Lord Pannick: the barrister summoned to save Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson is expecting a rough ride from the Privileges Committee this week as he battles to clear his name but the former prime minister will have one of the country’s most “in demand” barristers in his corner.

Lord Pannick will represent Johnson as he faces the prospect of being suspended from the House of Commons if found guilty of deliberately misleading Parliament over the Partygate affair.

The “esteemed” 67-year-old barrister “boasts an illustrious career”, said The Guardian, having represented many high-profile clients including “Queen Elizabeth II, former BBC director-general Mark Thompson, Shamima Begum and an ally of Vladimir Putin”.

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During the 1990s, Pannick notably represented gay service personnel who were dismissed from the military on account of their sexuality. In 2005, Pannick defended Thompson against prosecution by a Christian group accusing the BBC of blasphemy for airing Jerry Springer the Opera.

And three years later, he successfully argued on behalf of the British Olympic Association, defending its refusal to allow sprinter Dwain Chambers to compete at the Beijing Olympics because of a prior doping offence.

Pannick then became a “surprise favourite” with Manchester City fans last month, noted the i news site, after being hired to defend the club against allegations of financial misconduct.

Who is Lord Pannick?

David Pannick “caught the legal bug at a young age”, said the BBC. At the age of 16 he “frequently attended the Old Bailey to watch cases”. The budding legal mind went on to study at Hertford College, Oxford University, before being called to the Bar in 1979.

Aged only 36, Pannick became a QC, specialising in public law. After winning several victories for claimants in the field of judicial review, he was soon appointed to defend the government of the day.

However, he was “not interested” in serving as the government’s full-time counsel – “or in the judicial career that would follow”, according to The Jewish Chronicle. After concluding that a career on the bench would “offer him little intellectual stimulation” Pannick applied to become a “people’s peer” and joined the House of Lords in 2008 as a crossbencher, making contributions to debates and legislation.

Reflecting on his early career, Pannick recalled representing a man in Singapore facing the death penalty. “We lost,” he recounted to Sally Penni on the Talking Law podcast. “Our client was hanged. That’s not a good way to start your practice – you can only get better after a start like that. I tell that to clients – some are reassured, some are not.”

As a lawyer Pannick is “not known for doing much pro bono work”, said The Guardian, “but rather for his extremely high legal fees”. He charges in the region of £5,000 an hour for his services. Representing Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, during his divorce, the total lawyers’ fees for both sides “reached more than £70m”, said the paper.

Pannick’s public profile received a significant boost this year following his involvement in Manchester City’s legal dispute with the Premier League. His name was prominently displayed on a banner unfurled on the terraces, reading “Pannick on the streets of London” – a nod to a song by Manchester band The Smiths.

From Johnson’s ‘opponent to advocate’

In 2016, Pannick gained “much merit” in legal circles after successfully leading the case, brought by Gina Miller, to allow Parliament a vote on invoking Article 50 to leave the European Union. Pannick acted for Miller again in 2019, successfully appealing to the Supreme Court against Johnson’s attempt to prorogue Parliament for five weeks amid the deadlock over Brexit. It was a case that marked him out “as one of the most skilled barristers of his generation”, said The Guardian.

But Pannick “has now moved from being Boris Johnson’s opponent in court to his advocate”, said the BBC. In September last year, Pannick was hired by the government to review the Privileges Committee’s approach to the investigation into whether Johnson knowingly misled Parliament over parties during coronavirus lockdowns. He wrote legal advice which concluded that their methods were “fundamentally flawed” and could have a “seriously chilling effect on MPs”. The committee, however, rejected his findings and accused him of a “systematic misunderstanding of the parliamentary process”.

The reaction to his taking on the case therefore “has been, inevitably, divided”, added the broadcaster.

“Those who think that Boris Johnson is a martyr and should never have been removed, think I am a hero; those who are opposed to Boris Johnson think I’m a disgrace,” Pannick told Sally Penni. “I have had a number of emails saying I should resign – I’m not sure from what. I advise people, I represent them. It doesn’t matter if they are Boris Johnson or an asylum seeker, they get my view.”

Nevertheless, Pannick’s legal expertise remains widely respected, particularly his ability to convey complex legal concepts in a comprehensible manner. As The Guardian’s John Crace wrote during the Brexit case: “A Pannick attack is a thing of zen-like beauty… In his hands, a legal submission izs more a cosy bedside story than adversarial confrontation.”

Johnson will appear in front of the committee on Wednesday, accompanied by Pannick – although the former prime minister’s barrister “will not speak himself”. He will, however, “be permitted to pass notes to his client”, said Politico – “so he’ll be the one scribbling furiously”.