The UK Commercial Property Litigation and Disputes Forum 2024

Liz has had a somewhat unusual career which has spanned both the public and private sectors. She spent her early career in Government in the Ministry of Defence, eventually becoming a key player in the creation of QinetiQ plc in 2001. She then moved into the private sector, becoming Chief Executive of the British Property Federation where she played a significant role in the creation of the UK’s Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) structure. She was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to the property industry.

Liz now has a non-executive portfolio career primarily focussed on real estate including NED roles at Howard de Walden Estates, Greencore Homes and the Connected Places Catapult. She is Chairman of the GLA’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and of the University of Cambridge Property Board. She is  also chair of  the Churches Conservation Trust, a secular organisation looking after 358 redundant Church of England churches, and of Real Estate Balance, a campaigning organisation working to improve diversity and inclusion in the real estate industry.

Liz was President of the Property Litigation Association  from 2016 to 2021.

Rashpal has over 20 years experience in all aspects of contentious property matters with a particular focus on issues that commonly arise out of development, including rights of light claims, development constraints such as restrictive covenants or easements, and vacant possession strategies. Her particular specialism is in the area of rights of light where she regularly advises on strategy, risk mitigation measures such as placing agreed conduct insurance policies or implementing s203, and dealing with litigation.

Rashpal is ranked individually in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as a recommended and "up and coming" practitioner. She is part of the Real Estate Disputes team at Eversheds Sutherland which is ranked Number 1 in the directories.

Since 1995 Paul has been seeking to solve people’s property disputes. He brings a professional, energetic but most of all sensible approach to his clients' concerns, whether it is a neighbour dispute or a Supreme Court case.

Paul advises businesses, charities and individuals on all aspects of property disputes and their avoidance. Paul’s work covers enforcement of lease terms, recovery of money, real estate property disputes, and he has particular interests in business tenancy law, restrictive covenants and rights of light.

Paul joined Russell-Cooke in 2002 and was appointed partner in 2005

Jo’s expertise is invaluable for organisations and individuals seeking to resolve or avoid property disputes of all types. She advises commercial entities and private clients.

Jo is experienced in advising clients in relation to the various means of resolving disputes away from the court, be it through correspondence, face-to-face negotiation or at a formal mediation. Wherever possible she aims to avoid formal litigation, which can be unpredictable and costly for her clients.  

In instances when it is either not possible or desirable to avoid court, Jo has experience of robustly advising individuals and companies and guiding them through the litigation procedure. This can involve litigating in the high court or county court, applications to specialist property tribunals, arbitrations, expert determinations or mediation.

Jo regularly advises private clients, covering a range of work including obtaining possession when tenants have breached terms of their lease or Assured Shorthold Tenancy or where they have withheld rent. She regularly advises in relation to nuisance claims, contentious rights of way, boundary disputes, adverse possession and professional negligence.

For her commercial clients, which include charities and higher education institutions, Jo deals with all aspects of commercial landlord and tenant disputes including dilapidations, rent review, breach of covenants of lease, forfeiture, rights of light claims, nuisance and possession. 

Jo has considerable experience in dealing with issues of real property, which can affect both commercial and private owners or occupiers alike. She frequently also advises in relation to boundary issues, and contentious planning matters such as Town and Village Green (TVG) applications, contentious easements, and adverse possession. Jo is also called on to advise in relation to occupiers' liabilities arising from the condition of the premises, with a particular interest in health and safety matters.

Jo qualified as a Solicitor in 2010.

Ed is an experienced real estate disputes lawyer with particular expertise dealing with developers in relation to building defects as well as the hotel and hospitality industry. He often acts on multimillion-pound disputes for clients including developers, investors, landlords, tenants and funders, as well as insolvency practitioners.

Ed acted for the developer and landlord in the leading fire-safety building defects case in the High Court in relation to liability for defective cladding and insulation.

In the hospitality sector, Ed is recognised as an industry expert and has acted for or against almost every global hospitality brand.

Greg Barden has broad experience in dispute resolution across all levels of the civil judicial hierarchy in the United Kingdom with a particular focus on real estate, including regulatory and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues, aviation, and insurance recovery.

Greg has acted for corporates and high net worth individuals in relation to range of high-value commercial disputes. Greg's real estate experience includes joint venture disputes, overage claims, the enforcement of sales contracts (and deposit disputes), tenant insolvency and guarantor enforcement, landlord and tenant disputes, lease renewals, dilapidation claims, and trusts of land. He has worked with various property developers across the United Kingdom to provide advice on rights of light matters and obtaining vacant possession and has assisted clients with disputes concerning recently constructed buildings (including the Building Safety Act, cladding, and fire stopping).

