“He is exceptionally bright and quick to analyse complex professional negligence claims.” – Legal 500, 2019
“He is a very good academic brain and also one of the better commercial brains of the Bar. He doesn’t just think like a barrister, but puts himself in the shoes of the client too.” “He is hugely competent in professional negligence and indemnity insurance disputes, particularly accountancy cases.” – Chambers & Partners, 2019.
“Has an excellent analytical mind and is capable of dealing with intricate matters of detail and explaining them in a readily understandable form. He has an excellent grasp of the nuances of insurance law.” – Chambers & Partners, 2018.
“A superb advocate.” – Legal 500, 2017
“He is an excellent QC – very meticulous, thorough and measured.” “Impressive – he is very easy to work with, well prepared and takes a very pragmatic view.” – Chambers & Partners, 2016.
‘”A superb courtroom performer and deadly cross-examiner; he is very quick-thinking on his feet with a measured style which earns the court’s trust.” – Legal 500, 2015
“He is commercially very astute and exceptionally good at grasping audit complexities extremely quickly.’ ‘He offers robust advice, and is a strategist extraordinaire.” – Chambers & Partners, 2015
David has extensive experience of a wide range of professional liability disputes and has consistently been recommended as a leader in the field by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500.
Click on the appropriate link to see David’s experience in the relevant professional field.
Accountants, Auditors & Actuaries
David has wide experience of claims against accountants, and has developed something of a niche practice in relation to claims arising out of tax planning advice (both bespoke and more widely marketed strategies). Cases in this field include:
- Acting for a top-10 firm of accountants in FRC disciplinary proceedings relating to the audit of a plc and its subsidiaries
- Acting for the accountants on appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court relating to the measure of recoverable loss, raising issues of res inter alios acta, equitable subrogation and so-called “transferred loss” (Lowick Rose LLP v. Swynson Ltd [2017] UKSC 32)
- Acting for audit client in a claim against its auditors arising out defalcations exceeding £1.35M by an employee
- Acting for auditors in defending a claim arising out of the collapse of a car dealership
- Acting for auditors in defending a £6M claim arising out the collapse of an employee relocation business
- Defending major firms of accountants against claims arising out of various film partnership schemes of up to £20M in value
- Defending major firm of accountants against £3M claim arising from abortive implementation of an EIS scheme
- Advising major firm of accountants in relation to claims arising from transfers of assets into capital redemption contracts
- Defending HLB Kidsons against £18M claim in the Evolution Films Group Litigation (film partnerships) and leading for HLB Kidsons at trial of its Part 20 claims
- Advising liquidators of a listed company on the prospects of a claim against VAT advisers
- Advising major firm of accountants in relation to claims arising from scheme to create and market trust/capital losses
- Advising major firm of accountants on the recoverable measure of loss where acquisition of company followed negligent tax advice
- Defending a major firm of accountants against a £multi-million claim relating to the use of a BES company as a wrapper to eliminate accrued CGT liabilities, including deployment of an ex turpi causa defence alleging a fraud on the Inland Revenue.
- Defending the auditors of a listed company against a claim arising from alleged fraud on company by chief executive
- Acting for defendant accountants and auditors in relation to a claim brought in Cyprus by third-party purchasers of a UK company
- Defending a major firm of accountants against a substantial claim by a firm of solicitors that the accountants had negligently failed to detect that one of the solicitors’ employees was embezzling money
- Defending auditors against a claim brought by the purchasers of a stake in a commodities trading company
Construction Professionals
David has extensive experience of professional negligence claims against construction professionals. Cases include:
- Acting for M&E consultants/contractors in a £6M claim arising out of the design and construction of the London Fire Brigade’s training facility
- Acting for defendant structural engineers in defending a £15M claim by the operators and owners of a distribution warehouse alleging that negligent design had caused the spread of a catastrophic fire
- Acting for design and build contractors on recovery claims against consultant engineers and specialist piling contractors in relation to a piling scheme in alluvial/running sands
- Advising design and build contractors in relation to a recovery claim against consultant engineers concerning a housing development on built on compressible peat where the hard landscaping and services “sank” but the houses did not
- Acting for claimant building owners in a claim against consulting building services engineers arising from a flood
- Acting for specialist M&E consultants in a claim arising out of the refurbishment of the Berkeley Hotel
- Acting for defendant site investigation consultants in the Panatown litigation
- Acting for defendant design engineers in a claim arising out of the design and construction of a fabricated steel walkway at Pembroke docks
- Acting for defendant design engineers in a claim arising out of the design of a coal injection plant installed at British Steel’s Port Talbot works
- Acting for defendant consultant engineers in a claim arising from the design and construction of an amenity lake as part of a land reclamation project in the Welsh valleys
- Acting for the defendant architects who had designed the Point West development.
