Commercial
Rebecca Farrell is a junior member of 3PB’s Commercial team and has a busy practice advising on insolvency, breach of trust, general commercial litigation and contractual disputes, company law, partnership disputes and financial services litigation including consumer credit regulations.
Insolvency
Rebecca regularly advises and acts for petitioners; insolvency practitioners; supporting creditors and debtors on matters concerning personal and corporate insolvency. She is frequently instructed to appear on bankruptcy petitions, winding-up petitions and other applications in both the High Court and County Court. ‘Other applications’ include applications to set aside statutory demands; applications concerning transactions at an undervalue and preferences and third-party applications generally.
Rebecca has also acted on matters concerning Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVA’s) and administrations including the appointment of an interim manager. Rebecca has some experience of disputes which have a dimension outside of this jurisdiction and associated challenges to the court’s jurisdiction.
Alongside other members of the Commercial Team during the Pandemic, Rebecca published news items and delivered a webinar on updates to insolvency law and practice in light of Covid-19. This included coverage of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
Examples of recent work includes:
- Successfully acting for a Petitioning Creditor in relation to a multi-million-pound bankruptcy petition
- Successfully obtaining urgent injunctive relief to restrain presentation of winding-up petitions in the High Court
- Assisting leading counsel in relation to an application to stay a liquidation and compel the removal of liquidators
- Successfully obtaining various orders for examination and delivery up of documentation
Breach of trust litigation
Rebecca has experience of dealing with high value breach of trust claims in both domestic and business contexts. She also offers expertise in seeking associated relief, for example; orders for an account and inquiry and tracing. She recently worked with leading counsel on an application for a worldwide freezing order in a claim concerning breach of duty and deceit/civil fraud.
Rebecca has also dealt with a number of enforcement matters such as obtaining charging orders and orders for sale. She has obtained good results in disputes where the beneficial ownership of charged assets have arisen.
Commercial litigation and contractual disputes
Prior to qualifying as a Barrister, Rebecca worked as a paralegal in an international law firm on a reinsurance matter, where she developed a strong grounding in commercial disputes. Subsequently Rebecca worked as a Legal Editor at FromCounsel, a publishing company that provides an excellent online resource for corporate lawyers.
Rebecca acts for a range of clients including; national and international companies; education organisations; law firms and individuals.
Recent matters include:
- Assisting with a royalties dispute involving a high-profile band
- Assisting with a complex shipping dispute involving the carriage of goods
- Assisting with an advice on an appeal against an arbitral body appointed by a commodities association
- Drafting a claim concerning the misuse of funds entrusted to an agent
Company law, business and other entities
Rebecca has a specific interest in this practice area, often dealing with the practical effect corporate structures and/or bodies have on obtaining legal redress in other areas. Examples of her work include:
- Acting in a number of company matters including unfair prejudice petitions; company restorations; the reuse of company names; the rectification of the register; and partnership disputes
- Assisting with a restitution claim under FSMA 2000
- Assisting with a directors’ disqualification matter in the High Court: see The Official Receiver v Brett Jolly [2017] (Companies Court)
- Advising on the lawfulness of membership termination and changes to the constitution of an unincorporated association.
Financial Services
Rebecca has experience of disputes concerning the regulation of financial services and the conduct of investors. She was recently instructed to settle grounds of appeal to the Court of Appeal in a dispute concerning consumer credit regulation and a procedural issue connected with the dispute.