In relation to aviation, Greg has assisted manufacturers and users of aircraft in a variety of disputes, including the enforcement of sales contracts, disputes with lenders, and disputes with agents.

More broadly, Greg routinely assists corporates with contractual disputes and governance issues with particular experience in joint venture fall-outs and/or disputes between shareholders/owners and management. He also has experience in interim injunctive relief claims, including freezing orders, delivery up orders, and bespoke injunctions.

Greg has recently assisted DB Symmetry in a successful claim in the Supreme Court on a point of national importance in relation to the limits of what planning conditions can lawfully require.

Douglas specialises in service charges and leasehold management, development disputes, land transaction disputes and commercial and residential landlord and tenant.  He is described in the Legal 500 as "an exceptional lawyer, happy to get immersed in the detail and willing to go the extra mile to get a result."

In recent years Douglas has advised extensively on building safety-related aspects of service charges and leasehold management in the social housing and private residential leasehold sector.  He was the only lawyer on the Government's Working Group on what became section 133 of the Building Safety Act 2022 relating to service charges for remediation works.  He recently contributed to a collection of articles published by the London School of Economics on the Future of High-Rise Housing.

Gary has built (from a standing start) and heads the highly-rated real estate litigation team in London. He helps developer and investor clients manage risk, and has been ranked as a leading lawyer in London by the legal directories for over a decade.   

His main focus is in urban dynamics, with a particular focus on the regeneration sector.  He is regularly instructed by domestic and international household names involved in the future of living (including build to rent developers / operators, housebuilders and student developers and operators), the future of work (including office developers and occupiers) and urban mobility (logistical developers and operators).  

Gary troubleshoots complex legal issues to ensure consented schemes are fully delivered (having successfully defended countless injunction threats and claims) and operated optimally. He is regularly recommended for his rights to light expertise in the legal directories. He has successfully de-risked many schemes with a gross development value in the aggregate of billions of pounds over the last decade. He also has an excellent working knowledge of the contaminated land regime (having won a scholarship to undertake an LLM, by research, on this topic) and the electronic communications code (having been seconded to Vodafone's radio base station team for six months). 

Gary is a former Chair of the Property Litigation Association, and a current member of Sweet & Maxwell's editorial board of The Landlord and Tenant Reports.  

Luke co-founded Keidan Harrison LLP in May 2020, having formerly led a substantial and esteemed team at a mid-sized firm.

He is recognised by the leading legal directories as a “very commercial litigator with a real eye for detail” and “especially adept at insolvency-related commercial disputes” (Chambers 2019).

Luke’s practice covers a broad spectrum of commercial disputes, but he has particular expertise in contentious insolvency and restructuring advisory, fraud and asset recovery, banking and financial services, company and partnership, professional negligence claims and technology disputes. He also has substantial expertise in media, data protection and defamation claims. Luke has acted for large corporates as well as for small- to medium-sized enterprises and office holders (directors, trustees and insolvency practitioners). He works across all sectors, but has particular experience in recruitment, litigation funding, alternative lending, technology, construction and private equity.

Professor Graham F. Chase Dip Est Man FRICS FCIArb C.Arb FRSA FInstCPD Chartered Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator, RICS Registered Valuer, Commercial Property Company Chairman of the Year 2021 (CEO Monthly), UK Commercial Property Business Leader of the Year 2022 (CEO Magazine)

Professor Graham F Chase is the Chairman of Chase and Partners LLP, Chartered Surveyors and Chartered Town Planners, based in central London. He is a Fellow & Past President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Chartered Arbitrator, Past President and current Chairman of the Association of Town & City Management, a Freeman of the City of London, Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors, Member of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Past Chairman of the Covent Garden Area Trust, the Honorary Surveyor to the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and Chairman of the Commonwealth Housing Trust.

In his 44-year career he has advised the private sector on the letting and funding of retail and leisure schemes with a combined value of over £10billion, advised on the development of some 150 shopping centres, leisure centres, retail parks and other commercial property products and advised central Government and over 40 Local authorities on policy and other property based issues.

In the past 10 years he has advised on a wide cross section of property sectors in most areas of business and looks after a select cadre of retained clients in respect of their property portfolios and activities including retail, leisure, offices, industrial/logistics and residential land. He also sits as an arbitrator on a variety of property disputes, is an Independent Expert and appears as an Expert Witness in the High Court, Property Tribunals and Planning Public Inquiries.

