Nicole Sandells QC

Nicole has a broad Chancery practice, developed at the Chancery commercial bar before she joined Chambers in 2002. Her practice encompasses all areas of property and private client litigation, including Court of Protection related work (see for example Re J). In particular, Nicole has a recognised and successful mortgage litigation and civil fraud practice, having made a number of successful appearances on behalf of lenders in the Court of Appeal or the House of Lords in recent years, and in 2014 in the Supreme Court.  As can be seen from her list of cases, Nicole relishes appellate advocacy and complex and difficult points of law.

Nicole is a member of the Chancery Bar Association, the Professional Negligence Bar Association, COMBAR and the London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association.

Nicole:

• is recognised by a significant number of lenders and their in-house and panel solicitors as a leading junior in the field of mortgage-related litigation.
• regularly acts on behalf of clients ranging from high street banks and building societies to foreign banks and sub-prime lenders at all levels from the County Court to the Supreme Court. Recently she has represented two of the successful banks in the Supreme Court in the North East Property Buyers litigation, Scott v Southern Pacific (managed litigation concerning overriding interests, equities and priority in sale and rent back transactions, re-visiting Abbey National v Cann). She has also been successful in the Court of Appeal in Bank of Scotland v Joseph, Lloyds TSB Bank plc v Markandan & Uddin, and in the High Court in Garwood v Bank of Scotland. Judgment is awaited in the Supreme Court in AIB v Redler (concerning breach of trust by solicitors in mortgage transactions and the appropriate equitable remedies to be applied, re-visiting Target Holdings v Redferns) where Nicole represented the Respondent solicitor.  
• has an appellate practice stretching back to appearances in the House of Lords for the successful lender in Bradford & Bingley v Rashid and in the Court of Appeal in cases such as National Westminster Bank v Ashe and Halifax v Taffs.
• has particular experience litigating cases raising fraud, priorities, equities and equitable remedies issues, including subrogation, on behalf of lenders. In addition to the cases set out above, she represented the successful lenders in Cheval Bridging Finance v Hastings, in Mortgage Express v. Filby and in Mortgage Agency Services (No 2) Ltd v. Chater, all in the Court of Appeal.

Cases

Nicole’s mortgage practice is supported by other work in the banking field, particularly in relation to the interpretation and enforcement of standard terms and conditions in mortgages, guarantees and other financial arrangements, and claims under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, the Mortgage Conduct of Business Rules, the Insurance Conduct of Business Rules and the unfair relationships provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. For example, Nicole has argued successfully on a number of occasions that early redemption charges are not unfair terms and can be enforced by lenders.

Nicole has wide experience of all aspects of civil fraud. Her practice covers everything from equitable proprietary remedies and title rectification, through claims against the defaulting borrower, to claims against the professionals involved in the transaction, whether innocently or not, and claims in mistake, unjust enrichment and restitution.

She has a special expertise in claims raising subrogation issues, vendor’s liens, equitable charges, overriding interests, breach of trust and breach of undertaking, and accessory liability for knowing assistance or knowing receipt.

Her practice also incorporates the professional indemnity issues arising out of fraud claims and claims against the Law Society Compensation Fund.

Nicole’s practice covers all aspects of real property work including:

• overriding interests
• co-ownership of land
• equitable interests in property (e.g. setting aside transactions for undue influence and other equitable wrongs, proprietary estoppel, equitable mortgages, subrogation)
• adverse possession
• rights in and over land including restrictive covenants, easements and licences
• land registration and conveyancing
• priority
• trusts of land and applications under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996
• boundary disputes
• subsidence and nuisance claims
• options over land
• Law of Property Act receiverships
• landlord and tenant – see for example PW & Co v. Milton Gate Investments Ltd.

Nicole acted for the successful party in the adverse possession case Lambeth Council v. Blackburn, including a successful application in the House of Lords. Nicole also advised the successful party on the land law aspects of The Queen (Lord Chancellor) v. Chief Land Registrar. More recently she has appeared in the North East Property Buyers litigation in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court (concerning overriding interests, the proprietary consequences of exchange of contracts, beneficial interests in land and priority), in Bank of Scotland v Joseph in the Court of Appeal (concerning the use and interpretation of unilateral notices), in  Barons Finance v Kensington in the Court of Appeal (concerning priority and mistake) and in Garwood v Bank of Scotland in the High Court (concerning re-registration of mortgages removed from the Register by mistake).

Cases

Nicole’s practice is concentrated on private client litigation rather than non-contentious advisory work. She has broad experience in:

• contentious probate.
• the administration of trusts and estates.
• removal or replacement of trustees, executors or administrators.
• the construction and rectification of wills and trust deeds.
• claims under the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• trust litigation generally, including constructive and resulting trusts and tracing claims.
• lifetime gifts and assignments.
• breach of trust, remedies, and section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925.

Nicole advises and represents both trustees and beneficiaries with regard to breach of trust claims and accounting for trust property. She advises on and litigates Court of Protection matters including statutory wills, receiverships, deputyships and Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney. She appeared in Re Cameron (ademption; enduring powers of attorney) and acted for the successful applicant in Re J, concerning the validity of enduring powers of attorney creating successive attorneyships.

A significant minority of Nicole’s practice involves representing trustees or beneficiaries in mediation or other alternative dispute resolution. She has recently been involved in settling two multi-million pound claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 acting in one for executors and in the other for minor child claimants.

Nicole has recently appeared in both Lloyds Bank v Markandan & Uddin and AIB v Redler, which dealt with issues of breach of trust, account, remedies for breach of trust, defences under section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925 and contributory negligence and causation in the trust context.

Cases

Nicole takes on litigation and advisory work in relation to all varieties of domestic and international contractual disputes including:

• insurance
• corporate and commercial fraud
• financial services
• banking
• guarantees
• construction
• pre-emptive remedies including interlocutory injunctions, freezing and search orders.

She has particular experience of claims under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.
Nicole has also developed a niche practice litigating National Lottery syndicate disputes after acting for the successful party in Abrahams v. Abrahams.

Cases

‘She is a mega-brain, with encyclopaedic legal knowledge and the ability to cut through complex legal issues with ease.’ – Legal 500, 2019 (Leading Tier 1 Silk: Professional Negligence).

The majority of Nicole’s professional liability work is related to the general categories of Chancery and commercial dispute resolution. Nicole has broad experience not only in direct professional liability claims, but also in underlying actions brought to correct or mitigate alleged errors. Most recently she represented the defendant solicitor in AIB v Redler in the Supreme Court and the successful bank in Lloyds Bank v Markandan & Uddin in the Court of Appeal. She is never happier than when tackling complex and difficult points of law, or pursuing novel or unusual solutions to professional liability problems. Nicole has recently settled a number of multi-million pound claims involving alleged fraud and deceit by valuers, breach of fiduciary duty by solicitors, and accessory liability/knowing assistance involving solicitors.

Nicole is a member of the Chancery Bar Association, the Professional Negligence Bar Association, COMBAR and the London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association.

Cases

Nicole has experience of advising on and acting in litigation taking place overseas, as well as in UK-based disputes with a cross-border component. Her offshore work covers all aspects of her domestic practice, for corporate and private clients. The majority of her experience is Caribbean related, and she is currently instructed to appear as lead counsel in asset tracing litigation in Antigua dealing with breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of the International Business Corporations Act, together with principles of accessory liability. She has been involved in litigation, internationally as well as in England, seeking variously to recover and to defend assets for, among others, the liquidators of failed Caribbean banks (including assisting with a Privy Council appeal which settled just before hearing).

Nicole has acted for a number of local and national charities representing them in trust disputes, estate issues, breach of trust and matters relating to construction of settlements and wills and defending inheritance tax claims.