AI, Crypto & Technology

"A tour de force of brain power and commerciality."


The Legal 500

Fountain Court is home to leading barristers specialising in matters involving artificial intelligence (‘AI’), digital assets (including cryptoassets, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens) and broader technology issues.

Artificial Intelligence

Fountain Court barristers have acted in some of the world’s leading cases in the emerging area of AI. Our work includes: acting in multi-billion dollar follow-on damages litigation where the claimants proposed to use AI tools to prove key parts their case; advising in one of the world’s first challenges to algorithmic decision-making under the GDPR, made by a group of drivers against Uber in the Amsterdam Courts; successfully defending the first AI company to be investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office for algorithmic bias; and acting as counsel in an appeal heard by the UK Supreme Court concerning the patentability of inventions devised by AI.

Digital Assets

Our work here is a natural extension of our market-leading banking and finance practice and we are routinely involved in precedent-setting cases. This includes: acting in the ground-breaking B2C2 v Quoine appeal in the Singapore International Court of Appeal which dealt with questions of knowledge in automatic algorithmic trading of cryptocurrency; acting as a member of the board of experts advising Lord Currie in the first competition law case involving cryptocurrencies brought in the UK; and advising the joint liquidators of the collapsed FTX Digital Markets, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange. We advise on the full range of existing legislation and regulation which may apply to digital assets.

Broader Technology

Our broader technology-related work includes: acting for VTB Capital in a high-profile dispute stemming from the €1 billion sale of a leading Bulgarian telecoms group; acting in competition proceedings against Google for abuse of dominant position; and representing CIS General Insurance (now Soteria Insurance) in a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal relating to a failed IT project.

  • Advising the Joint Provisional Liquidators of the central operating company in the FTX group, a now bankrupt company which formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund, the collapse of which has generated global media, political and regulatory interest.
  • Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (UK Supreme Court): Acting for the appellant in the Supreme Court, on the question of whether an invention devised by an AI program can be registered as a patent.
  • Soteria Insurance Ltd v IBM UK Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 440: Acting for Soteria (formerly CIS General Insurance) in dispute with IBM regarding a claim for wasted expenditure in connection with a failed technology project.
  • B2C2 v Quoine [2020] SGCA(I) 02 (Singapore International Court of Appeal): Acting for the claimant in a ground-breaking cryptocurrency / algorithmic trading case which dealt with questions of knowledge in automatic algorithmic trading of cryptocurrency.
  • Allianz Global Investors GmbH and ors v Deutsche Bank AG London and ors (Competition Appeals Tribunal): Acting for nine defendant banks in a multi-billion-dollar claim arising from European Commission findings in respect of alleged manipulation of the foreign exchange market. This appears to have been the first litigation in the world where the claimant parties sought to plead and prove their claim using AI in order to generate instances of alleged infringement.
  • Various Parties v Uber (Amsterdam Court of Appeal): Advising the claimants in a successful challenge to the algorithmic decision-making practices of two Gig Economy companies, in the Amsterdam District Courts and Court of Appeal.
  • Unlockd Ltd & Others v Google Ireland Ltd & Others [2018] EWHC 1363 (Ch): Acting for the Australian start-up, Unlockd, in its proceedings against Google in the High Court, brought under the Competition Act 1998 for abuse of dominant position. The case concerned Google’s decision to block the Unlockd app from its Google Play store and deny it access to its advertising platform.
  • Essentially Different Limited v Bank of Scotland: Defending a claim for damages of £150 million for breach of a loan agreement which was advanced on the premise that the claimant had developed novel software technology which comprised an early for of (what is now known as) cloud computing.
  • Advising various parties, including a major UK newspaper and a new social network, on the intellectual property implications of the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI.
  • Acting for a leading multi-national technology corporation in international arbitration proceedings centred in Hong Kong arising in connection with cutting edge telecom technology transfer projects in China.
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AI, Crypto & Technology Barristers

Raymond Cox QC

Raymond Cox KC

Call 1982 | Silk 2002

Timothy Howe QC

Timothy Howe KC

Call 1987 | Silk 2008

Jeffrey Chapman QC

Jeffrey Chapman KC

Call 1989 | Silk 2010

Anneliese Day QC

Anneliese Day KC

Call 1996 | Silk 2012

Adam Zellick QC

Adam Zellick KC

Call 2000 | Silk 2017

Paul Sinclair QC

Paul Sinclair KC

Call 1997 | Silk 2018

Giles Wheeler QC

Giles Wheeler KC

Call 1998 | Silk 2020

Ben Lynch QC

Ben Lynch KC

Call 2001 | Silk 2020

Simon Atrill

Simon Atrill KC

Call 2005 | Silk 2023

Nik Yeo

Call 2000

Robin Lööf

Robin Lööf

Call 2009

Natasha Bennett

Natasha Bennett

Call 2009

Ian Bergson

Ian Bergson

Call 2015

Jacob Turner

Jacob Turner

Call 2016

Aaron Taylor

Aaron Taylor

Call 2017

Tiffany Tang

Call 2022

Leah Gardner

Call 2022

Sebastian Said

Sebastian Said

Call 2004

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Contact our clerks

For more information on our experience or to discuss a particular case, please contact us.

Call:    +44 (0)207 583 3335
Email: clerks@fountaincourt.co.uk

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