
Matthew & Others v Sedman & Others [2021] UKSC 19
When Dinah Washington sang “What a difference a day makes” it seems…
Clare Dixon KC practises in professional liability, insurance, disciplinary and commercial litigation. She believes in taking a tough but commercial approach to litigation and relishes advocacy in all its forms.
She was the winner of the ‘Professional Negligence Junior of the Year’ (2019) award and shortlisted for the ‘Insurance Junior of the Year’ (2020) award by Chambers & Partners UK.
Comments in the directories include:
“She’s one of the brightest barristers I’ve ever come across. She’s very good at handling personalities within the team.” (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
“Clare is an absolute standout individual in this field.” (Legal 500, 2023)
“She is quick to get to the real issues of the dispute, provides concise advice, and is very good with clients when difficult advice needs to be delivered.” (Legal 500, 2022)
“Very sharp on the details; she is more than a match for more senior leading counsel.” “She is fantastic – the first name we contact for anything difficult or complicated.” “Incredibly good. She’s very practical, pragmatic and commercial. She’s good on her feet and prepared to be robust when she needs to. Clare is a delight to work with.” (Chambers & Partners, 2022)
“She is great on her feet and equally so on paper: an all-round star… Clients and the court love her, and so do her solicitors.” “Firm in her view, all over the detail and one of my top three seniors. She is superb both on her feet and on paper, and delivers superb results.” (Legal 500, 2021)
“A go-to senior barrister who is more than capable of dealing with heavyweight cases.” “She’s completely on top of the technical legal arguments in cases.” “She has excellent cross-examination skills and is very detailed and thorough with her writing. A great courtroom performer.” “She is absolutely steeped in professional negligence law.” (Chambers & Partners, 2021)
“An outstanding barrister – smart, prompt, thorough and very quick on her feet.” “She inspires confidence by the bucketload!” (Who’s Who Legal, 2020)
“A formidable opponent because of her robust style in written and oral advocacy and in negotiations.” “She is firm, incisive and has the ear of the court.” (Legal 500, 2020)
“A formidable junior who is relentlessly good at what she does.” “She comes up with an innovative approach to get a fantastic result and is very user-friendly.” “She is very good at making herself available, is very responsive and understands the pressures that solicitors might be under.” (Chambers & Partners, 2020)
“She has good judgement and is technically excellent. A true team player.” “The quality of her written work is very high and she is a delight to deal with.” “Very bright and client-friendly.” “She is very down-to-earth, a great communicator, and inspires confidence in the client.” “She provides a first-class service – thoroughly recommended.” (Chambers & Partners, 2019)
“She mixes great commercial acumen with an excellent grasp of black letter law.” “Responsive, bright and provides excellent advice.” (Legal 500, 2019)
“Technically outstanding“, “very impressive on her feet” and “an excellent strategist“ (Who’s Who Legal, 2019)
Click here for a Privacy Policy for Clare Dixon KC.
Clare supports FreeBar, a forum focused on LGBT+ people and their allies working at and for the Bar.
Clare’s practice includes a broad spread of commercial work. She has acted in a wide variety of contractual disputes including claims arising under the sale of goods legislation and for breach of warranty following the sale of a business. She also has experience of obtaining urgent injunctive relief.
Featured Commercial Litigation cases
Clare has experience of a broad range of construction disputes: both pure construction matters and construction professional liability. Clare regularly appears in the Technology and Construction Court and has experience of arbitrations and adjudications. She enjoys getting to grips with the technical information and expert evidence often involved in such dispute.
Featured Construction & Engineering cases
Clare regularly advises on regulatory matters and appears in disciplinary forums.
Featured Disciplinary cases
“Clare is formidably clever and understands the nuts and bolts of insurance.” – Chambers & Partner, 2023
“She is quick to get to the real issues of the dispute, provides concise advice, and is very good with clients when difficult advice needs to be delivered.” – Legal 500, 2022
“Clare has had a great year and she is very reliable.” “She is very robust in her views and doesn’t sit on the fence.” –Chambers & Partners, 2022
“Firm in her view, all over the detail and one of my top three seniors. She is superb both on her feet and on paper, and delivers superb results.” – Legal 500, 2021
“A go-to senior barrister who is more than capable of dealing with heavyweight cases.” “She’s completely on top of the technical legal arguments in cases.” – Chambers & Partners, 2021
“A formidable opponent because of her robust style in written and oral advocacy and in negotiations.” – Legal 500, 2020
Clare’s practice includes a substantial insurance element. She has appeared three times in the Supreme Court in insurance cases including, most recently, in the FCA Test Litigation. In 2020 Clare was shortlisted by Chambers & Partners for “Insurance Junior of the Year”.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
With extensive experience in both professional liability and insurance matters, Clare is frequently instructed to advise in respect of non-disclosure, aggregation, successor practice and the interpretation of professional indemnity policies. Her instructions have ranged across a broad range of professions including solicitors, mortgage intermediaries, surveyors and debt recovery agents. Clare has particular interest in, and experience of, dishonesty issues and has acted for both insurers and insureds in relation to such matters.
Clare (led by Mark Cannon QC) appeared for the successful insurers in the Supreme Court case of Impact Funding Solutions Limited v AIG Europe Limited [2016] UKSC 57; [2017] AC 73. Impact considered the ambit of the “trade debts” exclusion in solicitors’ professional indemnity policies and whether it excluded a solicitor’s liability to a disbursement funding provider. The Supreme Court also gave important guidance on the construction of clauses which, while worded in terms of exclusion, do no more than to define the extent of the liability or duty to which one party of a contract is to be subject.
