Sir Henry Brooke
Call date
1963
Silk date
1981
Appointments
High Court Judge: 1988
Lord Justice of Appeal: 1996
Accredited Mediator: 2006
Professional Experience
Sir Henry Brooke was called at the Bar by the Inner Temple in July 1963, and practised for 25 years at 2 Crown Office Row and Fountain Court Chambers. He was appointed to the panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (common law) in 1978 and took silk in 1981.
Sir Henry had a wide-ranging common law practice at the Bar. As a silk, he acted as Counsel to the Sizewell B Nuclear Power station Inquiry for two years, and also as one of the DTI Inspectors into the 1985 takeover of Harrods by the Fayed brothers. He also chaired disciplinary tribunals at Lloyd’s and acted as a commercial arbitrator.
As a judge, Sir Henry was again involved in a wide range of common law cases. In the Court of Appeal he gave the leading judgments in the commercial cases of Kuwait Airways Corporation v Iraq Airways Company and Equitable Life Assurance Society v Ernst and Young; in the defamation cases of Cruise v Express Newspapers Ltd and Loutchansky v Times Newspapers Ltd; and in the clinical negligence case of Parkinson v St James & Seacroft University Hospital NHS Trust. He was Vice-President of the Civil Division of the Court for his last three years on the Bench.
He was Chairman of the Law Commission from January 1993 to December 1995 and he now sits occasionally as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Mediation experience
When he retired in 2006, Sir Henry was trained and accredited as a mediator by CEDR, ADR Chambers and the Regent’s College School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Since January 2007 he has carried out over 125 mediations. He is a member of the CEDR Solve Direct panel of mediators.
Areas of mediation practice include:
Commercial and insurance Family Property and inheritance disputes
Defamation Fatal Accident and catastrophic loss cases
Construction disputes Public law cases
Examples of recent mediations include:
The settlement of a family partnership dispute in the construction industry;
The settlement of a claim for misrepresentation on the sale of a London house;
The settlement of a claim for damages for slander (one week before trial);
The settlement of substantial fatal accidents and catastrophic loss claims;
The settlement of a right of way claim which imperilled a housing development;
The settlement of a discrimination claim against the police.
Feedback
“The mediator was fantastic at pointing out the risks to both sides. This undoubtedly narrowed the issues even if it did not settle. “
“Sir Henry did a magnificent job in securing a result in a difficult case. .. The Parties never agreed anything on the issue of liability; there were no offers. Quantum, too, had its problems. It will have been obvious to him how far apart the Parties were. That he was able to broker a deal was a real achievement. His relaxed style was most effective.”
"Authoritative and good at controlling dominant personalities."
“I think it all went surprisingly well. It was a very good day! He is very well regarded with an incredible reputation. His experience in the Court of Appeal and his gravitas was what made us pick him among the other recommended mediators.”
"Sir Henry’s mediation skills were excellent; he facilitated a settlement when we feared we would not reach one."
“Sir Henry was chosen because their Counsel thought he was just the right man for this dispute, which was quite complex and had a lot of accounting/number crunching involved. Sir Henry was very good with it."
"A wonderful job in unpromising circumstances."
“Before Sir Henry’s arrival on the scene, I had given the process a less than 20% chance of success: and so the fact that a result has been achieved is due very largely to the part he played in the process.”
“The settlement was, I think, pretty fair. Sir Henry’s help in this regard was immense, and I cannot imagine anyone better suited for this role. I would also like to thank him for the way he put my client at ease.”
Other mediation activities
Sir Henry is Chairman of the Civil Mediation Council. He speaks, writes and lectures regularly on the benefits of civil and commercial mediation both in this country and abroad.
Other experience
National Service in the Royal Engineers (2/Lt, RE)
First class honours in classics and ancient history at Balliol College, Oxford
Formerly a Board member, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Formerly a member of the Advisory Council, the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
Formerly Chairman, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
Formerly President of the Society for Computers and Law
Chairman of the Trustees, the British & Irish legal Information Institute (BAILII)
President of the Lord Slynn of Hadley European Law Foundation
Formerly a Trustee, and now a Fellow, of the Wordsworth Trust