Jalil Asif QC

Education

1984-1987 Peterhouse, Cambridge (MA); 1983 St Paul’s School, Barnes; 1977-1983 Twyford High School, Ealing



Tel: 020 7822 2032
Email: j.asif@4newsquare.com
Email Clerk: l.stewart@4newsquare.com

Year of Call: 1988
Year of Silk: 2010

Profile

Door Tenant

Said to “… stand out as one of the pre-eminent players in the set and indeed the wider market”, and being “incredibly skilful and very easy to get along with”, Jalil is a barrister specialising in professional liability claims, product liability, insurance and reinsurance, and commercial disputes, acting for both claimants and defendants in all areas of his practice. He appears in the Queen’s Bench and Chancery Divisions, appellate courts and in arbitrations.

The Directories have characterised Jalil as having a “great ability to pick things up at short notice”, “able to build a good rapport with those he works with”, and say he “is viewed by those who have worked alongside him as ‘highly deserving of the highest accolades’”. Jalil has an eye for detail and particularly enjoys financially, scientifically or technically complex cases.

Throughout his career, Jalil has been instructed in a wide range of professional negligence claims, including those involving allegations of dishonesty. Recently he has been retained to advise in relation to Jersey-based claims. He has also acted in large insurance claims (eg Buncefield loss recovery claims) and is currently acting for an excess layer insurer in a Bermuda form arbitration. His product liability work includes HIV Haemophiliacs, benzodiazepine, Hepatitis C, foetal anti-convulsant (sodium valproate), MMR, 3M Capital hip replacement, Bio-Alkamid, Zyprexa and Parkinson’s disease litigations.

Jalil has been an editor of the Professional Negligence Law Reports since their inception in 1996. He was an editor of Jackson & Powell Professional Liability Precedents (Sweet & Maxwell) and has contributed chapters concerning product safety and product liability to The Law of Medicines (OUP, 2008) and APIL Clinical Negligence (Jordans, 2008).

He is an Inn representative on the Bar Council. He has been an active member of Lincoln’s Inn for many years and is past chairman of the Hall Committee. He is a committee member of the London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association, and a member of the Professional Negligence Bar Association, COMBAR and the Western Circuit. He sits as a Recorder in the Crown and County Courts on the Midland Circuit.

 

International Arbitration

Jalil’s arbitration experience is mainly in relation to insurance disputes, both domestic and international. He has acted as an arbitrator to determine relative contributions between insurers and to decide damages issues in product liability claims, and has appeared in arbitrations concerning professional indemnity insurance coverage.

He has experience of Bermuda form arbitrations, and is currently instructed on behalf of an excess layer insurer in such an arbitration disputing liability to pay a claim on the policy for injuries caused by a pharmaceutical product.

Jalil is happy to accept instructions as an arbitrator, particularly in arbitrations concerning professional indemnity insurance, and is able to draw on his judicial experience from sitting as a Recorder.

With the increasing costs consciousness of insurers and institutional litigants, many of the cases in which Jalil is instructed are now resolved by mediation. Jalil is regularly instructed to attend mediations on behalf of clients and is equally to happy to assist with preparation before mediation.

Chancery

Principally through his professional negligence practice, Jalil has useful experience of cases involving land, trusts and wills. He acted for the successful defendant in the first case confirming the change in the law on the court’s power to order a sale of trust property under the Trusts of Land and Trustees Act 1996: Mortgage Corporation v Shaire [2001] Ch. 743.

He has experience of cases involving implied easements; ransom strips; rectification of title defects; flying freeholds; domestic and commercial leases; undue influence, mortgages and determination of equitable interests in property; defective wills; and mismanagement (both negligent and intentional) of estates by trustees.

Jalil also has significant experience of obtaining urgent interim relief, including search and seizure orders and freezing orders. Recent examples include:

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Jalil’s work has included a wide range of commercial cases from the outset of his practice, including domestic and international sale and carriage of goods, banking, corporate and personal insolvency, and general contractual claims. He has been a committee member of the London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association for 20 years.

