Rory has a busy and varied commercial chancery practice encompassing a broad spectrum of Chambers’ areas of expertise. He regularly appears unled in the High Court and County Court, and enjoys working in counsel teams of various sizes.
Rory’s experience includes commercial disputes, insolvency, company law, civil fraud, professional negligence, offshore disputes, intellectual property, chancery matters, and real estate litigation.
Rory obtained a first-class degree in History from University College London, before converting to law at City Law School. He subsequently completed the BPTC as a Princess Royal Scholar of the Inner Temple, receiving the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators Prize for the highest combined performance in commercial law and civil litigation. Rory is a contributor to Buckley on the Companies Acts.
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Expertise
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Commercial Litigation & Arbitration
Rory has been instructed in commercial disputes across a wide range of business sectors, in both the County Court and the High Court. Recent matters have addressed issues relating to:
- Guarantees and indemnities;
- Security agreements;
- Joint venture agreements;
- Rectification, construction, and estoppel.
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Civil Fraud
Rory is routinely instructed in disputes relating to fraud and asset recovery. He is comfortable dealing with the wide range of issues presented by cases of this nature, from applications for interim relief to matters surrounding enforcement.
Notable cases include:
Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Su [2021] EWCA Civ 1187: Rory was instructed as junior counsel (led by Thomas Grant KC and Ryan Turner) before the Court of Appeal in an appeal concerning the proper ambit of the passport order jurisdiction and the effect of a passport order on the rights of a foreign national under Article 8 of the ECHR.
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Company & Partnership
Rory has been instructed in numerous cases with a company law or partnership element, including:
- An unfair prejudice petition concerning a large nursery business (led by Siward Atkins KC, whilst appearing as sole counsel at a complex CCMC);
- A just and equitable winding up petition (and broader series of shareholder disputes) relating to a substantial property development business;
- A wide range of applications under the Companies Act 2006;
- Shareholder and boardroom disputes;
- Breaches of directors’ duties.
Rory’s recent experience in this area includes successfully appearing as sole counsel for the respondents in the two-day trial of an unfair prejudice petition at Central London County Court (Re Saka Maka 2 Ltd).
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Insolvency & Asset Recovery
Many of Rory’s cases have an insolvency angle, and he is comfortable dealing with the various issues that can arise at different stages of the insolvency process. By way of example, some of his recent matters have addressed injunctions to restrain presentation of a statutory demand, complex forms of interim relief (including the appointment of provisional liquidators), and applications brought by the office-holders themselves.
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Offshore & Trusts
Rory has been instructed in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Isle of Man. His recent experience includes:
- Wang v Floreat: a series of substantial just and equitable winding up petitions in the BVI and Cayman Islands relating to investments of $500m across four offshore funds (led by David Mumford KC);
- An arbitration under the BVI IAC concerning substantial claims in connection with the management of various offshore investment funds (led by Ryan Turner).
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Banking & Financial Services
Rory has significant experience across a wide spectrum of disputes involving the financial sector. He is familiar with claims involving alleged breaches of the FCA Handbook, FSMA, and the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
His recent work in this area includes advising the joint administrators of a major guarantor lender about a range of complex issues relating to potential claims under s.138D FSMA (Re TFS Loans Limited, led by Olivier Kalfon).
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Real Estate
Rory is frequently instructed in matters concerning real property, in both a commercial and residential context. His recent experience includes successfully appearing as sole counsel in the two-day trial of a claim for adverse possession of unregistered land: Qamar v Elias Enterprises Limited.
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Professional Negligence
Rory has experience in dealing with cases involving allegations of professional negligence, and is particularly well placed to act in disputes that intersect with his other core practice areas. His recent instructions include a claim for negligence and breach of retainer against a (now insolvent) partnership of solicitors following advice relating to the renewal of a commercial lease.
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