Stephenson Harwood has announced the death of John Fordham, a star litigator who spent half a century at the firm and acted in some of the highest-profile disputes of his day. He was 74.

John Fordham read law at Cambridge University and joined Stephenson Harwood as an articled clerk in 1972. He qualified into commercial litigation and became a partner in 1979, going on to head the department for 25 years. He retired as a partner in 2022 but continued to work as a consultant, specialising in mediation.

John Fordham

John Fordham acted in a string of very public disputes

His cases included acting in the Maxwell pensioners’ claims during the 1990s, the case against Dame Shirley Porter in the ‘Homes for votes’ scandal and for Lonhro in the battle over the ownership of Harrods.

Fordham also had a number of brushes with authority, from which he emerged unscathed. He was joined as a defendant to proceedings against Lonrho and its chief executive, Tiny Rowland, for contempt of the House of Lords, a claim dismissed after a hearing before the law lords.

Back in the 1980s Fordham had been reported to the Law Society for ‘touting’ after helping to secure the release of 50 hostages who had been held in the US Embassy in Tehran for 14 months. White House press secretary Jody Powell announced that the firm had resolved the last outstanding problem to allow funds belonging to Iranian banks to be unfrozen. This led Fordham to give a quote to a US media publication which contained basic information about the firm.

As Stephenson Harwood recounts, ‘this was printed and caused a furore. Advertising by solicitors was banned at that time and other firms were furious at the publicity that Stephenson Harwood received. He was cleared [of touting], of course, and the Law Society commended the firm on its conduct of the case’.

Paying tribute to Fordham, the firm said: 'John was widely regarded by those who worked for, with or against him as a force of nature. He was a man of extraordinary energy and passion with a character larger than life, his booming voice audible across the office floor each day. He was fiercely loyal and devoted to his clients, the firm and his work and enjoyed an epic career that spanned more than 50 years, all of it at Stephenson Harwood. To so many of us he was inspirational; he showed that litigating could be fun, that time spent teaching less experienced lawyers was time well spent, and above all that you should always lead from the front.’

John Fordham died on 27 July. He is survived by his wife Sarah, children Rebecca and Ben, and five grandchildren.

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