On 31 March the House of Lords granted the Banks permission to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal handed down on 26 February.  The judgment considers whether the banks’ unauthorised overdraft charges are subject to an assessment of fairness by the Office of Fair Trading under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999.  The appeal will be heard by the House of Lords on an expedited basis in June 2009.

Fountain Court Chambers continues to be heavily involved in this high-profile banking litigation, with ten members of chambers currently acting for parties on both sides of the proceedings as follows:

OFTRichard Coleman (instructed by the OFT).
BarclaysAndrew Mitchell and Simon Atrill – instructed by Simmons & Simmons (Colin Passmore).
HBOS: Timothy Howe QC and James McClelland – instructed by Allen & Overy (Marc Florent).
HSBC: Patrick Goodall – instructed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Simon Orton).
Lloyds TSB: Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Handyside QC, Edward Levey and James Duffy – instructed by Lovells (Andrea Monks/Philip Parish)