The Supreme Court has played host to many of the Commonwealth?s top lawyers, but it has also played host to a number of spectacular trials.

Two famous ones that come to mind are the Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza trial and the Bermuda Fire and Marine trial.

Before the Thyssen trial began many international media outlets dubbed it ?the trial of the century?. It began in October, 1999, after two years of pre-trial arguments, when the Baron sued his son for control of the $2.7 billion family fortune.

The trial began with the international and local media and public squeezing into Supreme Court 4 to see what was expected to be a mud-slinging match between an aristocratic European family. However, it quickly became evident that the trial would not be a real life soap opera and instead became a mind numbingly long trial that poured over thousands of documents and drove the media and a judge away.

There were 121,959 documents entered into evidence and on average 600 pages of transcripts were produced from the case each week.

During the trial, Supreme Court 4 received the dubious honour of having the most lengthy opening speech in the history of legal arguments. Baron Thyssen?s lawyer, Queen?s Counsel Michael Crystal, took 15 months to get through his opening statement.

Another important event in the lengthy trial was when presiding judge, Dennis Mitchell, quit over a pay row ? a year and a half into the case. He wanted to be paid $1,500 a day to continue presiding over the trial. He also wanted a $100,000 settlement if the trial continued after his contract expired. Then Governor Thorold Masefield refused to pay up and Mr. Mitchell walked away 105 days into the trial. Mr. Mitchell?s actions led to the London Times lampooning him as a top contender for ?Judge of the Year? in their satirical review of the law. In the end the case was settled out of court. On June 15, 2002, after two-and-a-half years, the case was settled while the Baron was on his deathbed. He died two months later.

Another lengthy trial took place after Bermuda Fire and Marine split into two separate companies, the local BF&M, which proved to be very profitable, and Bermuda Fire, which was insolvent by 1993. The trial lasted 100 days and saw pillars of Bermuda?s business world take the stand.

Liquidators for Bermuda Fire, Ernst & Young, filed action stating that the directors, accountants and legal advisors of Bermuda Fire and Marine suspected that Bermuda Fire was insolvent when they created it. The case was also settled out of court, the legal wrangling came to an end in 2004. BF&M agreed to pay a $50 million settlement and Bermuda Fire?s liquidators received an option for a million shares in BF&M, valued at approximately $15 million