The Times - Paul Darling KC obituary: charismatic figure in court and in racing

First published by The Times / News Licensing on 7 August 2024 here.”

Convivial construction silk and chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board with an enigmatic tattoo

A large man, Darling could be intimidating when in the full flow of an argument

Although at 6ft 5in Paul Darling KC cut a commanding figure in court, he did not enjoy a reputation for knowing precisely where, in a small continent of paperwork, something was to be found. In one arbitration he pinned a witness to an assertion, took him to bundle 482, tab Z, page 291, second line up from the top holepunch, and showed him the complete opposite of his evidence. The witness crumbled. After a pause, John Marrin KC, the arbitrator, who knew Darling well, said with some astonishment: “Who are you? And what have you done with Mr Darling?”

Growing up in the northeast of the 1970s, Darling learnt that “you either became a lawyer or bought a nightclub”. He was inspired to opt for the legal route by Peter Taylor, a fellow Geordie and sports enthusiast who went on to become Lord Taylor of Gosforth, the lord chief justice. With some understatement, Darling described him as a “good role model”.

That choice enabled Darling to combine a love of debate and argument with his passion for racing — reaching the top of his game in both professional life and outside it: he rose to become an internationally renowned KC in commercial, construction and energy disputes as well as a leading name in the horse racing industry, most recently as chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board.

Despite his sporting tastes, Darling’s first love was the law

When the pandemic hit racecourses, Darling as chairman was instrumental in ensuring not only that racing resumed but that there was also provision of extra prize funds when racecourse finances were hit by a lack of visitors. His strong commitment at that time to the wellbeing of the board, to racing and the industry, made “an enormous difference” to getting through Covid, according to one colleague. It also brought back much-needed confidence to the board and to the industry. “The sport took great comfort from his being there.”

Convivial and charismatic, Darling chaired the Association of British Bookmakers as well as the Tote and he owned or part-owned horses, including, as a member of the Royal Ascot Racing Club, the 2005 Derby winner, Motivator. Beyond his enjoyment of the turf, though, he took seriously the need to maintain high standards in the industry and was appointed OBE in 2015 for services to sport safety and the racing industry, a hat-trick of honours for his family — his parents having been similarly honoured.

Newcastle United was another passion. Darling was proud of his grandfather, Jack Allen, who scored twice for Newcastle United in the 1932 FA Cup final against Arsenal. His devotion was graphically demonstrated at a Cheltenham race meeting when the Levy Board returned to their box to be told that Darling had just dropped his trousers. He wanted friends to see a tattoo on his thigh of the exact date in 1932 when those goals were scored. Like Lord Taylor, his role model, he was active in sports safety and chaired the Football Licensing Authority (now the Sports Ground Safety Authority).

Racing was glad to have Darling in its corner during the pandemic (Credit: Getting Images)

But his first love was the legal world: as well as building his own highly successful practice in both litigation and arbitration, he was heavily involved as chairman of Tecbar (the specialist group for construction and technology barristers) along with Lord Dyson and Lord Justice Jackson in seeing reforms through to the Technology and Construction Court, greatly boosting its status and raising the quality of judges to become a world-class court.

Persuasive and personable, he loved networking and always knew who was doing what, something he used to good effect as treasurer of Middle Temple. His knowledge was such that one year he was told the number of applicants for the High Court and asked how many he could name. He named all 23 as well as all those shortlisted and those finally appointed. The next year he repeated the exercise. Colleagues joked that the nation could save hundreds of thousands of pounds on appointing judges by “just asking Paul”. When in 2008 Ian Burnett KC was appointed to the High Court, Darling said: “There’s the next but one lord chief justice”. In 2017 he was proved correct.

Paul Antony Darling was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, in 1960 and grew up in Cleadon, County Durham. He attended Tonstall School in Sunderland before heading to Winchester College and then to St Edmund Hall, Oxford. His family were steeped in public service. His father, William Darling, a pharmacist in South Shields, was influential in improving regulation and training of pharmacists and led the committee that set the strategy for child-proof medicine containers. His mother, Ann, was a magistrate for some 20 years.

Darling with the actor James Bolam

Darling was called to the Bar in 1983, took silk in 1999 and joined Keating Chambers, a leading construction law set, becoming head of chambers between 2010 and 2015. Having conducted arbitrations in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East since the early 1990s, his tactical and strategic strengths now took his practice worldwide. As one colleague noted: “He had an ability to get to the nub of a case and find the killer key fact.”

Unlike his younger brother, Ian, a circuit judge, Darling never aspired to the bench. Lord Judge, then lord chief justice, once asked him whether he had thought of being a High Court judge. Darling politely declined. Judge persevered. Darling said: “Igor, can you envisage me sitting still and quiet for two and a half hours while someone talks at me?” Judge replied: “Well, now you put it like that …”

Darling could be physically and intellectually intimidating when arguing a point. When chairing the Levy Board his strong views on how the money accrued from betting should be spent brought rigour to the process, but not without some tensions and conflicts. He argued forcefully and could seem pugnacious at times.

In 2017, he took the unusual step of moving to 39 Essex Chambers to broaden his practice where he led the construction and commercial team, handling complex cases with multiple parties, large teams and high volumes of material. Darling was hugely popular with clients and his many high-profile construction cases included McAlpine v Panatown, which became a leading case on the rights of third parties, the well-documented case of Walter Lilly v McKay, and the collapse of the Holbeck Hall hotel in Scarborough. He wrote and edited several publications on construction law and was heavily involved on the fifth edition of Keating on Construction Contracts and, with Richard Wilmot-Smith KC, on Wilmot-Smith on Construction Contracts. He was also keen on social media and was an early producer of podcasts.

Darling was at home in the Temple, heart of legal London, or dining at the Garrick, where he was a member and tipped as a future chairman. So when the Levy Board relocated to Canary Wharf, he struggled with the new venue: often getting lost on the way to meetings, missing trains and arriving late, railing against the difficulties. At one meeting the board aimed to predict how many minutes he would be late, as well as his opening remarks. He arrived his customary ten minutes late, snarling: “I hate this bloody place.”

Darling was known for his generosity of spirit, mentoring and supporting junior colleagues and aspiring lawyers. He was also the chairman of Darling’s Pharmacy, the family business, established in 1905 by John Darling, in which he took an active interest.

In 2013 he married Camilla Barker, who works in higher education and is the daughter of Brian Barker CBE KC, the former recorder of London, and Dame Anne Rafferty DBE, a former lady justice of appeal. There had been two brief marriages (before his mid-thirties) but it was because of Camilla, he would say, that he became the man he was, weeping with emotion when talking of her. His great friend Lord Justice (Peter) Coulson said that she was the only woman who truly loved him and whose intellect could stand up to him. He did not get away with sloppy thinking or careless conjecture and he regularly thanked her for it.

At his wedding breakfast in Middle Temple Hall, he told 250 guests that he had recently celebrated the anniversary of meeting Camilla. He paused, then added: “Camilla will celebrate in four years’ time. That is how long it took her to notice me.” She survives him.

There were no children but Darling adored his nephew Monty Tann, now four. Since his birth Darling provided him — in Newcastle colours — Babygros, pyjamas, towels, dressing gowns, shorts, T-shirts and long socks. He also spent hours teaching Monty how to reply politely when greeted by a grown-up: “Hello Monty” would be met, to their surprise, with “Up the Toon”.

Paul Darling KC, OBE, construction lawyer, was born on March 15, 1960. He died of a suspected heart attack or stroke in the Middle Temple on August 2, 2024, aged 64