Chris Carr, QC, was one of the most distinguished lawyers of his day. He built a fine practice in commercial litigation and fought several high-profile cases. He was prepared to be bold and accept cases where the odds were against him, and was renowned for his willingness to participate in any task, however menial.

He was an excellent advocate, with a method that was strategic, innovative and thorough, and possessed the rare ability to perform brilliantly at the shortest notice.

In one memorable instance, called from a meeting to attend at court and with barely two minutes to take instructions, Carr was able to deliver a 45-minute speech in which he fluently applied the relevant law to the facts as though he had been given several days to prepare.

Born in 1944, Carr attended Skegness Grammar School. He left in 1963 and then read law at the London School of Economics. It was in the queue to register that Carr first encountered the future Lord [Anthony] Grabiner, alongside whom he would work for much of his professional life.

After obtaining his degree Carr went on to spend some time at Clare College, Cambridge, before taking up a series of teaching posts. He began as a lecturer in law at LSE, before moving to Canada; first as assistant and then as associate professor of law, at the universities of British Columbia and Toronto respectively.

Carr returned to England in 1975 to a part-time lectureship at Queen Mary College, London. Although he had been called to the Bar in 1968, it was not until this point that he began to practise, joining Michael Sherrard’s Crown Office Row chambers as the pupil of Derry Irvine. He was followed into this role by Tony Blair, and later, by Cherie Booth, and Carr was a strong influence upon them both in their early careers.

In 1981 it was decided that Crown Office Row would split, with Irvine founding his own chambers at 11 King’s Bench Walk. Immediately after this announcement, Carr went for a walk, and again happened upon Grabiner, in whom he confided that despite the success he had enjoyed specialising in labour law, he would prefer to do more commercial work. As a result of this conversation, Carr joined Grabiner at One Essex Court, which in the opinion of both was his natural home.

Carr proceeded to build a fine practice in his new field, taking silk as early as 1983, and becoming a bencher at Lincoln’s Inn in 1991. Among his most notable work was as counsel for the World Wrestling Federation in a dispute with the World Wide Fund for Nature over the use of the acronym WWF, and for the computer manufacturer Apple Inc in its battle with record company Apple Corp, concerning a dispute over the use of the trademark apple logo.

He also played a big role in the Standards and Privilege Inquiry, acting for Mohamed Al Fayed, and successfully argued for judicial review of the Lottery Commission’s decision to open exclusive negotiations with Sir Richard Branson’s The People’s Lottery.

More recently, Carr won a brilliant victory for the diamond sales and marketing arm of the De Beers Group in its successful defence of a High Court action brought against it for alleged breach of contract.

In 2006 Carr was named Best Silk for Commercial Litigation in Chambers Bar Awards. He was also due to feature in one of the most eagerly awaited trials of 2007, acting for Michael Brown, to date the Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor, defending claims brought by HSBC of negligence, dishonesty, misrepresentation and breach of contract.

Famed for his voracious appetite for work and travel, Carr would sometimes appear in court in London on a Friday before flying to Hong Kong for a session on Saturday and returning to England in time for court on Monday morning.

This wholehearted manner characterised his entire approach to his work but did not prevent him from treating his juniors with sympathy.

Requesting on one occasion a grant of injunctive relief from the Court, Carr was called by the judge to account for an application that had been negligent in its failure to make full and frank disclosure of information. Although the error had been made by his junior, before Carr’s involvement in the matter, he nevertheless accepted responsibility. It was sensitive leadership such as this combined with his technical skills that made Carr such an outstanding barrister. In his dealings with clients he was approachable, honest and soothing, and opponents remember him as an honourable adversary of complete integrity.

Outside the law, Carr’s principal interests were in history, philosophy and mathematics, and he loved fine wine and good food. While working on a case in Croydon, he was continually irked by the lack of anywhere to eat a decent lunch. This culminated in his being photographed by the legal press holding a cigar in one hand and a bag of fish and chips in the other, causing his instructing solicitor to comment that this was just how he liked his QCs; extravagant on one hand, down to earth on the other.

Carr was married five times, and is survived by Valerie, who was his third and fifth wife, and by his children from his second marriage.

Christopher Carr, QC, barrister, was born on November 30, 1944. He died of heart failure on March 2, 2007, aged 62