Richard Blakeley

Richard has a broad practice across all of Chambers' areas of work, with a particular focus on commercial litigation, competition law, injunctive relief, banking, and European law. Richard appears regularly in the High Court led and unled and has experience of cases before the Court of Appeal and the European Court of Justice.  

Recent matters on which Richard has been instructed include:

Commercial Law

  • National Navigation v Endesa [2009] EWCA Civ 1397; [2010] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 193; [2009] EWHC 196 (Comm); [2009] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 666  - acting for Endesa, the defendant cargo receiver, in a jurisdictional dispute between the High Court, the Spanish courts and an English arbitral Tribunal. Richard also acted for Endesa in its successful appeal to the Court of Appeal. The case was significant and required the Court of Appeal to consider for the first time the application and effect of the ECJ's decision in West Tankers and the English courts' obligation recognise a judgment of a Member State court on the incorporation of an alleged English arbitration agreement  (with Richard Lord QC).
  • JN Dairies v Johal Dairies and anr [2009] EWHC 1331 (Ch) - acting for a commercial defendant in breach of confidence proceedings involving the alleged theft and misuse of confidential information. Richard is also instructed on the defendant's appeal to the Court of Appeal following a two week preliminary issue trial. The appeal is due to be heard in March 2010 (with Tim Lord QC).
  • Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd v Artaban Public Affairs Sprl [2009] EWHC 1689 (Ch); [2009] B.P.I.R. 1355 - representing Artaban in successfully resisting an application to restrain the presentation of a winding up petition in circumstances in which the relevant debts were also being pursued in an action before the Belgian courts. The case established that the Judgments Regulation did not apply and that it was not an abuse of process to seek relief in the courts of one Member State and subsequently to seek to invoke the winding-up jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to the same underlying debt.
  • Representing three defendants in a complex claim by a Swiss group of companies providing services to the oil industry involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, dishonest assistance, commercial fraud and passing off.
  • Obtaining summary judgment for a Jersey company in the sum of US$46m against a Russian oligarch (with Mark Howard QC and George Leggatt QC).
  • Acting for a large multi-national company in respect of a multi-million pound fraud committed by an employee, including pursuing a successful application that the defendant be committed to prison for contempt arising out of the breach of a freezing order (with Neil Calver QC).

  • Acting for a large international consultancy firm in an LCIA arbitration involving complex allegations of professional negligence, including pursuing a successful application that the respondent put up the sum claimed by way of security (with Daniel Jowell). 

Competition Law

  • Pay TV: Acting for the FA Premier League in its appeal against Ofcom's Pay TV Statement mandating the wholesale supply of Sky Sports 1 and 2 by Sky, as well as in the FAPL's intervention in appeals brought by Sky, BT and Virgin Media (with Helen Davies QC and Maya Lester).
  • Purple Parking & Meteor Parking v Heathrow Airport Limited - acting for the Claimants in a 13 day trial alleging that Heathrow had abused its dominant position by using its traffic management powers to relocate the conduct of the Claimants' valet parking businesses from the forecourts to the short stay car parks (judgment awaited) (with Alan Maclean QC).

European and Public Law

  • Sanctions against Iran: Richard is instructed in 7 cases presently before the General Court and the European Court of Justice representing Iranian banks, UK banks and individuals whose funds and assets have been frozen as a result of the EU and UN sanctions imposed on Iran in respect of nuclear proliferation.
  • Case C-343/09 R.(Afton Chemical Limited) v Secretary of State for Transport - acting for Afton Chemical in a challenge to the validity of Article 1(8) of the Fuel Quality Directive (Directive 2009/30/EC) which seeks to limit the use of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl. The European Court of Justice will hear the case in April 2010 (with James Flynn QC).
  • Case C-380/09P Melli Bank plc v Council of the European Union - acting for the appellant bank (a UK subsidiary of an Iranian bank) challenging the Council's decision to freeze its funds as part of measures to counter Iranian nuclear proliferation and appealing against the decision of the Court of First Instance of 9 July 2009 in Joined Cases T-246/08 and T-332/08.
  • Djanogly v Westminster City Council - acting for Mr Djanogly in an application for a statutory review of Westminster City Council's scheme for the introduction of charges for motorcycle parking (with Maya Lester) .
  • Intra Agra and anr v Norfolkline; Intra Agra v Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company - acting for and advising the claimant exporter of livestock in cases involving alleged breaches of contract, violations of free movement rights and abuses of dominance.
  • Advising the Government of Jersey on the compatibility of the Draft Security Interests (Jersey) Law 2010 with the European Convention on Human Rights Act and the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000 (with Maya Lester).