I’m a Senior Associate in our Dispute Resolution team. I work with a range of clients – charities, social enterprises, corporates and private individuals – and always with the aim of resolving their disputes pragmatically and cost effectively.
I advise across a number of areas, from assisting with thorny commercial contract disputes to helping boards and their organisations manage governance disagreements or resolve member/shareholder and other stakeholder clashes. I also advise clients on complex duty of care and vicarious liability cases and assist with internal investigations and regulatory enquiries. I frequently help charities resolve challenges to their legacies.
Although it’s often desirable, given costs, reputation, and other commercial considerations, for disputes to be resolved without formal court or other proceedings being commenced, where required (or where formal proceedings can’t be avoided) I can help clients issue or defend claims at court or in arbitrations, and I’ll consider what other dispute resolution options, such as mediation, might be appropriate to help you achieve a good outcome.
- Commercial disputes Assisting a corporate client to settle a complex dispute against a claims management company in connection with the litigation against RBS following its 2008 rights issue
- Advising a large international medical charity on how to negotiate an early exit out of a complicated and expensive IT Services Agreement
- Helping a private client issue proceedings for breach of a joint venture agreement and to obtain an interim injunction for the preservation of trust assets
- Working with a well-known children’s charity to successfully defend allegations of breach of a fundraising agreement
- Acting for an education charity in a debt claim to win a Court judgment in its favour and an order for the other side to pay 100% of its legal costs
- Member and governance disputes Helping an international aid client handle a sensitive dispute with a former trustee, and on its duties to the Charity Commission in light of the disputed matters
- Assisting a prominent trade members association facilitate an appeals process arising out of a dispute between its members
- Helping an environmental charity deal with a complicated fraud committed by a senior officer, including advising on Serious Incident Reporting, governance matters and reputation management.
- Duty of care issues Advising an international charity on its potential liabilities following the fatal injury of a fundraiser
- Helping a leisure charity client respond to a Health and Safety Executive investigation following an incident at a public swimming pool
- Working with a faith based charity to successfully defend historical allegations of abuse
- Legacies, trusts and probate disputes Acting for a care home in its defence of a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependant) Act 1975
- Helping a world renowned children’s charity successfully challenge a professional executor in the management of an estate and negotiate a reduction on their costs, helping to maximise the charity’s legacy
- Advising a national health charity in relation to a dispute over the interpretation of the meaning of the gifts in a will
- Assisting an international charity in relation to a suspected breach of trust by the executor of the estate