Insurance Brokers & Agents
Much of David’s work in this area is closely related to his “pure” insurance and reinsurance practice. Past and present cases include:
- Acting for an international bank in a claim against its brokers based on the inclusion of a retroactive date in the bank’s professional indemnity cover
- Defending reinsurance brokers from a claim arising from the alleged incorporation of a claims notification condition into the reinsurance slip policy
- Defending an intermediary against claim by underwriters arising out of the failure of Lloyd’s to include an exclusion clause within a quotation for Italian medical malpractice cover
- Defending coverholders against claims by insured and insurers arising out of a PA scheme for professional footballers
- Acting for producing brokers in an action arising out of the placement of hull cover for a fleet of pleasure boats
- Advising in connection with the potential liability of sub-brokers to underwriters arising from the operation of a line slip
- Acting for defendant producing brokers in an action to which the insured, placing brokers, underwriting agents and insurers were also party, involving allegations of failure to place cover, non-disclosure and failure to notify the insured of relevant policy terms
- Advising a cedant in relation to the potential liability of reinsurance brokers arising from the alleged non-disclosure of material facts prior to inception of various reinsurance contracts
- Advising in relation to the Northern Ireland “phantom” EL cover claims
- Acting on behalf of brokers in a variety of claims where Insurers had avoided for non-disclosure (normally of moral hazard) and the Insureds were seeking to pass claims (which were typically fraudulent) onto their brokers
David is experienced in claims against lawyers including claims relating to commercial disputes, property transactions, the conduct of proceedings and the provision of door of court advice. Cases include:
- Defending solicitors against claims for accessory liability for breach of trust in relation to various property transactions
- Advising on possible claims against former solicitors arising out of the supply of defective LNG carriers
- Acting for solicitors in successfully defending a claim by a property developer arising out of an unsuccessful attempt to acquire and develop the ground of Wrexham Athletic Football Club
- Acting in relation to cross-claims between successive firms of solicitors for contribution towards aggregate £2M settlement with former clients arising out of the drafting of standard terms and conditions of trading
- Successfully defending a firm of solicitors in a case resulting from the dismissal (on procedural grounds) of an earlier US$77.5M claim against BAe arising out of the sale of passenger aircraft to a Portuguese airline
- Acting for the solicitors of Oasis at first instance (Gray J) and in the Court of Appeal in their successful defence (on limitation grounds) of the claim brought by Tony McCarroll asserting that the solicitors had been negligent in the drafting of the Band’s recording agreement with Sony
- Advising on “loss of chance” claim against solicitors who allowed claim against tax advisers to become statute barred
- Striking out a claim against a firm of solicitors brought by a convicted rapist alleging wrongful conviction
- Acting for solicitors in successfully resisting an application for wasted costs on the grounds that they negligently allowed leading and junior counsel to maintain an improper allegation of forgery at trial
- Acting for a leading IP silk in relation to a claim that he had negligently compromised an action at the door of court
- Acting for claimants in relation to defendant solicitors’ negligent failure to renew statutory tenancy under Part II of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954
- Acting for claimant legal expenses insurer and insured in a claim against solicitors who allowed an underlying claim to become statute-barred.
David’s experience in this area includes:
- Defending UK aircraft appraisers against US$20M claim arising out of the valuation of passenger aircraft which were used to secure a loan by a US lender to a German SPV company established to acquire the aircraft from (and lease them back to) the German manufacturer
- Defending a firm of surveyors against claim arising out of alleged underinsurance of client’s property following provision of a reinstatement cost assessment
- Acting for a claimant lending bank in a claim against the valuers of a portfolio of licensed premises, in which the issues included breach of fiduciary duty arising from the Borrower’s PVA (of which the Bank was ignorant but to which the valuer was a party) and the applicability of the SAAMCO cap
- Acting for defendant commercial valuers in respect of the valuation of a portfolio of petrol stations in the Midlands
- Acting on behalf of lenders in a major mortgage scheme mismanagement claim
- Acting for claimants and defendants in a wide variety of “chain of enquiry” cases