He has produced an annual retail, leisure, and restaurant market report since 1983 covering both the in town and out of town sectors and this year, on 1st June 2020, Chase & Partners celebrates its 25th year of trading with a 25th edition of the Spring Report.

Paul is an insolvency and restructuring specialist; his expertise includes corporate recovery, pre-insolvency options analysis, contingency planning as well as receivership, administrations and liquidation implementation. His sector experience encompasses care homes, retail, hospitality and leisure as well as technology.

Paul is a London based managing director within the insolvency and restructuring practice. He is a robust, commercial and ambitious advisor noted for his commitment to clients in complex situations. Paul is a Chartered Accountant and licensed Insolvency Practitioner and has almost 20 years’ experience in mid-market corporate recovery, working across a wide range of industry sectors, including care homes, real estate, hospitality and leisure, motor retail and waste processing.

Paul is spearheading the firm’s focus on the financial technology and alternative finance markets, building several key relationships. He was part of the team responsible for establishing Quantuma’s relationship with a range of alternative finance platforms as well as championing their associate membership to the peer-to-peer Finance Association, the UK’s self-regulatory body for peer-to-peer lending.

More recently, Paul has been leading the restructuring of a £100 million turnover chemical distribution and manufacturing group, dealing with the disposal of a £20 million commercial property via an administration process and, acted as trustee in bankruptcy. He has also been investigating the whereabouts of £25 million dissipated in a series of failed offshore investment schemes. Paul also advises debtors as well as creditors on personal insolvency matters, and has recently been appointed on a number of high-value contentious bankruptcies.

Paul holds the Fellow Chartered Accountant qualification, Certificate of Proficiency in Insolvency (CPI) and Joint Insolvency Examination Board (JIEB) qualification. He is also a member of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Paul started his insolvency and restructuring career as a trainee chartered accountant at a mid-tier accountancy firm before completing his CPI and JIEB. After spells at a bank and a Big Four firm, Paul returned to the mid-tier accountancy firm where he trained, to start a partner track programme before joining a business advisory firm to lead its property restructuring team.

Paul joined Quantuma on Feb 2016 and became a partner in October 2018. Paul and his wife have two young children and share with them a love for travel, skiing, exploration, cooking, eating and adventure. Paul is also a keen pianist, noted mainly for enthusiasm and rarely for ability.

Julie is a partner in the firm's Real Estate Dispute Resolution team with over 20 years’ experience dealing with a huge variety of contentious property issues, with an emphasis on providing commercially driven solutions through advice, negotiation and various forms of dispute resolution.

Julie’s expertise includes dealing with major commercial, residential and mixed-use development schemes, advising on development constraints including rights of light for numerous developments, rights of way, restrictive covenants, vacant possession strategies and Telecoms Code. Julie also advises on all aspects and issues arising from the landlord and tenant relationship including rent review and dilapidations, property related insolvency, contractual disputes, issues arising on the sale/purchase of freehold/long leasehold interests and all aspects of mixed use and residential property. Julie has experience of mediation, expert determination, arbitration, High Court and County Court claims.

Iain is Hollis's Leeds-based Director woth over 20 years of experience, specialising in dilapidations and landlord and tenant disputes. He is also head of the service chrages service and acted as building surveying expert in Sunlife v Tiger (2013).

Iain gets to see and inspect a wide range of buildings and he enjoys the challenge of complex and high-value dilaidations, particularly where the technical and legal analysis converge. His greatest achievement to date is working on a landlord and tenant dispute for a large and luxurious hotel rsort in the British Virgin Islands. Looking ahead, he is interested to see the landlord and tenant relationship further evolving.

Chris specialises in both property litigation and the regulatory/disciplinary aspects of sports law.

Chris undertakes work in all aspects of property litigation encompassing real property, and both residential and commercial landlord and tenant work.

In the field of real property Chris has developed a particular specialism in the law relating to canals and water, which work often involves consideration of difficult issues relating to riparian rights and ancient title documentation as well as the understanding and application of aged private Acts of Parliament.  Chris has acted extensively for British Waterways and its statutory successor the Canal & River Trust, and also for other public authorities as well as for private individuals on canal and water based matters. 

Chris also regularly advises and litigates on registration, option, easement and covenant issues. As a corollary of his work relating to waterways, Chris also has expertise in advising on Human Rights issues relating to property interests.

In the field of landlord & tenant Chris has particular expertise in service charge disputes (especially in the context of representative actions for large numbers of tenants) as well as extensive experience of matters such as the 1954 Act,  dilapidations claims, options and the construction and enforcement of tenant covenants.

In sports law Chris has many years of experience in appearing before various tribunals, from domestic disciplinary hearings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland as well as in High Court litigation.

Chris is particularly well respected for his work in relation to selection issues and Paralympic classification issues. 

Chris has acted for numerous governing bodies in sports as diverse as football, swimming, diving, cricket, tennis, rugby and boxing and as well as prosecuting (or defending) regulatory and disciplinary matters. Chris has been appointed to chair numerous disciplinary panels.

Liam is Co-Founder and Senior Director at Point 2. He has advised clients over the length and breadth of the country and he enjoys site visits in Yorkshire, particularly on a Friday morning.

Over the past 9 years, his work has included a new build private-rented portfolio of 5,000 units and resolving Rights to Light issues surrounding the proposed 270,000sqft 80 Fenchurch Street Site.

He regularly undertakes expert witness work for planning inquiries in connection with Daylight & Sunlight matters.

Outside the office Liam is a Reserve Army Officer serving with the Royal Engineers. He enjoys the occasional shoot, flying light aircraft, walking in the Yorkshire dales and his yearly trip to compete on the Cresta Run

Julia is a seasoned litigator specialising in real estate disputes, with a particular focus on commercial real estate. Her practice covers both development and investment disputes, particularly those concerning trophy assets and valuable portfolios. She has significant litigation experience, including lengthy and high-profile trials. Julia also has many years’ experience advising on alternatives to litigation, such as negotiation, mediation and early risk identification/mitigation. She is a qualified Solicitor Advocate with rights of audience in the higher courts.

Her core areas of expertise include advising developers on a range of contentious matters such as rights to light, vacant possession strategies/site assembly, trespass, restrictive covenants, easements and overage agreements. Julia is also an expert in commercial landlord and tenant issues including business lease renewals, break notices, tenant arrears/insolvency, landlord consents, dilapidations and service charge disputes. She advises in the areas of enfranchisement, pre-emption rights, party walls and Land Compensation Act issues, and also handles disputes concerning professional negligence and breach of contract arising in the property sector.

She is recognised in the leading legal directories – most recently she has been commended by The Legal 500 as a 'Next Generation Partner' having previously been ranked as both a ‘Rising Star’ and ‘Next Generation Lawyer’. She has also been ranked in Chambers UK: “She was soon on top of absolutely every element. I can’t speak highly enough of her.” Julia is a regular commentator and has written various blogs and articles. She also presents to clients and their advisors on technical issues and the latest legal developments.

Julia joined Forsters in March 2022 from Herbert Smith Freehills.

Bryan is a partner and head of the Property Litigation team, working alongside developers, commercial and residential landowners, landlords, tenants, insolvency practitioners and government and other public bodies. He deals with all aspects of property litigation and liaises extensively with colleagues across the firm, including in transactional real estate, construction, insolvency, corporate and finance in order to ensure that real estate litigation is an integral part of the wide Dentons client offering. Bryan is a "go-to" person in respect of all contentious and advisory real estate issues.

Bryan is experienced in dealing with all of the unique aspects of real estate litigation, including the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, tenant default, party walls, easement and covenant disputes, neighbourly disputes, service charge disputes, dilapidations disputes, professional negligence in the property context (including legal and surveying professional negligence, negligence and nuisance). Bryan has considerable expertise in dealing with complex rights of light issues and has devised mitigation strategies for important development sites. Healso advises on the construction of documents and provides both strategic advice and updates on developments in the law in a contentious and non-contentious context for the Real Estate department and external clients.

He has written numerous articles and has given various talks to industry bodies (e.g. RICS, the Property Bar Association, the Property Managers' Association and the British Property Federation), as well as clients and general counsel. Bryan has delivered many internal and external seminars and regularly contributes articles for the professional press.

Bryan is the immediate past chair of the Property Litigation Association (PLA), having served various committees of the industry body for real estate litigation for many years, including the Law Reform Committee and the Executive Committee. Bryan was an extremely active chair of the PLA and overhauled its financial and administrative functions, as well as overseeing strong growth in the Association and diversification of its activities and classes of membership.

As well as being a highly respected property litigator, Bryan is a trusted real estate advisor to the firm and its clients.

