor of a business in relation to potential breach of warranty claims following completion of the sale of the business.
Representing a major oil company in proceedings against another major oil company for losses arising out of the explosions and fire at the Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire in 2005.
Representing a company in a dispute with another relating to a “Russian roulette” option clause in a contract governing the ownership of mining interests in Africa.
Representing a media company in a dispute with a satellite broadcaster in a dispute relating to television licensing fees.
Representing a central bank in proceedings brought by a vulture fund as assignee under a loan facility. The main issue was whether a restriction on assignment contained in a contract could be circumvented by means of a declaration of trust.
Representing an Italian designer and manufacturer of luxury eyewear in a licensing dispute with a well known fashion house.
Representing a major IT provider in a substantial dispute with a customer under a worldwide IT outsourcing agreement.
Representing an insurance company in a claim for restitution of moneys paid to a retiring policyholder by mistake.
Company / Insolvency
Notable cases:
Representing two former directors of an international group of companies in claims brought against them (substantially under Luxembourg law) for alleged breaches of their duties as directors.
Representing a bank in a priority dispute with another lender in respect of the sale proceeds of a portfolio of registered properties. The dispute, which centred upon competing equitable interests in land and the avoidance of transactions under section 322 of the Companies Act 1985, arose out of a large fraud perpetrated by a third party.
Representing administrators of a financial institution in a dispute with a former client of the institution as to whether the beneficial ownership interest in two large blocks of shares had passed from the institution to the client very shortly before the institution was put into administration.
Representing six former non-executive directors of a life assurer accused in multi-billion pound litigation of acting in breach of their directors’ duties.
Advising a public company in connection with an aspect of its restructuring.
Energy & Natural Resources
Notable cases:
Representing a major oil company making substantial claims arising out of the explosions and fire at the Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire in 2005.
Financial Services
Notable cases:
Representing the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in a dispute with hundreds of IFAs arising out of the sale of investments in Keydata products to members of the public.
Representing a bank in a test case against the Financial Services Authority as to whether the FSA should generally be required, when obtaining freezing orders, to give a cross-undertaking in damages in favour of third parties.
Representing the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in two large, complex, unrelated sets of proceedings arising out of alleged mis-selling of Structured Capital-at-Risk Products (so-called ‘precipice bonds’) to members of the public.
Advising a number of merchant acquirers as to the operation of the Payment Services Regulations.
Fraud (Civil)
Notable cases:
Representing two corporate defendants to very substantial fraud claims in the Ablyazov litigation on applications for a stay of the claims under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1999 and on case management grounds.
Representing a bank alleged to have acted fraudulently and in bad faith when valuing certain assets.
Representing an individual alleged to have defrauded his Middle Eastern employer of over US$100m.
Representing an investment bank in a claim in deceit against a counterparty arising out of securities trading.
Representing several of the defendants in the Grupo Torras fraud litigation.
Insurance and Reinsurance
Notable cases:
Advising a financial institution in relation to policy coverage issues arising out of the Madoff fraud.
Representing a reinsured in a dispute with reinsurers as to whether reinsurers were obliged to follow settlements entered into by the reinsured of claims arising out of the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster.
Representing a P&I Club in a dispute with insurers on a personal accident insurance cover taken out on the lives of oil rig crewmembers. The issue was whether the Club had an insurable interest in the crewmembers’ lives.
Representing a bank in a dispute concerning the construction of a composite professional indemnity insurance policy and the imputation of knowledge of fraud between assureds.
Representing an insurer in a dispute under insurance contracts written in the UK where the insurer was not authorised to carry on business under the Insurance Companies Acts.
International Arbitration
Notable cases:
Representing a European investment bank in an ICC arbitration against a Middle Eastern entity.
Representing a fine art auction house in an LCIA arbitration against a client concerning alleged damage to the client’s antiques.
Representing a US company in proceedings against a Middle Eastern customer for an injunction to restrain the customer from seeking to reopen issues during the course of enforcement proceedings in the customer’s home court that had previously been decided in the US company’s favour in the arbitration between them.
Representing a US manufacturer in an ICC arbitration against a customer arising out of the sale of allegedly defective metal coils to the customer.
Private International Law
Notable cases:
Representing three trustees against whom an anti-suit injunction was sought to restrain them from pursuing proceedings which they had brought in California allegedly in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause contained in a shareholders’ agreement.
Representing two entities on their application to the English court for a reference to the European Court of Justice of a point of law as to the interpretation and application of the Judgments Regulation.
Representing a bank in a claim against a German counterparty in which the counterparty alleged that the German courts had exclusive jurisdiction over the parties’ dispute under Article 22 of the Judgments Regulation. The counterparty’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the English courts involved hearings before the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice.
Representing a bank in a dispute with a hedge fund arising out of repurchase transactions on standard GMRA terms. The bank sought an anti-suit injunction from the English court to restrain parallel proceedings brought by the hedge fund in Texas. The dispute settled shortly before the case was due to be heard by the Supreme Court.
Representing a consortium of lenders in a dispute arising out of a €375m loan agreement with a German borrower in which the borrower sought to defeat an exclusive English jurisdiction clause in the parties’ agreement by commencing pre-emptive proceedings in Germany.
Representing a Canadian bank in a dispute with a Dutch bank arising out of a US$500 million Enron related swap on ISDA terms in which the Canadian bank sought an anti-suit injunction to restrain parallel proceedings commenced by the Dutch bank in New York.
Professional negligence
Notable cases:
Representing a major US law firm sued for negligence in connection with the drafting of the transaction documents and the structuring of a complex US$2 billion Collateralised Bond Obligation transaction.
Representing a major law firm in complex, multi-party proceedings in which it was sued for negligence in respect of the drafting of film finance transaction documents.
Representing a firm of auditors sued for negligence in a large claim arising out of the audit of the Weavers pool of insurance companies.
Representing a firm of auditors sued for negligence in litigation relating to Robert Maxwell.
Academic qualifications
LLB Hons, 1st Class, Bristol University
BCL, 1st Class, Oxford University (Brasenose)