
Supreme Court rules that defence of illegality will not save negligent solicitors (Stoffel & Co v Grondona)
Melody Ihuoma contributes to an article by Halima Dikko of LexisNexis on…
Call 2018
Melody’s practice spans across civil fraud, commercial litigation and arbitration, insurance, professional negligence and sports. Multi-party litigation has been a prominent feature of her work, and she is experienced in a wide range of contractual matters, with particular strengths in disputes raising complex issues of mitigation and measure of damages.
Melody also acts in claims involving allegations of misrepresentation or other serious wrongdoing, and is currently instructed as a junior in one of the largest fraud disputes ever heard by the Commercial Court.
She has worked on a number of cross-border disputes, and is assisted in this regard by her French language abilities; Melody has particular experience of reviewing French language banking and legal documents for litigation purposes.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Melody read law at Balliol College, University of Oxford. During her time there she was awarded the Brackenbury Exhibition, Brackenbury Scholarship and the Alan Rodger Prize in Roman Law. She also worked for a term as a legal research assistant. Following her undergraduate studies, Melody undertook the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford in 2016, achieving distinctions in Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law and in a dissertation (“Objectivity and Subjectivity in the Law of Contract Damages”).
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Civil fraud is an area of special interest for Melody, and she has particular experience of handling expert evidence in this context, including forensic accountancy evidence and property valuation evidence. She is well-versed in applications for freezing injunctions (including applications for permission to enforce freezing injunctions abroad), asset disclosure and applications to protect confidential information. She has acted in fraud claims raising bankruptcy and insolvency issues and questions of jurisdiction and governing law. Examples include:
Melody benefits from substantial legal research experience and strong analytical skills, both of which equip her for tackling particularly complex commercial matters. She has extensive experience, in particular, with disputes raising questions in relation to the formation, interpretation and effect of contracts (including guarantees and consumer contracts) and deeds, as well as questions of mitigation and measure of loss. Her experience extends to enforcement matters and includes assisting with a claim to enforce a number of foreign judgments in a total sum in excess of USD 130 million, as well as appearing in the ADGM Courts in proceedings concerning the grant of a charging order over company shares. Other highlights include:
Melody’s experience extends to a wide range of traditional and commercial chancery matters, including lenders’ possession claims, claims raising company law and insolvency issues, statutory demands, wills and the administration of estates and proceedings in the Court of Protection. Examples include:
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.
Insurance is another area of particular interest to Melody, and she has worked on a range of insurance disputes, including coverage disputes and insurance brokers negligence claims. Melody has written and spoken on claims control clauses in insurance policies and contractual discretion in the insurance context. Her experience also includes:
Melody acts in claims against a broad range of professionals, including solicitors, financial advisers, surveyors, accountants and auditors. She has particular experience with claims against solicitors arising in the conveyancing context, including claims relating to boundary issues, planning permission, rent review, service charge terms and land registry restrictions. Melody has acted in a number of disputes involving multiple parties and additional claims, as well as negligence claims arising against a backdrop of (allegedly) fraudulent transactions. Other examples include:
Melody’s experience extends to a range of sporting disputes, with a particular focus on contract claims in the sports context. Her experiences include:
On 6 January 2023 the Commercial Court (HHJ Pelling KC) handed down…
The Court of Appeal has handed down Judgment in a significant case…
In this podcast, Seohyung Kim and Melody Ihuoma discuss their path to…
EDUCATION
BA (Hons) Jurisprudence, BCL (Balliol College, University of Oxford); BPTC (BPP University)
PUBLICATIONS
Co-authored with J Goudkamp, “A Tour of the Tort of Negligence” (2016) 32 Professional Negligence 137
LANGUAGES
French (Intermediate)
MEMBERSHIPS
BASL
BILA
COMBAR
Melody Ihuoma contributes to an article by Halima Dikko of LexisNexis on…
In UK Acorn Finance Limited v Markel (UK) Limited, HHJ Pelling QC applied…
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