The result is finally in from a highly anticipated Premier League match-up: the legal battle which pitted the league against Manchester City, the team that have dominated the competition in recent years. As befitting such a heavyweight clash, both sides fielded an impressive team of lawyers, which lined up as follows:
Manchester City
Leading the City team was David Pannick KC, one of the foremost barristers of his generation, renown for representing the rich and powerful. Previous clients include Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more than one billionaire sheikh.
Lawyers may not earn as much as the Erling Haaland’s £500,000 a week but Pannick charges a none too shoddy £5,000 an hour. In 2019, Pannick charged £407,250 for defending Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former Qatari prime minister, involving a two-day trial, which the crossbench peer did not attend.
Paul Harris KC, a leading sport and commercial silk, also led City’s successful appeal before the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) against Uefa’s Champions League ban on the club for alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. He is said to have been a trusted adviser to the club for more than 20 years.
Another silk on the team was Philip Marshall KC, who specialises in complex commercial disputes and commercial fraud, and the magic circle law firm Clifford Chance is also involved.
Premier League
Adam Lewis KC is widely regarded as the country’s preeminent sports barrister and co-authored the leading textbook in the field. His significant cases include acting for Chelsea at Cas when they successfully halved a two-transfer-window ban imposed by Fifa. He also represented Premiership Rugby at an independent tribunal where the champions Saracens were found to have breached salary cap regulations.
Paul Hunter KC’s prominent sports cases include rugby’s “bloodgate” scandal and Formula One’s spygate scandal when McLaren were fined $100m (then £50m) and docked all their points in the constructors’ championship when found in possession of documents belonging to Ferrari.
Jason Pobjoy KC represented the Premier League alongside Lewis as he did when Everton were docked points for breaching financial rules. Pobjoy argued that Everton’s “unreasonable conduct in the proceedings unnecessarily and significantly increased” costs for the league, which sought to recover £4.9m in lawyers’ fees. However, Everton argued the costs were “eye-watering” and were ordered to pay only £1.7m. Pobjoy has also represented the Football Association but is best known for his civil liberties, public and human rights law cases, including substantial pro bono work.
