The Premier League’s long-running legal battle with Manchester City has reached a verdict, with the club found guilty of breaking the competition’s financial fair play rules. The case pitted the league against the side that has dominated English football in recent years, and both parties responded by assembling teams of senior lawyers for the fight, with more than 100 charges at stake.
Manchester City’s defence was led by David Pannick KC, one of the foremost barristers of his generation, renowned for representing the rich and powerful. His previous clients include Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as more than one billionaire sheikh. Lawyers may not earn as much as Erling Haaland’s £500,000 a week, but Pannick charges £5,000 an hour. In 2019 he charged £407,250 for defending Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former Qatari prime minister, in a case involving a two-day trial that the crossbench peer did not attend.
Paul Harris KC, a leading sport and commercial silk, also formed part of City’s team. He led the club’s successful appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport against Uefa’s Champions League ban, imposed over alleged breaches of financial fair play rules, and is said to have been a trusted adviser to City for more than 20 years. Another silk on the team was Philip Marshall KC, who specialises in complex commercial disputes and commercial fraud, while the magic circle law firm Clifford Chance was also involved.
For the 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, and representing Premiership Rugby at an independent tribunal where the champions Saracens were found to have breached salary cap regulations.
Jason Pobjoy KC represented the Premier League alongside Lewis, as he did when Everton were docked points for breaching financial rules. In that case, 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. 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.
Paul Hunter KC was also listed among the Premier League’s legal team. His prominent sports cases include rugby’s bloodgate scandal and Formula One’s spygate affair, when McLaren were fined $100m and docked all their points in the constructors’ championship after being found in possession of documents belonging to Ferrari.