Other cases
Other Forms of Insurance
Clare is frequently instructed to act for insurers/insured in cases arising out of other types of policies and is familiar with the particular issues around other specialist areas of insurance such as D&O, Motor Trade, Personal Accident, EL/PL and Fire policies.
Featured cases
Clare is the current editor of the “Members and Managing Agents at Lloyd’s” chapter in Jackson & Powell. She regularly gives talks and seminars on insurance law.
Clare is a formally accredited mediator. She has attended numerous mediations as an advocate and is a great believer in the power of mediation to settle even those cases which, on the face of it, appear to be intractable. As a mediator, she is able to combine her professional expertise with an understanding of the realities of litigation to help parties resolve their disputes.
“She’s excellent and provides accessible advice.” “She’s one of the brightest barristers I’ve ever come across. She’s very good at handling personalities within the team.” – Legal 500, 2023
“Clare is an absolute, standout individual in this field.” – Legal 500, 2022
“Very sharp on the details; she is more than a match for more senior leading counsel.” “She is fantastic – the first name we contact for anything difficult or complicated.” “Incredibly good. She’s very practical, pragmatic and commercial. She’s good on her feet and prepared to be robust when she needs to. Clare is a delight to work with.” – Chambers & Partners, 2022
“She is great on her feet and equally so on paper: an all-round star. Surely a silk to be. Clients and the court love her, and so do her solicitors.” – Legal 500, 2021
“She has excellent cross-examination skills and is very detailed and thorough with her writing. A great courtroom performer.” “She is absolutely steeped in professional negligence law.” – Chambers & Partners, 2021
“She is firm, incisive and has the ear of the court.” – Legal 500, 2020
“A formidable junior who is relentlessly good at what she does.” “She comes up with an innovative approach to get a fantastic result and is very user-friendly.” “She is very good at making herself available, is very responsive and understands the pressures that solicitors might be under.” – Chambers & Partners, 2020
“She is very down-to-earth, a great communicator, and inspires confidence in the client.” “She provides a first-class service – thoroughly recommended.” – Chambers & Partners, 2019
“She mixes great commercial acumen with an excellent grasp of black letter law.” – Legal 500, 2019
Clare specialises in all areas of professional liability with particular emphasis on lawyers, valuers, accountants and auditors, and insurance brokers. She is an experienced advocate who gets to grips quickly with what is really at issue and takes a tough line to achieve the best outcome for her client. In 2019 she received the Chambers & Partners award for “Professional Negligence Junior of the Year”.
Clare has acted both for and against accountants and auditors on numerous occasions.
Featured cases
Clare also has extensive experience of acting both for and against engineers and architects.
Featured cases
Given her considerable insurance experience Clare is well placed to act on claims for and against brokers and, consequently, is regularly instructed in relation to such claims both on a standalone basis and where insurers are also being sued.
Featured cases
Clare is the editor of the “Members and Managing Agents at Lloyd’s” chapter in the 7th edition of Jackson & Powell.
Clare has acted in claims both for and against IFAs; in particular, in claims involving advice given on mortgages, pension schemes and investment vehicles.
Featured cases
Clare has acted in a numerous claims both for and against solicitors and barristers and has broad experience in this area. Set out below are examples of cases grouped by their underlying subject matter.
Clare is often instructed in claims where the underlying matter involves a property, commercial or chancery dispute. Examples of such cases include:
Clare has particular experience of “lost litigation” claims particularly in the personal injury and employment fields (having herself acted in such cases in her early years as a barrister). Instructions in this area include:
Clare is also experienced in actions where the underlying subject has been instructed on a number of cases involving claims by lenders. A number of these claims involved allegations of breach of undertaking, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust and/or fraud. Notable examples of such cases include:
Clare is frequently instructed in cases arising from matrimonial matters including cases arising from the drafting of consent orders, the alleged under/over settlement of financial proceedings and concerning children. Examples of such cases include:
Clare also has considerable experience of wasted costs having advised and acted for both solicitors and Counsel in relation to such applications. She also has experience of acting against litigants in person and obtaining civil restraint orders. Notable examples include:
Clare has considerable experience of claims involving valuers and surveyors involving, in particular, large scale lending for the purpose of purchasing and then developing commercial sites.
Featured cases
Clare has substantial experience in property damage claims involving such things as floods, fires, subsidence and construction works.
Featured cases
In addition Clare has substantial expertise in nuisance claims, particularly involving multiple parties. Recent examples of cases of this nature are:
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Chambers & Partners“Incredibly good. She’s very practical, pragmatic and commercial. She’s good on her feet and prepared to be robust when she needs to. Clare is a delight to work with.”
Legal 500, 2022“She is quick to get to the real issues of the dispute, provides concise advice, and is very good with clients when difficult advice needs to be delivered.”
Chambers & Partners, 2022“Very sharp on the details; she is more than a match for more senior leading counsel.” “She is fantastic - the first name we contact for anything difficult or complicated.” “Incredibly good. She's very practical, pragmatic and commercial. She's good on her feet and prepared to be robust when she needs to. Clare is a delight to work with.”
Legal 500, 2021“She is great on her feet and equally so on paper: an all-round star... Clients and the court love her, and so do her solicitors.” “Firm in her view, all over the detail and one of my top three seniors. She is superb both on her feet and on paper, and delivers superb results.”
Chambers & Partners, 2020“She's completely on top of the technical legal arguments in cases.” “She has excellent cross-examination skills and is very detailed and thorough with her writing. A great courtroom performer.” “She is absolutely steeped in professional negligence law.”
Prior to being called to the Bar, Clare read law at St Anne’s College, Oxford University, where she was President of the Oxford Union.
When Dinah Washington sang “What a difference a day makes” it seems…
According to the SRA, the approach of the new Standards and Regulations…
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