After the House of Lords had agreed to hear his appeal against extradition to the US on price-fixing charges, the businessman Ian Norris turned to Jonathan Sumption, QC, to represent him. It was a wise move. Sumption, 59, is one of the few silks who can influence a case merely through his presence in court. The son of a decorated wartime submarine commander, lawyer and banker, Sumption attended Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. Called to the Bar in 1975, he is head of Brick Court Chambers, one of the UK's top commercial sets. In 2003 Sumption represented the Government during the Hutton Inquiry into the suicide of the scientist David Kelly. Alastair Campbell's diaries revealed that Lord Falconer of Thoroton, then Lord Chancellor, had reservations over whether Sumption would be able to work with Campbell because he was "right-wing, a bit quirky and someone who would want things done his way". But the book also describes Sumption as having a "brain the size of a planet". One of the brightest minds of his generation, Sumption has written several thick historical works, including several on the Hundred Years War and reviews books for The Spectator. He is a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission and a governor of the Royal Academy of Music.

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