Recent and current cases include:

He also has significant experience of obtaining urgent interim relief, including search and seizure orders and freezing orders. Recent examples include:

Insurance & Reinsurance

Major insurers regularly instruct Jalil in high value or catastrophic accident claims and loss recovery claims, and he also advises on coverage issues, including fraud cases, particularly in the professional indemnity context. He also has significant experience of advising on the Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTCs), as applying to primary layer solicitors’ policies, particularly in relation to the issues concerning successor practices.

Recent and current cases include:

Product Liability

Jalil has been recommended by Chambers & Partners since 2002, latterly in the top category. He has been described as having a “great ability to pick things up at short notice”, “able to build a good rapport with those he works with”, and he “is viewed by those who have worked alongside him as ‘highly deserving of the highest accolades’”. Most recently, he was said to “stand out as one of the pre-eminent players in the set and indeed the wider market”. Recently, Jalil has contributed chapters concerning product safety and product liability to The Law of Medicines (OUP, 2008) and APIL Clinical Negligence (Jordans, 2008). He is often invited to give lectures on product liability law, and is a member of the Product Liability forum of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL).

Jalil’s product liability work ranges from major product liability group actions to smaller single claimant cases. Many of his cases involve a medical or pharmaceutical aspect, for example he was instructed or acted in the HIV Haemophiliacs, benzodiazepine, Hepatitis C, foetal anti-convulsant (sodium valproate), MMR, 3M Capital hip replacement, Bio-Alkamid, Zyprexa and Parkinson’s disease litigations. But Jalil also acts in cases relating to other types of consumer and commercial products.

Recent and current cases include:

Professional Liability

Jalil is often instructed in cases concerning lawyers’ or accountants’ liabilities. He acts in a wide range of claims against solicitors or barristers, for example, from mishandling of commercial transactions, property and wills, through lost litigation, to wasted costs applications. Jalil has particular experience of limitation and procedural issues, and is well used to dealing with difficult litigants in person. In relation to accountants, Jalil has acted in claims arising out of management advice, tax and VAT advice, and audit work.

Jalil has acted in a number of cases involving allegations of dishonesty against professionals, and also resulting coverage issues. He also has significant experience of advising on the Solicitors Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTCs), particularly in relation to the issues concerning successor practices.

Jalil has been an editor of the Professional Negligence & Liability Reports since their inception in 1996, and was a contributing editor to Jackson & Powell Professional Liability Precedents (Sweet & Maxwell). He is a member of the Professional Negligence Bar Association.

Accountants, Auditors & Actuaries

Jalil acts for accountants and auditors in claims arising out of management advice, tax advice, advice on and implementation of tax avoidance schemes and audit work. His mathematical background and IT skills are particularly useful when dealing with these types of claims.

Current and recent cases include:

Clinical Practitioners

Jalil acts for claimants and defendants in this area of his work, which overlaps with his product liability practice. His NHS work includes birth injury claims worth up to £8 million, missed diagnoses, errors during surgical procedures, treatment errors etc. He has also been instructed for other healthcare professionals, including defending a claim against optometrists alleged to have failed to diagnose glaucoma. He was the editor of the chapter on health professionals in Jackson & Powell’s Professional Liability Precedents.

Recent and current cases include:

Financial Services Professionals

Jalil has acted in a number of cases for clients bringing claims against their former financial advisers.

Recent and current cases include:

Lawyers

Jalil has very wide experience of acting for claimants and defendants in claims against solicitors and barristers, ranging from commercial transactions, through property related claims including mortgage fraud, lost or mishandled litigation of various kinds, errors in execution of wills and mismanaged estates. Recently, Jalil has acted for solicitors or barristers in a number of cases where there has been an alleged failure to recognise the original claimant lacked capacity and/or alleged under-settlement of litigation.

Recent and current cases include:

Surveyors & Valuers

Jalil has acted for claimants and defendants in a number of claims concerning the valuation of residential and commercial property (including buy-to-let properties), and also in relation to the conduct of rent reviews.  Recently, Jalil has acted for a number of claimants pursuing claims for fraud against developers and valuers.

Recent and current cases include: