Expertise
Where we advise.
Most matters touch more than one of these areas. In each, our aim is the same: a clear view of your position and a strategy that holds up.
Disputes
Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Led by Christian Balderstone
Strategic advice on high-value and complex commercial disputes, from the first assessment of a claim to the enforcement of a judgment.
Commercial litigation
Advice on shareholder, partnership, corporate and business ownership disputes, and disputes arising from commercial transactions.
Contract disputes
Advice on disputes about the interpretation, performance and termination of contracts, including breach of contract, repudiation, misrepresentation and the assessment of damages.
Civil litigation
Advice on civil disputes generally, including the merits of claims and defences and the remedies available, such as damages, injunctions, declarations, possession and recovery of assets.
Professional negligence
Advice on potential claims against solicitors, accountants, financial advisers, surveyors, architects and other professionals arising from negligent advice, misconduct or breach of duty. This includes assessing the merits and value of a claim before you commit to proceedings.
Intellectual property disputes
Advice on copyright, trade mark, passing off, confidential information and other intellectual property disputes, including infringement and whether urgent injunctive relief may be available.
Reputation protection
Advice on disputes involving damage to reputation, including defamation, malicious falsehood and other harmful or unlawful publications. This includes the protective steps and remedies that may be available.
Debt recovery
Advice on recovering commercial and private debts. This includes pre-action strategy, letters before claim, statutory demands, and guidance on the options available through the courts, enforcement and insolvency procedures.
Winding up and bankruptcy
Advice for creditors and individuals on winding up and bankruptcy petitions. For creditors, this covers whether a petition is the right route. For those served with a statutory demand or petition, this covers how to respond, including where the debt is disputed.
Fraud
Civil Fraud & Asset Recovery
Led by Christian Balderstone
When money has been taken or hidden, speed and the right remedy decide what can be recovered.
Civil fraud and asset recovery
Advice on civil fraud claims, including fraudulent misrepresentation, dishonest assistance, conspiracy and unlawful means claims, and on strategies for recovering misappropriated assets. This includes advising on whether worldwide freezing orders and other urgent interim remedies are available and appropriate. We also advise defendants and respondents facing freezing order applications, including on grounds for seeking to discharge or vary such orders.
Asset tracing and recovery
Advice on tracing and recovering assets held through complex corporate structures, trusts, nominees and offshore jurisdictions. This covers whether proprietary claims are available, what disclosure may be obtained, and the options for cross-border recovery. We work with experienced forensic accountants, who trace funds and quantify losses, and with lawyers in the jurisdictions where assets are found.
Matters include
- Worldwide and domestic freezing orders
- Variation and discharge of freezing orders
- Criminal restraint orders affecting civil claims
- Norwich Pharmacal orders
- Dishonest assistance and knowing receipt
- Breach of fiduciary duty and directors’ misconduct
- Proprietary claims and tracing
- Post-judgment freezing relief
Enforcement
Cross-Border Litigation & Enforcement
Led by Christian Balderstone
A dispute that crosses borders needs a plan for where to sue, where the assets sit and how a judgment will be enforced.
We advise on jurisdiction and choice of forum, service of proceedings outside England and Wales, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in England and Wales, and the steps available to enforce English judgments abroad. This includes the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, which has applied in the United Kingdom since 1 July 2025 to proceedings begun on or after that date.
Where assets are held offshore or through foreign structures, we advise on worldwide freezing orders, disclosure in support of tracing, and the coordination of proceedings with foreign-qualified lawyers in the jurisdictions concerned, so that each step in each country supports the overall recovery.
Matters include
- Jurisdiction challenges and forum disputes
- Service of proceedings abroad
- Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments
- Enforcement of arbitral awards
- Freezing orders in support of foreign proceedings
- Coordination with lawyers overseas
Companies
Corporate/M&A
Led by Christian Balderstone
Advice on disputes that arise inside companies, and from the transactions that buy and sell them.
We advise shareholders, directors and companies when relationships break down or a transaction is called into question. That includes unfair prejudice petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, derivative claims brought on behalf of a company, and claims that directors have breached their duties.
On the transactional side, we advise on disputes arising from share purchase agreements, including warranty and indemnity claims, completion and earn-out disputes, and allegations of misrepresentation in the sale process.
Matters include
- Shareholder and partnership disputes
- Unfair prejudice petitions
- Derivative claims
- Directors’ duties, including good faith
- Share purchase agreement claims
- Warranty and indemnity disputes
- Business ownership disputes
- Exit and buyout disputes
Tax and private wealth
Tax & Private Wealth
Led by Rory Newman
Private wealth, structured to last and to withstand scrutiny.
We advise wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals, families, their trustees and their businesses. Our advice concerns the structuring of wealth: how assets are held, how they move and how they pass from one generation to the next. Every engagement is bespoke, and the structure is built around the family, wherever its assets and trustees are located.
Substantial wealth rarely sits in one country, and neither does our work. The structures we design often connect UK taxation with offshore trusts, foreign holdings, treaty relief and reporting obligations in each country they touch. Because advice from a solicitor can attract legal professional privilege, the analysis behind it can also carry an important layer of protection.
Design structure
Organising how assets, income and gains are held, so that the tax result is efficient and clear.
Defend
Keeping positions robust against HMRC enquiry and challenge, with the benefit of legal professional privilege where it applies.
Succeed
Planning how wealth and businesses pass between generations, so that the structure still works when it matters.
Instructing us
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