Sumption

• Too many sour grapes threaten to take the considerable shine off the elevation of Jonathan Sumption, aka "the cleverest man in Britain" to the supreme court.

Hugh Muir's Diary 2011

But if not a top brain such as Sumption, who else would have been acceptable?

Top stories from Times Online 2010

Mr. Sumption described post-Soviet Russia as "Europe's Wild East"—a place where the rule of law had disappeared, authority had collapsed, the police were corrupt and the courts were unpredictable at best.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

In his opening arguments Tuesday, Mr. Sumption said Mr. Berezovsky never actually owned any shares in Sibneft, and Mr. Abramovich's payment to him was for the political influence he exerted that helped Mr. Abramovich acquire control over the company.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

Under the deal, Sibneft would then be used as a source of funds to finance ORT, a television channel Mr. Berezovsky controlled, which in turn would back Mr. Yeltsin in his 1996 campaign for re-election, Mr. Sumption said.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

Mr. Sumption also addressed the question of why Mr. Abramovich agreed to pay $1.3 billion in 2001 if he wasn't buying Mr. Berezovsky's stake in Sibneft.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

While acknowledging that Mr. Berezovsky's role in the creation of Sibneft was "important, indeed indispensable," Mr. Sumption said it was entirely political: he had not contributed a "single cent" to the cost of acquiring or building up the company and was not involved in its management—in contrast to Mr. Abramovich, who had financed the acquisition and ran Sibneft.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

Mr. Sumption described how in the mid-1990s, Mr. Berezovsky persuaded Mr. Yeltsin to create Sibneft from two state-owned entities, and to privatize it in a way that would leave it in the hands of Mr. Abramovich.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011

The Lawyer magazine reckons Sumption's fee hovers around the £3m mark; little wonder that he's keen to get the job done.

Hugh Muir's Diary 2011

Mr. Berezovsky—a businessman who had wielded enormous influence in the 1990s through his friendship with members of then-President Boris Yeltsin's family, and who had realized that the "exercise of political power could itself be a source of considerable wealth"—provided just such a service, Mr. Sumption said.

Russian Oligarch Alleges Payment Guy Chazan 2011