Brian Lett KC (Door Tenant)
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Background:
Brian won his first Old Bailey jury trial when only 22 years of age, and has been defending and prosecuting in all types of crime ever since. He specialises in serious fraud and regulatory work, and has considerable international experience. Brian believes in hard work and careful preparation, and prepares his cases on the basis that the key to success is sometimes simply knowing the case better than his opponent. He is an expert in cross-examination.
Until 1992, Brian practised exclusively from London. From 1992 to 2002, he was Head of Chambers at South Western Chambers, Taunton and practised mainly on the Western Circuit, of which he remains a member. In 2003, he returned to London, and now practises throughout England and Wales. When working in crime, he is equally comfortable and experienced in defence and prosecution work. His enthusiasm for the job continues unabated!
In recent years, Brian has defended and prosecuted in cases of murder, manslaughter, corruption, money laundering and international oil fraud, and has acted for the defence in Lloyd’s of London regulatory cases. Acted for the British Government [DFID] training Supreme Court judges of the Eastern Caribbean, and for the European Commission training judges of various levels in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Northern Cyprus and the International College of Policing, Bramshill.
Cases
- The Council of London v X - Lloyd’s of London Appeal Tribunal 2014
- The Council of Lloyd’s v Y – Lloyd’s of London proceedings before the Appeal Tribunal and Enforcement Tribunal 2013-16
- Acted in a successful dispute against Union Bank
- Instructed in a high profile negligence disputes against a leading accountancy company
- Instructed in an international fraud and corruption case involving an oil company transporting oil to Western Europe. Case involved many jurisdiction and cross border issues with allegations that transport costs and charges has been inflated.
- Instructed to appear before VAT Appeals Tribunal as leading Counsel
- Instructed in property dispute as leading Counsel in respect of whether a charity could terminate its commercial lease early, either by way of a break clause, assignment or otherwise and if so how.
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Instructed in a fisheries regulation case where the defendants pleaded guilty to over-fishing. Plenty of legal argument over the proper interpretation of European Fishing regulations.
Judicial
Brian sat for twenty-five years until 2014 as a Recorder of the Crown Court. He also sat as a County Court Recorder between 1995 and 2005. He has delivered seminars on money-laundering and criminal justice to judges in Europe and the Caribbean. Trained numerous Royal Naval pupils as barristers, including the current resident judge at Guildford, and the current Chief Naval Judge Advocate and Commendatore of the Italian Order of Merit 2008
Other Interests
Brian is a military historian of the Second World War, specialising in the Special Operations Executive and the Italian War of Liberation. He has written six books in English, published by Pen and Sword and two books in Italian.