Jamal Demachkie is a very experienced commercial barrister who specialises in property related work. “A junior to behold; persuasive and devastating on his feet” (Legal 500; Who’s Who Legal), his practice focuses on land and real property as well as both residential and commercial landlord and tenant work, having been involved in some of the leading cases in these areas.

He also handles a variety of other claims with a property related element, ranging from arguments between beneficiaries to multi-million pound development projects and joint ventures where the main assets are property or property related.

Jamal’s expertise covers professional negligence claims in relation to property associated disputes, having acted for and against numerous legal and property professionals in matters concerning property transactions, advice and litigation.

Outside of law, he is passionate about sport (both participating and watching) and is a keen Parkour enthusiast.

Jamal won the prestigious Property and Housing Junior of the Year Award at the Legal 500 Awards in 2020 and 2022. He has been nominated for the Real Estate Junior of the Year Award in the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2023.

In 2020 Jamal was appointed as both a Deputy District Judge and Recorder on the South Eastern Circuit.  In 2021 he was appointed a specialist Chancery Recorder in the County Court at Central London.

Jamal is the author of the definitive practitioners’ guide, Forfeiture of Leases published by The Law Society.

Scott trained in the City and spent seventeen years in practice in Top 100 firms. Latterly he headed up the Property Disputes Team of a leading Thames Valley firm. Drawing on this experience, Scott is able to bring a wide range of technical knowhow and commercial nous to bear on any property dispute, be it commercial or residential. He is building up a following of developer and high net worth clients.

Landlord and tenant work is of particular interest to Scott.  On the commercial side, he has developed an expertise dealing with cases involving the applicability of the criteria for opposing a new business tenancy on the grounds of redevelopment (ground (f)).  With residential tenancies, Scott has represented landlords and tenants of long leases in connection with enfranchisement claims, service charge disputes and disputes between tenant directors of freehold companies.  He acted for the successful landlord in a Court of Appeal case concerning waiver of the right to forfeit a long residential lease.

Scott has had articles and comment published in the Financial Times, Property Week, Prime Resi, News on the Block, the Property Law Journal, LexisNexis and The Daily Beast.  He regularly gives talks to professionals and clients alike and in February 2018 presented two one hour seminars to an audience of several hundred surveyors and other property professionals at the Five Counties Conference in High Wycombe.

Scott has an MA in Social and Political Sciences from Girton College, Cambridge. He is also a member of the Education and Training Committee of the Property Litigation Association.

Qualified 2002, joined 

Ian Mackie is a Managing Director in BRG’s Real Estate Valuation practice, with over thirty years of experience providing valuation services for real estate investments for litigation, transaction, reporting and taxation purposes.

His practice covers all aspects of commercial real estate and development valuation, including:

Commercial real estate valuation and professional standards compliance expert evidence for contentious litigation.

Valuations and taxation expert opinions for real estate disputes involving commercial property valuation, transfer pricing of debt and CGT re-basing valuations.

Real Estate valuations for loss of profit and commercial losses calculations

Advising on the application of International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) and RICS Global Red Book valuation standards for real estate investments, debt financing and developments.

John has a busy and varied practice predominantly in Property & Real Estate and Commercial Dispute Resolution. He has been consistently ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for the last 3 years.

Very much in demand, John is developing a considerable following of clients both regionally and nationally. He deals with complex and high value litigation in the High Court and County Courts. John acts on behalf of companies, private individuals and government departments, having been appointed to the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Counsel in 2020.

Thomas specialises in commercial and chancery disputes, both in litigation and arbitration.

Consistently recommended by the directories for Commercial Litigation, Commercial Chancery, Civil Fraud and Company Law, Thomas has been described as “absolutely fantastic, great to deal with and seriously clever”, “exceptional on his feet”, “outrageously clever and always calm”, “known for his intellectual firepower”, “doughty and determined in court” and “a really powerful advocate”; someone who “has strong international expertise and handles the most complex matters with ease and confidence” and “speaks a language the client can understand” while “his advocacy is always very thorough and complete, and judges trust him”. Before taking silk, he was also a member of the Attorney General’s “A” Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown, dealing with the most complex cases on behalf of the UK government.

In litigation, Thomas practices across the English court system. He also has experience in many offshore jurisdictions, and is admitted to the Bar of the British Virgin Islands.

In arbitration, Thomas has experience as counsel under various arbitral rules. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the HKIAC List of Arbitrators and happy to accept suitable appointments as arbitrator.

