James Flynn KC, 1956-2024

15/10/24

Global Competition Review, 15/10/24

James Flynn KC, a pioneering competition law barrister who worked on some of the UK’s most influential antitrust cases, passed away on 10 October, aged 68.

A standout figure within London’s competition bar, Flynn spent the majority of his career at Brick Court Chambers, working on seminal antitrust cases and mentoring countless colleagues, many of whom are now leaders in the field. 

Joining Brick Court in 1996, he went on to work on multiple precedent-setting cases, including Sky/Ofcom and Paroxetine, the latter of which was the UK’s first pay-for-delay case and included the country’s last preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice.

Flynn also helped the Road Haulage Association secure certification in the UK’s first-ever opt-in class action, while also advising the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, the main complainant, in the EU's landmark Microsoft abuse of dominance probe.

Calm, incisive, elegant and understated in his advocacy style, he was known as one of the finest competition minds in London. 

An expert also on matters at the intersection of competition and intellectual property law, he represented Qualcomm and Samsung in high-profile cases concerning the licensing of standard essential patents and FRAND terms.

“At every phase of his career, [Flynn] was at the cutting edge of legal developments,” said Robert O’Donoghue KC at Brick Court Chambers.

“He touched many, many hundreds of people in his professional life and he left a very fine impression on all he came across,” said Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Trevor Soames, who worked with Flynn while in Brussels in the 1990s.

Away from the law, Flynn followed the arts with real sophistication. He was a poet, with an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music and opera.

“Language meant a great deal to him. It was a pleasure hearing him advocate,” said David Scannell KC, who worked with Flynn at Brick Court Chambers for nearly two decades.

Judges particularly enjoyed hearing Flynn’s submissions, said Scannell. “He chose his shots very well and had a keen sense for a good point.”

Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, once commended Flynn for the “charming and gentlemanly way he presented his arguments during an urgent application”, said O’Donoghue.

Generosity of thought

Flynn started his career at Goldsmith Delvolvé in Paris in 1979, where he rose to become of counsel before completing his pupillage at Monckton Chambers in 1981 alongside influential competition lawyer Lord Christopher Bellamy.

He joined Linklaters in 1982 before leaving four years later to become a legal secretary to advocate general Sir Gordon Slynn at the European Court of Justice. He returned to Linklaters in 1989 and joined the partnership in 1993. 

Flynn left Brussels in 1996 to join Brick Court Chambers in London, where he would spend the rest of his career, taking silk in 2003.

Scannell remarked that “James’s elegance and generosity were defining characteristics. He was curious about everything around him and addressed everything he turned his hand to in an sensitive, sophisticated way.”

Flynn also went out of his way to support junior barristers, Scannell added. “He was always willing to add their input and give them the opportunity to speak.”

He “had a youthful elegance about him, which was always quite striking”, Scannell said.

“Following the Paroxetine case, James attended a summer poetry camp, where amateur poets go to write during the day and come together in the evening to discuss their work. 

“Had he not become a fine lawyer, he might have become a fine writer”, Scannell added.

Enormously supportive, eternally young

Flynn “had a great depth to him” and took real pride and joy in everyone doing well, said O’Donoghue.

He was an “enormously supportive friend and generous colleague”, who took junior barristers “under his wing”, O’Donoghue added.

“His advocacy style was calm, incisive and elegant,” said Soames. “He was such a charming, lovely man, who was eternally young.”

Flynn took a “risk” leaving the partnership at Linklaters to join Brick Court, but he was extremely ambitious and driven to work at one of the best sets in London, home to hugely influential lawyers such as the late David Vaughan, Soames added.

He also had a “fabulous and beautiful voice” from his time singing in a choir in Brussels, said Soames. 

One of the best

Thomas Vinje, senior counsel at Clifford Chance, who advised the European Committee for Interoperable Systems alongside Flynn, said he was “extremely easy to work with and not in the least bit arrogant”.

Vinje described Flynn as “analytically brilliant, and a really adept writer and oral advocate”.

Despite his great talents, Flynn remained humble, Vinje said. “The thing that meant the most to me was James as a person, he was a great friend, extremely gentle, never stubborn and always open to other ideas.”

CMS partner Brian Sher, counsel to GlaxoSmithKline in the Paroxetine case alongside Flynn, said he was a “lovely, gentle, creative man” and one of the smartest competition lawyers in London.

Sher said he instructed Flynn in Paroxetine because he had a real insight into matters at the interface of competition and intellectual property. 

“It was a very analytical case, being the first pay-for-delay case in the UK, and one that played to his strengths,” he added. “His written advocacy in particular, as we took it from the CAT to Luxembourg and back, was exceptional.”

Steven Meyerhoff, a director at Backhouse Jones in Lancashire, who advised the Road Haulage Association alongside Flynn, said he had an “extremely cool head and was unflappable no matter the circumstances”. 

Flynn was “hugely respected by his peers” and had a wonderful manner with lay clients, he said. 

“More than that though, he was a wonderful person. Thoughtful, funny and very supportive,” he said. “A true gentleman and a huge loss for the competition community. My thoughts go out to his family.”

Flynn is survived by his wife Anna Morfey and their daughter Olivia, and by his children from his first marriage, Hugo and Harriet.

https://globalcompetitionreview.com/article/james-flynn-1956-2024