Success for Kings Chambers & Wayne Rooney
Paul Chaisty QC and Mark Harper (instructed by Hill Dickinson LLP (Manchester Office) – Geraldine Ryan) acted for Wayne Rooney in his successful defence of a claim for unpaid commission and damages in excess of £4 million brought by his former management company,
Proactive Sports Management Limited.
Wayne’s legal team led by Paul Chaisty QC successfully argued in the Manchester Mercantile Court that the contract relied upon by Proactive was an unreasonable restraint of trade and therefore unenforceable.
A copy of the judgment is available on the following link:
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/judgments_guidance/proactive-stoneygate-judgment.pdf
Following the handing down of judgment on 15 July 2010, Wayne Rooney expressed his delight at the judgment and the fact that he had successfully defended the “exploitative” and “massively over-inflated claims”. He expressed his thanks to his legal team, sentiments which were repeated by Wayne’s agent, Paul Stretford, when he addressed the media outside Court, making particular mention of his thanks to Paul Chaisty.
Senior Clerk Colin Griffin commented that the retainer of Hill Dickinson LLP by Wayne Rooney and the subsequent instruction of Chaisty and Harper in a case such as this was a clear statement as to the strength not only of the firms and lawyers involved but of the Manchester Legal Profession as a whole.
Further reports of the case can be seen on the following links: