Melody benefits from substantial legal research experience and exceptionally strong analytical skills, both of which equip her for tackling particularly complex commercial matters. She has acted in disputes involving allegations of wrongdoing and has also acted in a range of contractual matters. She has experience, in particular, with disputes raising questions in relation to the formation, interpretation and effect of contracts (including guarantees and consumer contracts) and deeds. Highlights include:
- The Public Institution for Social Security v Fahad Maziad Rajaan Al Rajaan and 37 others: acting as junior counsel in the defence of an USD 800 million civil fraud claim involving allegations of bribery and breach of fiduciary duty spanning across multiple jurisdictions and decades.
- Acting as sole counsel in a claim in misrepresentation arising out of an agreement for the development of a business e-commerce website.
- Assisting with closing submissions for conjoined ICC and LCIA arbitrations for claims for breach of fiduciary duty and dishonest assistance raising issues in relation to causation, equitable forfeiture and election between inconsistent remedies (during pupillage).
- Assisting with UNICITRAL arbitration proceedings worth USD 270 million for a dispute between a sovereign state and a construction company raising issues relating to damages for misrepresentation and complex issues of illegality and public policy (during pupillage).
- Advising on the proper interpretation and effect of limitation and exclusion clauses in an agreement for the sale of fruit processing equipment.
- Instructions to act for a public authority in a dispute over the existence and terms of a vehicle hire agreement.
- Filatona Trading v Navigator Equities [2020] EWCA Civ 109: assisting, during pupillage, with the preparation of an appeal against a High Court judgment in a dispute over a shareholder agreement concerning the interaction between principles of contractual interpretation, the law of agency and the parole evidence rule.
- Advising in relation to a proposed claim for the rectification of a collateral warranty on the basis of common mistake (during pupillage).
- Assisting with a claim against the guarantors of a company’s liability under a loan agreement (during pupillage). The proceedings raised questions in relation to execution formalities for deeds, estoppel and whether the guarantors’ liability was discharged by virtue of a variation of the terms of the loan agreement.
- Drafting pleadings for a claim against a photography company, for negligence and for breach of contract, which raised issues concerning the identity of the contracting parties and remedies under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Her experience extends to commercial chancery matters, and includes:
- Instructions to act for a commercial landlord in a dispute concerning the lease of business premises, raising questions in relation to the effect of a no set off clause and a guarantee.
- Perry v Neupert [2019] EWHC 52 (Ch): assisting, during pupillage, with proceedings under s.50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985, where trustees of the deceased’s estate joined the proceedings in order to oppose the appointment of the deceased’s daughter as personal representative of the estate.
Melody particularly enjoys commercial work with an international dimension. She has produced notes and advices on jurisdiction and, in particular, on the location in which financial loss is suffered for the purposes of the tort gateway. She also assisted, during pupillage, with an application for permission to serve a claim form (for an anti-suit injunction) outside the jurisdiction as well as an advice on a question of BVI’s law of fraudulent conveyances.
She has a special interest in disputes about remedies, and she regularly appears as sole counsel in claims for the recovery of credit hire charges. She has been instructed in assessment of damages proceedings and also assisted with an advice, during pupillage, on the application of the rule in White & Carter v McGregor in a dispute arising from the alleged repudiation by a college of a long-term contract for the maintenance of college premises.
Melody has appeared as sole counsel in High Court and County Court proceedings in a range of procedural matters, and has experience of assisting, as junior counsel, with proceedings arising out of the grant of a freezing injunction, including an application for further asset disclosure. During pupillage, Melody also drafted the skeleton argument for a supermarket’s successful application for security for costs in a claim made by one of its suppliers.
