Mathew Gullick’s practice is focussed on employment, public law and commercial matters. He is also frequently instructed both on costs issues and on procedural points across the entire spectrum of civil litigation. Mathew's advocacy and advisory practice has seen him both advise on and appear in proceedings in Courts and Tribunals up to and including the Court of Appeal. He has also acted as a representative in several mediations.

Mathew was appointed to the Attorney-General’s C Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown in civil matters in March 2008. He has also been instructed by Government bodies on asset forfeiture work in both the criminal and civil jurisdictions.

For more information see his specialist profiles.

Cases of note include:

Court of Appeal

Harris v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors [2010] EWCA Civ 808, Lawtel 15th July 2010 (scope of "fit and proper person" test for entry onto Government register of driving instructors; requirements of natural justice and of the ECHR applicable to "informal" appeal hearing before tribunal)

R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2008] EWCA Civ 749, [2009] 1 WLR 1436 (criteria and procedure for making and setting aside protective costs orders; scope of “general public importance” test; definition of “compelling reason” for setting aside order made on the papers; formal requirements for agreement under CPR 23.8 to paper determination of application)

R v Sivaraman [2008] EWCA Crim 1736, [2009] 1 Cr App R (S) 80 (principles for the calculation, in proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, of the benefit obtained from criminal conduct by individual conspirators)

RCPO v Deprince [2007] EWCA Civ 512 (innocent wife’s claim to beneficial interest in marital home subject to confiscation order, and related Human Rights Act issues)

High Court

R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2009] EWHC 1824 (Admin), Lawtel 28th July 2009 (Cranston J: judicial review of Primary Care Trust's decisions in respect of facilities at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough; lawfulness of consultation process; principles to be applied where apparent bias of advisers alleged to vitiate decisions made by public authorities)

Bagley & Others v Branch [2007] EWHC 2344 (Ch) (Kitchin J: application to set aside a costs order and default costs certificate for alleged breach of the indemnity principle; relevance of indemnity provided by a company to its directors in respect of their costs of defending an unsuccessful unfair prejudice petition)

Employment Appeal Tribunal

Franco v Bowling & Co Solicitors UKEAT/0280/09, Lawtel 17th February 2010 (HHJ McMullen QC: Employment Judge at a Case Management Discussion has no power to impose a limit on the extent of a claimant's pleaded allegations of discrimination; unfair and unreal in the circumstances to limit pleaded allegations of discrimination over the whole six years of employment to the last two years only)

Premier Groundworks Ltd v Jozsa UKEAT/0494/08, Lawtel 14th April 2009 (Silber J: definition of "worker" under the Working Time Regulations 1998; requirement to perform work personally under the contract; whether one contracting party was a customer of the other's business)

Butler v GR Carr (Essex) Ltd UKEAT/0128/07, Lawtel 17th January 2008 (HHJ McMullen QC: extent of discretion of Employment Tribunal in awarding statutory uplift for failure to comply with statutory dismissal procedure; burden of proving reason for dismissal; correctness of Polkey exercise)

County Courts

Samuel v (1) Swansea City Council (2) Europ Assistance Insurance Ltd, Lawtel 3rd September 2008 (HHJ Vosper QC: defendant’s application for non-party costs order against claimant’s legal expenses insurer)

England v (1) Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust (2) Amicus Legal Ltd, Lawtel 27th March 2008 (HHJ Appleton: defendant’s application for non-party costs order against claimant’s legal expenses insurer)

Mathew is also frequently instructed on costs matters across the spectrum of civil litigation. He has been instructed on several costs matters involving claims for costs in excess of £500,000, and in one instance over £1 million. Mathew's work in this field has included both the Queen's Bench and Chancery Divisions of the High Court; his costs practice has seen him involved in detailed assessment proceedings, advising on costs in a multi-party judicial review claim, advising on an application for a costs capping order, making successful applications for protective costs orders in the Administrative Court, and successfully opposing applications for third party costs orders against legal expenses insurers.

Mathew also has extensive experience of advising and appearing on jurisdictional and procedural issues, including in relation to many of the more obscure provisions of the CPR, the RSC and the CCR. He has appeared in several contempt of court matters in the High Court. Mathew’s practice also extends to the law relating to the enforcement of judgments, including the powers and liabilities of enforcement officials. He has twice conducted the oral examination of judgment debtors in the High Court, and has successfully obtained committal orders in linked contempt of court proceedings. Mathew has also represented a judgment debtor in High Court proceedings brought to set aside an order for oral examination.

Mathew is an active member of the Bar Pro Bono Unit, and was nominated for the Bar Pro Bono Award in 2007 and in 2009, on the latter occasion receiving a special commendation from the judging panel. He was a member of the Gray’s Inn team that won the 2003 Inter-Inn Mooting Competition, and went on the Inn’s biennial mooting tour of the USA in September 2003.

Publications

"Corner House Revisited: The Law Governing Protective Costs Orders", Judicial Review March 2009, [2009] JR 43

"Cutting Back on Custody", New Law Journal 11th February 2005, (2005) 155 NLJ 220

'The Criminal Justice Act 2003: Sentencing and Early Release of Fixed-Term Prisoners', Criminal Law Review August 2004, [2004] Crim LR 653

'Political Donations and Political Expenditure by Companies: The Authorisation and Disclosure Requirements of the Companies Act 1985', Business Law Review March 2003, (2003) 24 Bus LR 48

'Sentencing and the Home Detention Curfew Scheme', Criminal Law Review May 2002, [2002] Crim LR 391

Mathew has also assisted with the Third Edition (2004), Fourth Edition (2006) and Fifth Edition (2009) of "Understanding the Law" by His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC (Oxford University Press).

Scholarships and Prizes

• Mould Senior Scholarship (Gray's Inn, 2003)
• Phillips Senior Award (Gray's Inn, 2003)
• Birkenhead Junior Award (Gray's Inn, 2002)
• The Lee Essay Prize (Gray's Inn, 2003)
• First Prize, The Graham Turnbull Memorial International Human Rights Essay Competition (Law Society, 2003)
• First Prize, The Times Law Awards (2002)
• The City University Prize for Public Law (2002)