CPD Training (UK) Limited

Simon Brown KC was for 10 years the Designated Mercantile Judge of the Midlands and the Senior Circuit Judge for Birmingham which is the equivalent of a permanent regional High Court Judge.

Judge Brown practised for 19 years as a junior barrister in London. He conducted a whole range of cases from murder to large criminal frauds, including the prosecution without a leader of 25 accused persons for City of London at Old Bailey. The case was then the largest cheque fraud in UK history. 

He appeared in cases of professional negligence, construction, family, landlord & tenant, planning, judicial review, insurance. He conducted murder trials and large criminal fraud cases including the prosecution, without a leader, of 25 accused persons in what was then the largest cheque fraud in UK history. He also appeared before the full Chamber of the House of Lords on a Scottish appeal.

In 1995, Simon Brown was appointed a Queen’s Counsel. As a London commercial and common law silk for 11 years he appeared for both claimants and for defendants, mainly in the various areas of insurance claims. Many of his cases such as Capital & Counties Plc v. Hampshire County Council, concerning the liability of the fire brigade and Arab Bank v. Zurich, concerning fraudulent non-disclosure of company directors, are leading cases. 

He was also an accredited arbitrator and mediator in complex disputes. He conducted 2 large public parliamentary boundary inquiries reporting to the Boundary Commission.

As the Designated Mercantile Judge for the Midlands, Judge Brown ‘actively’ case managed all his cases and kept his court at the cutting edge of the electronic age. Its modern efficient practice made it an ideal and popular forum for business litigation.

Judge Brown devised and developed the innovative and now universally used website for all mercantile courts. As part of the Review of Civil Litigation Costs by Lord Justice Jackson, Simon Brown assisted with chapters on Electronic Disclosure and Case & Costs Management, and piloted Costs Management being extended to all Mercantile and Technology & Construction Courts. He lectured for the Judicial College on electronic disclosure.

Simon Brown is an SRA-approved assessor for Higher Court advocacy in England & Wales. He speaks on case management and electronic information (disclosure and privacy) at major conferences all over the world. He is also on the consultation board of Practical Law.

As well as assessing Higher Rights for CPD Training (UK), Simon Brown teaches all aspects of advocacy skills. He was a member of the teaching team at the Tasmanian Advocacy Conventions in 2012 and 2014 and taught arbitration advocacy at Bär and Karrer in Zurich in 2022.

Simon Brown KC was the Chair of the Higher Rights Assessment Board for CPD Training (UK) from 2010 to 2019.