Commercial News

William Hansen re-appointed to Attorney General’s London A Panel

16th August 2021

Congratulations to barrister William Hansen, one of 3PB’s senior specialist counsel in public law, property law and commercial litigation, who has been re-appointed for another five years to the Attorney General’s (AG's) A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown. William, pictured here, regularly acts for a variety of government departments and agencies including the Secretary of State for the Home Department, HMRC, MoJ, the NCA and the Secretary of State for Business. He routinely...

Dr Zhen Ye prepares case review of Court of Appeal decision in Valbonne v Cityvalue

10th August 2021

3PB commercial and property barrister Dr Zhen Ye (pictured here) has analysed the impact of this property dispute between two property developers, owned by members of the same ultra-orthodox Jewish community, over a failed purchase of the Beckton Arms in East London. The case had initially gone to arbitration before the Beth Din of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, during which Valbonne Estates learnt that Cityvalue Estates entered into an option agreement with a...

Business Interruption Insurance update: six months on - where do policyholders stand now?

9th August 2021

Watch this webinar from Fletcher Day featuring guest speakers Neil Fawcett, Barrister at 3PB and Gavin Pearson, Forensic Accountant at Quantuma for an update on Business Interruption Claims. Six months on from the Supreme Court decision this round table discussion covers developments in business interruption insurance claims in the following areas: Recap on background, update on claims paid and overview of procedure Policy wordings, coverage issues and potential areas to test Assessment and calculation of...

Alexander Whatley shares guidance on instructing counsel to members of Bournemouth and District JLD

4th August 2021

3PB’s specialist civil law barrister, Alexander Whatley (pictured here) recently teamed up with Conor Maher, Treasurer for Bournemouth and District Junior Lawyers Division and Litigation Solicitor at Ellis Jones Solicitors LLP, to present a webinar to junior lawyers on ‘’tips for instructing counsel’’. Alex Whatley answered a series of questions about the instructions to counsel which included the correct steps for sending a brief to counsel; the content of the brief; and some common mistakes...

Charles Irvine urges caution over non-party costs orders

3rd August 2021

3PB’s specialist commercial and property law barrister, Charles Irvine (pictured here) has reviewed the recent Court of Appeal case Goknur Gida Maddeleri Enerji Imalet Ithalat Ihracat Ticaret Ve Sanayi AS v Aytacli [2021] EWCA Civ 1037 in which one party applied for a non-party costs order. By way of background, the power to award costs against a non-party is derived from section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 which grants the court the power to “determine by...

Nicole Bollard on the clarification of the test for the tort of causing loss by unlawful means

30th July 2021

Intellectual Property and Commercial law barrister Nicole Bollard reviews Secretary of State for Health and another v Servier Laboratories Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 24 and the Supreme Court’s recent decision concerning the economic tort of causing loss by unlawful means. The court examined in particular whether a necessary element of the tort of causing loss by unlawful means is that the unlawful means affected the third party’s freedom to deal with the claimant, which...

David Parratt KC and Rebecca Farrell review the prospects of compulsory ADR

26th July 2021

3PB’s specialist commercial law barristers David Parratt KC (pictured right) and Rebecca Farrell (pictured left) have reviewed  a recent report published by the Civil Justice Council entitled ‘Compulsory ADR (“the Report”). The Report has generated much interest since the authors of the Report consider ‘any form of ADR which is not disproportionately onerous and does not foreclose the parties’ effective access to the court will be compatible with the parties’ Article 6 rights’. This is...

Nicole Bollard considers the limits and exceptions to issue estoppel

15th July 2021

Intellectual Property and Commercial law barrister Nicole Bollard analyses the judgment in Thomas v Luv One Luv All Promotions Ltd and another [2021] EWCA Civ 732, in which the Court of Appeal considered the scope of issue estoppel and when the courts can disapply it due to special circumstances. In that case, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court's (IPEC) decision to partially strike out a defence to a...

Seb Oram successful in High Court VAT dispute

30th June 2021

3PB’s specialist commercial and construction law barrister Seb Oram (pictured here) was successful in the recent High Court matter of Deluxe Property Holdings Ltd v SCL Construction Ltd, a case concerning VAT repayment disputes and trusts. Seb was instructed by DAC Beachcroft LLP to act on behalf of the claimant Deluxe Property Holdings Ltd. The case appeared before The Honourable Mr Justice Pepperall who found that SCL Construction Ltd acted in breach of trust and...

Max Schofield takes a closer look at VAT repayments and trusts for the British Tax Review

30th June 2021

3PB’s specialist tax and commercial law barrister Max Schofield (pictured here) has analysed the case of Deluxe Property Holdings Ltd v SCL Construction Ltd for the British Tax Review. This detailed case analysis is a must-read for legal professionals specialising in business law as it addresses the trusts law treatment of overpaid VAT, repaid by HMRC under section 80 and 80A – especially repayments with reimbursement arrangements and Quistclose trusts. Read the full case analysis...

Jakob Reckhenrich joins 3PB’s Commercial and Property & Estates teams

29th June 2021

Barrister Jakob Reckhenrich, a multiple-scholarship award winner and Oxford and Brown Universities alumnus, has joined 3PB to advise on commercial, real estate and property disputes. He joins 3PB, initially as a third six pupil, after completing his pupillage at Monckton Chambers and working as a judicial assistant in the Commercial Court, where he assisted, among others, Mrs Justice Cockerill and Mr Justice Butcher. Jakob Reckhenrich came to the Bar after working as an academic philosopher...

When is a ban not a ban? Thomas Talbot-Ponsonby in director disqualification case

23rd June 2021

Specialist insolvency barrister Thomas Talbot-Ponsonby of 3PB Barristers successfully acted for the claimant, Mr Hobson, in the highly-topical insolvency case of Hobson v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2021] EWHC 1317 (Ch) [2021] EWHC 1317 (Ch) concerning whether disqualified directors can continue to act, and under which conditions. In this case, a company director had an undertaking to the Insolvency Service not to act as a company director or be involved...