Venice had not seen the like since the days of the Doge: cheering crowds lined the Accademia Bridge while a dozen vintage water taxis processed along the Grand Canal, carrying some of the most famous people in the world.

Aboard the lead vessel was screen idol George Clooney, whose marriage to British lawyer Amal Alamuddin was being attended that weekend by other members of Hollywood's liberal elite.

Oscar-winner Matt Damon, supermodel Cindy Crawford and U2 singer Bono were all on the wedding convoy, along with veteran actor Bill Murray and American actress Ellen Barkin. 

Left-wing 'goliath' of global litigation, Benedict Emmerson QC, being patted on the shoulder by George Clooney

But who was the slightly owlish gentleman in the tuxedo? A character actor, perhaps? Or maybe Mr Clooney's butler?

In fact, the mystery guest was a superstar in his own sphere: the Left-wing 'goliath' of global litigation, Benedict Emmerson QC.

Mr Emmerson had 'invented the human rights industry virtually single-handed', one admiring fellow QC told me this week. He was 'aggressive, modern and transcendentally brilliant', said another, who otherwise had little time for the maestro's socialist politics.

The 'smart and charming' barrister also has admirers outside his profession.

One of Mr Emmerson's favoured juniors was -- and continues to be -- the glamorous and clever Mrs Clooney

In Venice, his shipmate Ms Barkin, the star with Al Pacino of the film Sea Of Love -- whose most recent marriage was to American billionaire Ronald Perelman -- was reportedly swept off her feet by the British lawyer.

The odd couple -- Mr Emmerson is nine years her junior -- were even briefly engaged.

And who could blame her?

Back in September 2014, when the Clooney wedding took place, Mr Emmerson was at the height of his powers and reputation. He had founded (along with others) Matrix Chambers, the holier-than-thou barristers' set with the then Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair in 2000.

He had opposed authority -- often in the form of the British State -- in a string of controversial headline cases in London and Strasbourg. His career was even said to be the model for Colin Firth's dashing barrister Mr Darcy in the film Bridget Jones' Diary.

One of Mr Emmerson's favoured juniors was -- and continues to be -- the glamorous and clever Mrs Clooney.

Their most high-profile collaboration came in 2011 when they represented WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange in his fight against extradition to Sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault.

Mr Emmerson had told the court that Assange's behaviour towards two women who laid charges against him may have been 'disrespectful, discourteous or even pushing the boundaries of what they were comfortable with', but was not a crime.

The grey area of male-female relations was explored by him to no avail. The extradition warrant was upheld and Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he remains today. The bien pensant dream-team couldn't win them all.

But Mr Emmerson marched on. 

Shortly before the Clooney nuptials, he was appointed lead barrister for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA). Given the scope of its remit -- 13 strands of public life, from schools to the Church of England -- the inquiry was expected to become the biggest and most expensive statutory investigation in British legal history.

More laurels for the already heavily garlanded Mr Emmerson were expected. And a juicy £1,700-a-day in fees.

Two years later, how Mr Emmerson may be wishing he'd stayed in Venice. And perhaps re-trained as a gondolier.

The gargantuan inquiry has suffered a series of damaging setbacks to its credibility. Three chairwomen have resigned so far; two because of potential conflicts of interest and the third for reasons as yet unexplained.

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Elizabeth Prochaska was the inquiry's second most senior lawyer before she stepped down

The original advisory panel of abuse 'survivors' was disbanded last year amid vicious infighting. And in recent days the chaotic impression only worsened.

It emerged that Mr Emmerson's deputy, Elizabeth Prochaska -- the daughter of the Principal of Somerville College, Oxford -- had quietly quit the inquiry on September 15 in mysterious circumstances.

The latest casualty is the goliath QC himself.

In the last fortnight Mr Emmerson, 53, was suspended from his duties by the fourth inquiry chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay. Prof Jay had 'become very concerned about aspects of Mr Emmerson's leadership of the counsel team'. Those 'aspects' were not explained, but have been linked to the resignation of Ms Prochaska, 35.

Professor Alexis Jay had 'become very concerned about aspects of Mr Emmerson's leadership of the counsel team'

Twenty-four hours after his suspension, Mr Emmerson, a divorced father of four, had also resigned. Then the shutters came down.

He and Ms Prochaska, a Labour Party activist and women's rights campaigner who is also at Matrix Chambers, separately signed 'non-disclosure agreements' so they could not reveal the reasons behind their departures.

That silence has not prevented speculation about the reasons behind their exits. An internal investigation into Mr Emmerson's behaviour was dropped as soon as he left.

His departure attracted a mixed reaction from alleged abuse victims.

Some were 'distressed'. Others were clearly not: 'Somebody break out the champagne. Emmerson FINALLY suspended!!!' tweeted one. 'Yippeeee. See ya Ben,' posted another.

Mr Emmerson is said by one supporter on the inquiry to be 'exhausted and fed up'. He is glad to walk away from an inquiry which was bending under the weight of its own remit, racked by internecine warfare and looking more and more 'out of control'.

Yet he leaves under a cloud of toxic rumour concerning his own behaviour behind the scenes -- and, it was revealed this week, not a penny in severance pay, unlike the inquiry's third chair, Dame Lowell Goddard, who received £80,000 in pay and allowances when she resigned in August.

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Dame Lowell Goddard received £80,000 in pay and allowances when she resigned in August

So many rumours flourished -- fuelled by BBC2's Newsnight, which suggested there were 'serious problems' in the working relationship between Mr Emmerson and his junior Mrs Prochaska -- that fellow Left-wing legal icon Baroness (Helena) Kennedy of the Shaws QC was moved to issue a statement of support. It did little to quell the hearsay.

The peer said she was aware of the alleged reason for Mr Emmerson's suspension but it 'does not correspond with my experience of Ben'.

While often robust in his professional dealings, Mr Emmerson denies having problems with colleagues. Indeed, he has now instructed the Left-wing solicitors Bindman to protect his reputation and, unusually, has stopped taking calls from the media.

One can only imagine what sport Mr Emmerson would have in court if an Establishment figure behaved in a similar fashion.

But then he has long been a man of contradictions.

Michael Benedict Emmerson is no cradle-socialist. Rather, he turned away from a Home Counties background which was conservative in every respect.

His father was the finance controller of the London Stock Exchange. Brought up a strict Catholic, Emmerson was a boarder at the Douai School in Berkshire which was run by the adjacent Benedictine Abbey.

Ironically, a number of the school's former staff were later convicted of child sex abuse offences and it closed in 1999.

The culpability of the Benedictines in their response to such offending is now central to the Catholic strand of the abuse inquiry.