Daniel Joseph Brennan, Baron Brennan, (born 19 March 1942) is a British life peer and barrister.

Early life and background

Brennan was educated at St. Bede's Grammar School, Bradford, and graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, where subsequently he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in 2000.

Career

He was called to the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1967. A member of

Matrix Chambers Matrix Chambers is a barristers' chambers in Gray's Inn London, Brussels, and Geneva. Founded in April 2000 by 22 barristers from 7 different chambers, it now has over 90 independent and specialist lawyers who work throughout the UK and interna ...

, he specialises in personal injury and medical work, commercial law, international business issues, public and private international law, and international arbitration. He became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1985, and he is a

Deputy High Court Judge The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

and a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

in the Crown Court, a former member of the

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an executive agency of the UK Government. The Authority, established in 1996 and based in Glasgow, administers a compensation scheme for injuries caused to victims of violent crime in Englan ...

and ex-Chairman of the

Personal Injuries Bar Association Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

. Lord Brennan is the Bar representative on the Council of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associa ...

. He is also a member of the bars of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In 2000, ''The Lawyer Magazine'' described him as Barrister of the Year. Lord Brennan is Chair of the

APPG on Legal and Constitutional Affairs The All Party Parliamentary Group for Legal and Constitutional Affairs is an all-party parliamentary group of MPs and Peers within the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aims to "facilitate greater interaction between Parliament and the dif ...

, which is a cross party grouping of MPs and Peers with

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

focussed on discussing issues relating to the legal profession and the reform of the law and constitution. He has an environmental, product liability and medical negligence practice involving multi-party actions such as the insurance claims from the

Paddington rail crash The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington rail crash) was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when two passenger trains collided almost head-on after one of them had passed a ...

, the

combined oral contraceptive pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: proges ...

litigation and, in the past, the local residents' claims arising from the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

development scheme, the HIV/haemophiliac claims against the UK government and the

Herald of Free Enterprise MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was ow ...

disaster. Most recently he has appeared in the '

designer baby A designer baby is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected or altered, often to not include a particular gene or to remove genes associated with disease. This process usually involves analysing a wide range of human embryos to identify ge ...

' appeal in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. He was created Baron Brennan, of

Bibury Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable a ...

in the County of Gloucestershire on 2 May 2000 and is president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain. In 2006 Lord Brennan was appointed Delegate for Great Britain and Ireland of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

in succession to Anthony Bailey. On 19 November 2007 Brennan collapsed in the House of Lords shortly after concluding a speech on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. He was given heart massage in the House of Lords by, among others,

Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham ARA may refer to: Media and the arts * American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences * '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia * Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Acad ...

, the health minister. He had urged the creation of a National Bioethics Commission. Lord Brennan spent time recovering at St Thomas' Hospital, London. On 3 December 2007 Lord Brennan again became unwell in the Chamber of the House of Lords. Having been fitted with a pacemaker at St Thomas' Hospital, he was thanking peers and staff who had been involved in the occasion when he was last taken ill, when he fell back in his seat.

Personal life

In 1968 he married a Spanish national, Pilar Sánchez Moya, with whom he has four sons.

Affiliations

Lord Brennan is the chairman of the board of directors of the

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

-based think-tank

Global Financial Integrity Raymond W. Baker (born October 30, 1935) is an American businessman, scholar, author, and "authority on financial crime." He is the founder and president of Global Financial Integrity, a research and advocacy organization in Washington, DC worki ...

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Daniel Brennan, Baron 1942 births Living people Labour Party (UK) life peers Alumni of the University of Manchester English King's Counsel English barristers Members of Gray's Inn Members of Matrix Chambers English Roman Catholics Irish barristers Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland 20th-century King's Counsel People educated at St. Bede's Grammar School Life peers created by Elizabeth II