Year of Call: 2001

Profile

Matthew’s practice embraces all aspects of commercial chancery litigation: from company and insolvency questions to contractual and property-related disputes. Matthew regularly advises on, and appears in, litigation in the High Court and the county court.

Matthew’s experience in insolvency disputes includes acting for the customers of Farepak following the collapse of the company’s Christmas savings scheme. He has also been involved in a number of cases acting for HMRC, or liquidators appointed by them, including Fresh’N’Clean Limited v Miah (carousel fraud; dishonest assistance), Re The Arena Corporation Ltd (fraud and winding up) and HMCE v Jack Baars Wholesale (insolvent partnerships and individual bankruptcy). He has particular experience of acting for landlords and tenants seeking possession and vesting orders within insolvency proceedings.

Matthew has a keen interest in trust and charity law. He has been involved in a number of disputes involving charities – acting for receivers appointed by the Commission, advising on High Court actions by charities for the recovery of misapplied charitable funds, assisting trustees facing breach of trust claims and seeking to help smaller charities to settle disputes in the most cost-effective way. He is recommended by Chambers and Partners in the field of charity law.

His general commercial work has included litigation relating to the autobiography of Chris Eubank, a human rights action against British Airways and insurance fraud claims.

In March 2007, he was appointed Junior Counsel to the Crown (C Panel).

To download Matthew's CPD-accredited podcast on bankruptcy petitions, click here.

Notable Cases
Catholic Care (Diocese Of Leeds) v Charity Commission For England & Wales & Equality & Human Rights Commission (2010)
Helena Housing Ltd v Revenue & Customs Commissioners (TC00384) (2010)
(1) Shagun Sunil Dubey (2) Martha Hanora Thompson (Joint Administrators Of Farepak Foods & Gifts Ltd) v (1) Revenue & Customs (2) Suzy Hall [2006]
Fresh 'n' Clean (Wales) Ltd (In Liquidation) v Helim Miah [2006]
HMCE v Jack Baars Wholesale (2004)
In re Arena Corporation Ltd sub nom Customs & Excise Commissioners v The Arena Corporation Ltd : The Arena Corporation Ltd v James Peter Schroeder (2004)

Click here to see all cases.

Memberships
COMBAR, the Chancery Bar Association and the Charity Law Association.

Qualifications
MA (Cantab) First Class

Chambers UK
Charities: "shows great potential and will be one of the greats of the future." (2010)

Legal 500: Charities
"one-to-watch" (2009)

Legal 500: Property Litigation
"is praised for presentation skills" (2009)