Michael is a highly sought after senior junior specialising in property, commercial chancery, civil fraud and professional liability. Known for his extensive trial experience, strategic focus and excellent cross-examination, clients have told Legal 500: 'Michael is a phenomenal property lawyer who understands not only the academic intricacy of property law, but how it works and can be made to work in practice for his clients.'

Michael frequently appears in the Court of Appeal, High Court, County Court, and Tribunals in connection with all areas of his practice.  Michael draws on his broad expert knowledge to advise clients on how to best achieve their strategic goals in complex cases and transactions. He receives regular instructions in commercial matters and projects involving property, company and partnership law, development finance, securities and planning.

In 2021 Michael was appointed to the Attorney General’s A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown. Members of the A panel deal with the most complex government cases in all courts and tribunals, including the Supreme Court. They will often appear against King’s Counsel.  He has also advised many government departments on a range of real estate matters, such as overage agreements, lease break notices, and a large and complex arbitration in connection with government property. Michael’s appointment to the A Panel follows his five-year appointment to the B Panel between 2016 and 2021.

A Partner in Hogan Lovells' leading Real Estate Disputes Team, Paul Tonkin focuses on development disputes. He guides clients through the contentious aspects of large development schemes and has extensive experience of obtaining vacant possession of development sites, often in the most time-pressured and sensitive of situations. Paul is also one of very few lawyers who fully understand the complex area of rights of light and is regularly instructed to advise on rights of light issues on high profile development schemes in central London and beyond.

Paul is also recognized for his broad knowledge in rent review and is regularly approached by both landlords and occupiers to advise on complex rent reviews. He is a member of ARBRIX and has been described as "best in class" for rent review.

Tristan Dollie is a partner in the Firm’s Special Situations, Credit & Trading Practice Group. He has experience in special situations, real estate finance, art finance and structured finance, and acts for both borrowers and lenders, including investment companies, family offices, real estate funds, debt funds, direct lenders, financial institutions and banks.

Tristan’s practice covers a broad range of transaction types, including acquisitions, developments, refinancing and loan/portfolio acquisitions usually with cross-border elements across multiple jurisdictions. He also has experience working in-house having completed secondments with a European debt fund (focusing on high yield real estate finance and PRS), a U.K. clearing bank in its corporate real estate team and an international renewable energy company.

In addition to managing transactions through the negotiation and execution process, together with the rest of the team, Tristan utilizes his industry contacts to structure new off-market real estate opportunities and assists clients with arranging any required preference equity, mezzanine finance and/or senior finance.

Jonathan’s cases invariably involve land and property but span commercial, company, fraud, trust and insolvency law disputes and related professional negligence.

Jonathan is recognised as a leading senior junior having been providing advice and advocacy on these issues for almost twenty years.  He has appeared in courts and tribunals at all levels, including the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal (on many occasions without a leader). He is equally happy acting in large, complex litigation as part of a team as he is representing an individual landowner, developer, or leaseholder.  Jonathan frequently appears against silks as sole counsel.  He also acts in mediations and arbitrations.    

Jonathan is acknowledged as a leading practitioner in the fields of restrictive covenants, rights to light and other easements, leasehold enfranchisement, tenants’ rights of first refusal, right to manage and service charges. Jonathan is particularly experienced on matters relating to mixed-use developments. His cases regularly involve large group litigation. 

He is frequently instructed in relation to joint ventures, overage, contracts for sale, options, injunctions, specific performance, and orders for sale.

Jonathan has particular experience of cases involving fraudulent dispositions, sham transactions and allegations of dishonesty.

His trusts work encompasses co-ownership disputes and applications for orders for sale/TOLATA claims.

Jonathan has been ranked in Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 for many years. He is “the perfect package for complex and hard-fought property litigation. Jonathan is both technically brilliant and a creative advocate.” He “combines a sharp mind, deep knowledge, experience and seasoned advocacy with consummate client-handling skills”; he is “very cerebral, persuasive towards judges, prompt and easy to deal with”; and “a good all-round property barrister with both residential and commercial expertise”.

Simon has spent over 25 years underwriting UK and International Environmental risks and liabilities, including heading up the International Environmental unit at XL and XL Catlin for nearly 10 years. Simon also headed up the UK Casualty retail operations (including environmental) at XL Catlin. Simon now heads up the ESG unit of MXRS and is looking to develop and bring to market innovative insurance products to assist in clients to underpin their ESG strategies and data and protect clients as risk and liabilities change due to the development of ESG.