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Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner

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Anthony Stephen Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, KC (born 21 March 1945)[1] is a British barrister, academic administrator, and life peer. He is head of chambers at One Essex Court, a leading set of commercial barristers in the Temple,[2] and was the Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn for 2013.[3] From 2014 to 2021 he served as the Master of Clare College, Cambridge and, since 2015, he has served as the President of the University of Law. Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Taveta Investments Ltd, the holding company of Sir Philip Green behind Arcadia Group from 2002 to December 2015.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Grabiner
KC
Grabiner c. 2000
Master of Clare College, Cambridge
In office
October 2014 – October 2021
Preceded byTony Badger
Succeeded byLoretta Minghella
Chair of the Governors of the London School of Economics
In office
1998–2007
Succeeded byPeter Sutherland
Incumbent
Assumed office
Personal details
Born
Anthony Stephen Grabiner

(1945-03-21) 21 March 1945 (age 79)
Political party
EducationCentral Foundation Boys' School
Alma mater

In 1999, he was made a life peer as Baron Grabiner, and sat in the House of Lords on the Labour Party benches. In October 2015, he resigned the Labour whip over the direction the party was taking under Jeremy Corbyn. He sat in the Lords as a non-affiliated member and now crossbench peer, but remains a member of the Labour Party.

Early life

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Grabiner was born on 21 March 1945 to Jewish parents, Ralph Grabiner and Freda Cohen. He was educated in the Central Foundation Boys' School. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he graduated with a first class honours Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1966, and with a Master of Laws (LLM) with distinction one year later. He was further educated in Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the Bar in 1968.[4][5]

Career

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From 1976 to 1981, Grabiner was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Trade and the Export Credits Guarantee Department and Junior Counsel to the Crown from 1978 to 1981. Made a Queen's Counsel in 1981, he became a Bencher in 1989, and a Recorder of the Crown Court between 1990 and 1999. Grabiner has been a Deputy High Court Judge since 1994.

Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Arcadia Group from October 2002 to December 2015, of which his first cousin, Ian Grabiner has been chief executive officer (CEO) since October 2009, and chief operating officer (COO) since 2002.[6][7] He was a non-executive director of Next plc in 2002, and a member of the Bank of England Financial Services Law Committee from 2002 to 2005. In the week ending 15 October 2010, Lord Grabiner represented Liverpool Football Club in the London High Court and won two cases against the then current owners of Liverpool Football Club. Lord Grabiner's service to Liverpool Football Club has been noted by international news organisations.[8][9]

In July 2011, Grabiner was appointed by News Corporation as chairman of the management and standards committee[10] established by the company in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal.[11][12] It was subsequently reported in The Lawyer magazine that Grabiner would be receiving a fee of £3,000 an hour for his advice to News Corporation.[13]

In 2019 Lord Grabiner provided part of the Post Office's defence against the claims by 555 sub postmasters that faults in the Post Office's Horizon IT had resulted in the wrongful prosecutions - a key part of the British Post Office scandal. He argued that the judge in the group litigation should recuse (dismiss) himself. This is seen as part of the Post Office's attempts to extend the case in order to increase the legal costs of the postmasters.[14]

Academic career

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Grabiner was Chair of the Governors of the London School of Economics from 1998 until 2007.[15] In December 2013, it was announced that he had been elected Master of Clare College, Cambridge University, to succeed Professor Tony Badger in October 2014.[16] On 1 August 2015, Grabiner was appointed as the President of the University of Law.[17]

Political career

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On 26 July 1999, Grabiner was created a life peer with the title Baron Grabiner, of Aldwych in the City of Westminster.[18] From 1999 to 2015, he sat in the House of Lords on the Labour Party benches. On 24 October 2015, he announced that he had resigned the Labour whip but would remain a party member.[19] He was the second Labour peer to resign the whip over the views of the new party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.[20] Grabiner explained his resignation to The Times: "I have nothing in common whatever with Mr Corbyn — and I don't believe we are ever going to win an election."[21] He has sat in the Lords as a cross-bench member since 2016.[15][19]

Taveta Investments

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Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Taveta Investments Ltd, the holding company of Sir Philip Green behind Arcadia Group from 2002 to December 2015.[22]

In July 2016, Grabiner was denounced in an official report by Members of Parliament in relationship to his chairmanship of Taveta, for having a "remarkably docile attitude" and representing the "apogee of weak corporate governance".[23] Furthermore, MPs stated that "He was content to provide a veneer of establishment credibility to the group while happily disengaging from the key decisions he had a responsibility to scrutinise. For this deplorable performance he received a considerable salary".[24]

Personal life

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Since 1983, Lord Grabiner has been married to Jane Portnoy. They have three sons and one daughter.

Marylebone Cricket Club

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Lord Grabiner is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. He was a member of the club's Development Committee from which, along with John Major, he resigned over the club's failure to proceed with a development "Masterplan" in 2012.

Other sources

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  • "DodOnline". Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2006.

References

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  1. ^ "Lord Grabiner". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. ^ One Essex Court. "Lord Grabiner QC biography at One Essex Court". Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Officers of the Inn". Lincolnsinn.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  4. ^ The International Who's Who 2004. Europa Publishers. 2004. ISBN 9781857432176. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  5. ^ "BestLawyers.com advisory board official biography". BestLawyers.com. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. ^ Rankine, Kate (11 December 2002). "Green puts Grabiner in key Arcadia post". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  7. ^ "ARCADIA GROUP LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Declan Lynch: The game is up for players of vulture capitalism - Independent.ie".
  9. ^ "Lord Grabiner QC steals show", from "Lord Grabiner QC steals show with a match-winning cameo", Frank Dalleres, City AM, 14 October 2010. Last accessed 17 October 2010
  10. ^ Neate, Rupert (18 July 2011). "Lord Grabiner: high court hero faces tough new role with News Corporation". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  11. ^ "News Corp appoints Grabiner QC to oversee phone-hacking investigation". The Lawyer. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Lord Grabiner to chair News International standards committee". The Jewish Chronicle. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  13. ^ "News Corp shells out £3k an hour for Grabiner". The Lawyer. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  14. ^ The Evidence-Based Justice Lab (2 August 2021), "Issues arising in the Conduct of the Bates Litigation" (PDF), The Post Office Project, University of Exeter, Working Paper 1.
  15. ^ a b "Lord Grabiner". Parliament.UK. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Clare College elects next Master". News. Cambridge University. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Lord Grabiner QC appointed President of The University of Law". University of Law. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  18. ^ "No. 55566". The London Gazette. 29 July 1999. p. 8180.
  19. ^ a b "Second Labour peer resigns party whip". BBC News. BBC. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  20. ^ Slawson, Nicola (24 October 2015). "Second peer abandons Labour benches in Lords over Corbyn's leadership". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  21. ^ Coates, Sam; Gibb, Frances; Elliott, Francis (24 October 2015). "Peer quits Labour whip after claiming Corbyn is vote-loser". The Times. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  22. ^ White, Michael (26 July 2016). "A lord's 'veneer of establishment credibility' was worth little to BHS | Michael White". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  23. ^ "Leadership failures and personal greed led to collapse of BHS - News from Parliament".
  24. ^ Butler, Sarah; Ruddick, Graham (25 July 2016). "Sir Philip Green's reputation ripped apart in damning report on BHS demise". The Guardian.
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