Richard Edwards

Call 1993; MA (Cantab) M Phil
Email: redwards@3vb.com

Richard Edwards advises and represents clients in commercial and ‘commercial chancery' litigation and arbitration covering a broad range. He has a particular depth of experience in banking and finance; professional negligence and professional indemnity insurance; media and entertainment; and intellectual property.


He is listed in the Legal 500 as a leading junior in media and entertainment work.

Notable recent cases include:

Lord Coleridge v Sotheby's [2012] EWHC 370 (Ch) - Successfully defended Sotheby's against allegations of negligence in the dating and appraisal of the Coleridge Collar - a gold "Collar of Esses" worn by the Claimant's ancestor Lord Coleridge CJ in his capacity as the last Chief Justice of the Common Pleas before the abolition of that office in 1880. After a "gripping" trial (The Economist) - in which the Court heard evidence about English legal history, the techniques and practices of goldsmiths in the 16th and 17th centuries, and methods of appraisal of antique precious metal objects - the Court held that Sotheby's had reasonably formed the view that the Collar was made in the late 17th century and not in Tudor times as alleged by the Claimant. See article in The Antiques Trade Gazette: Sotheby's not negligent over Coleridge chain.

MacGregor v HSBC (2011) - Represented the Claimants at the trial of their claim for rescission of an interest rate collar agreement on grounds of alleged misrepresentation, alternatively damages under section 150 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 for alleged breaches of the FSA's Conduct of Business rules (COB/COBS), including those relating to suitability and risk. This is believed to be the first such claim to go to trial in the High Court since the fall in interest rates reportedly left many small businesses suffering the effects of allegedly mis-sold interest rate derivatives such as swaps and base rate or LIBOR collars (see for example this article in The Sunday Telegraph). The claim settled after trial but before judgment.

Miller v Sutton [2011] EWHC 2706 (Comm); [2012] EWHC 906 (Ch): This was a successful application - in two stages - to strike out allegations of professional negligence in the conduct of litigation concerning rights in live recordings of a concert given by The Jimi Hendrix Experience in Stockholm in January 1969 (for the original litigation, see Experience Hendrix LLC v Purple Haze Records [2005] EMLR 417). The first hearing (in the Commercial Court) disposed of the majority of the allegations. The claim was then transferred to the Chancery Division where the remaining allegations (involving technical issues of intellectual property law) were also struck out.

British Arab Commercial Bank and others v Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co. [2011] EWHC 1817 (Comm) - instructed by Crédit Agricole Commercial and Investment Bank in claims arising under an ISDA Master Agreement in the name of a Saudi Arabian partnership. AHAB's defence was that the ISDA Master Agreement was signed without authority and formed part of an alleged fraudulent scheme by an associate which had exposed the partnership to claims by 118 banks internationally with a total value of US $ 9 billion. Case listed for 8 week trial but AHAB abandoned their defence after the openings and consented to judgment and indemnity costs. The case was widely reported in the press and was one of The Lawyer's "Top 20" cases of 2011.

Erlson Precision Holdings Ltd v Hampson Industries Plc [2011] EWHC 1137 (Comm) - acted for the successful claimant in obtaining an order for recission of a share sale agreement on the ground that the Chief Executive Officer of Hampson Industries PLC had committed fraud by deliberately suppressing material information concerning the exit of the company's second most important customer. See article in The Birmingham Post: "Erlson clashes with Hampson Industries over sale of subsidiary"

Accidia Foundation v Simon C. Dickinson Ltd [2010] EWHC 3058 (Ch) - acted for the successful claimant at the trial of this claim by the seller of a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci to recover undisclosed commission from an intermediary involved in the sale. See article in The Art Newspaper: "Leonardo case exposes back-room deals" 

Publications

Richard is a contributor to Warne and Elliott, eds, Banking Litigation, Sweet & Maxwell, 1st and 2nd editions, including authorship of passage cited with approval by Lord Millett in National Commercial Bank (Jamaica) Ltd v Hew [2003] UKPC 51.

Academic achievements, awards and scholarships

Trinity College, Cambridge, 1988:
BA (1988), First Class (in English)
Research Scholarship (1988)
M.Phil. (1989)
Maitland Prize for Law
Queen Mother's Scholar, Middle Temple, 1992

Other information

Before coming to the Bar, Richard worked for a dealer in Old Master and British pictures, acquiring experience of fine art auctions and the art market generally.

Languages

French