According to The Mirror, Manchester City was recently found to have breached Premier League financial regulations over a nine-year period, but the club has appealed and hired Mark Howard KC, one of England's top barristers.

Manchester City was found to have committed 114 breaches of Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club was charged in February 2023, followed by a 42-day hearing the following year. The hearing verdict was only confirmed last month, after which Manchester City filed an appeal. The club continues to deny the allegations and states that they have "overwhelming irrefutable evidence" to prove their innocence.

There is currently no timeline for how long the appeal process will take, but Manchester City is fully committed to fighting it. According to The Lawyer magazine, Howard is now advising Manchester City. But who is he, and why did Manchester City hire him? In legal circles, Howard is known as a "super silk"—the term for a King's Counsel (KC).

He is also one of the heads of Brick Court Chambers, located in central London. His official website describes him as having "extensive experience in commercial and 'City' litigation, including banking, professional negligence, fraud, energy, insurance, and reinsurance."

One review states: "His name strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents." Howard's previous clients have included former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (in 2008) and musician Elton John (in 2002). He qualified as a barrister in 1980 and took silk 16 years later.

In an interview with The Times last year, Howard said his favourite part of the job was "cross-examining witnesses and looking for weaknesses in their evidence." In 2023, Howard earned a record £9 million in appearance fees representing the Federal Republic of Nigeria against Process & Industrial Developments. This remains the highest recorded appearance fee—the payment a barrister receives for pre-trial preparation and the first day of court appearance.

Howard helped Nigeria successfully avoid paying $11 billion in compensation. Another recent success was representing AerCap, the world's largest commercial aircraft leasing company, in 2025. The case centred on an insurance dispute involving aircraft stranded in Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The High Court ruled that the insurance company responsible for covering war risk must compensate AerCap over $1 billion. This award is also among the largest ever given by an English court in an insurance dispute.

Manchester City hopes Howard's expertise will help them in their fight against the Premier League. Since the charges were filed, Howard is not the only KC hired by Manchester City. Leading the club's legal team is David Pannick, known for representing the wealthy and powerful. Pannick's previous clients have included Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Joining Pannick is Paul Harris, who successfully led an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after UEFA attempted to ban Manchester City from the Champions League in 2020. Also involved is Philip Marshall, who specializes in complex commercial disputes and commercial fraud.

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