Anja Lansbergen-Mills

Call 2014

lansbergen-mills@exchangechambers.co.uk

"Anja is very technical, and both her advocacy and drafting skills are excellent."

Chambers and Partners 2024
Photo of Anja Lansbergen-Mills

  • Recommendations

    “Anja is very technical, and both her advocacy and drafting skills are excellent.”

    “Anja is fantastic on her feet. She is always incredibly well prepared.”

    “Anja is a fearless fighter in court.”
    Chambers and Partners 2024


    “Anja is thorough and always incredibly well-prepared, meaning you can always rely on her to know her brief inside out. Her preparation feeds into her advocacy, and she is smart on her feet, always armed with answers to potentially difficult questions, and is very effective as a result.”
    The Legal 500 2024

    “Anja is very commercial and very pragmatic. She cuts through complex legal issues.”

    “Anja is very thorough, proactive and measured.”

    “She is very hard-working and articulate.”

    Chambers and Partners 2023

    ‘Impressive approach, thinks outside the box and really considers client requirements and aims. Really easy to work with and presents well before clients.’

    The Legal 500 2023

    “She is a safe pair of hands and always goes the extra mile to make sure her advice is spot on and we have everything we need.”

    “Anja is very commercial and she can focus on what we’re trying to achieve for the client, cutting out all the noise and making my life easier. She is focused on results rather than getting embroiled in spats with other parties.”
    Chambers and Partners 2022

    “She is one of those people who comes across as being really reasonable in her approach.” “Very polished and approachable, and very good with clients.”
    Chambers and Partners 2020

  • Beyond the Bar

    Whilst studying for her PhD Anja was employed by the University of Edinburgh as a research fellow on EUDO Citizenship, a large-scale European Commission funded project. She has occupied a number of other research roles whilst at the University and has taught EU Law to both undergraduate and masters students.

    Whilst living in Germany Anja completed an internship at the United Nations Volunteering Service. She has worked for a period at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh and continues to be an avid ‘foodie’. Anja assisted with the Girl Guiding Association for over four years, both in Edinburgh and upon her return to her native Manchester.

  • Education

    • BPTC, Manchester Metropolitan University (2014) (Outstanding)
    • Baron Dr Ver Heyden De Lancey Prize, Middle Temple (2015)
    • Certificate of Honour, Middle Temple (2014)
    • Queen Mother’s Scholarship (Middle Temple Major Scholarship) (2013)
    • PhD, University of Edinburgh (2013)
    • Collaborative Doctoral Award, Arts and Humanities Research Council (2008)
    • LLM, University of Edinburgh (2008) (Distinction)
    • James Madison Scholarship (2007)
    • BA (Hons), Wadham College, University of Oxford (2007)
    • Erasmus year spent at the University of Bonn, 2005 – 2006
    • Wadham College Scholarship for Academic Achievement (2003 – 2007)
    • Sarah Lawrence Scholarship (2004)

  • Appointments

    • Member of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (appointed from 12 October 2018 for 3 years)
    • Junior Counsel to the Crown by the Attorney General (Regional Civil Panel C)

  • Memberships

    • Northern Circuit Commercial Bar Association
    • Northern Chancery Bar Association

  • Publications

    • ‘Prisoner Disenfranchisement in the United Kingdom and the Scope of EU Law’ (2014) 10(1) European Constitutional Law Review 126
    • ‘Recent CJEU decisions on European Citizenship: A case-study in judicial activism’ (2012) Federal Trust Policy Brief
    • ‘European Citizenship Rights in Internal Situations: An Ambiguous Revolution?’ (Co- authored with N Miller) (2011) 7(2) European Constitutional Law Review 287
    • ‘National Membership Models in a Multi-Level Europe’ (Co-authored with J Shaw) (2010) 8(1) International Journal of Constitutional Law 50
    • ‘Metock, Implementation of the Citizens’ Rights Directive and Lessons for EU Citizenship’ (2009) 31(3) Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 285
    • ‘Testing the Limits of European Citizenship’ (2009) Federal Trust Policy Brief

  • News

Insolvency

Anja specialises in insolvency and commercial dispute resolution. Her experience includes:

  • successfully defending an application for an administration order brought on the basis of a contingent debt of circa £337k, where the contingent event was one of solvency (Interactive Digital Systems Ltd v VST Enterprises Ltd [2021] EWHC 887 (Ch));
  • successfully applying to lift the stay imposed by the statutory moratorium to enable pursuit of a strike out/ summary judgment application in a claim worth £2million;
  • acting on behalf of administrators of a peer-to-peer lending platform seeking directions from the court in relation to the treatment of security realisations, led by David Mohyuddin QC;
  • obtaining an administration order in respect of a property-holding company on a creditor’s application brought by a tribunal-appointed property manager;
  • acting for liquidators in a claim for restitution of a void disposition pursuant to s.127 IA 1986, resisting a ‘change of position’ defence both in law and fact;
  • acting on interim applications concerning disclosure sought against a company in administration against whom proceedings are stayed by operation of the statutory moratorium;
  • acting on contested bankruptcy petitions, including on two associated petitions brought in respect of a debt of circa £174k;
  • drafting and appearing in claims brought in misfeasance against directors of insolvent companies;
  • acting in shareholder disputes, including advising and drafting a claim for declaratory relief and consequential orders to secure entry into the register of members in anticipation of a s.994 petition.

Anja has recently been appointed to a second term as barrister member of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (the non-departmental public body responsible for making the rules of court for the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the County Court). She was appointed as junior counsel to the Crown (regional panel C) commencing 1 March 2021, since which she has regularly appeared for the Secretary of State in director disqualification proceedings. Anja is named as ‘up and coming’ in Chambers and Partners 2022 in the field of commercial dispute resolution, where she is described as ‘a strong barrister who has attracted attention on the Northern Circuit for her excellent commercial practice’, and in which it is said ‘She is a safe pair of hands and always goes the extra mile to make sure her advice is spot on and we have everything we need’.