Ben Lafferty

Call 2021

lafferty@exchangechambers.co.uk

Photo of Ben Lafferty

  • Recommendations

    Client/solicitor testimonials and legal directory recommendations

    Of Ben’s performance in a 4 day multi-track trial, the designated civil judge hearing the trial commented of his performance (after the conclusion of the trial, by way of email):

    “I thought you conducted the trial very well and incredibly well for someone of your call.”

    Of Ben’s performance in successfully obtaining the dismissal of an application to set aside a possession order and underlying warrant for eviction, Ben’s instructing solicitor noted, by way of feedback to Chambers’ senior management:

    “…[the District Judge] was particularly complimentary toward Ben and his skeleton this morning – at which we had as successful a court outing as I can remember…

    Ben was also good with me and with our client.

    I was pleased to witness it – [he is] a credit to chambers.”

    Of Ben’s involvement in difficult and high value bankruptcy matters (valued at circa £3.2m), his instructing solicitor noted:

    “We have been very impressed with Ben…He has been very thorough, responsive and attentive.

    We have found him to be knowledgeable and approachable, and his written advice has been very good.”

    Of Ben’s performance in a possession and contested probate matter, his instructing solicitors noted, by way of feedback to Chambers’ senior management:

    “We have had great help from Ben Lafferty in relation to a possession matter and related probate dispute…

    We attended a possession hearing last week and after a long battle, we obtained the order we needed and Ben was able to persuade the judge to ignore the numerous obstacles trying to be put up by the opposing barrister.

    The clients have been very happy with his services, they are a private paying couple, the fees for dealing with the matter have been kept reasonable and as ever more work has not doubt been done and not charged for. 

    We have been very pleased with the service from Ben and would recommend his services to anyone.”

    Of Ben’s performance in successfully defending a £104,000 summary judgment application, Ben’s instructing solicitor said of his performance, by way of feedback to Chambers’ senior management:

    “I would like to bring to your attention my admiration for the work done by Counsel in extremely difficult circumstances.”

  • Beyond the Bar

    Ben is an avid guitarist, having played (or, at least, attempted to play) the instrument since the age of 5. His obsession with the instrument sees him attempt to source a guitar shop on each of his travels to the various court centres up and down the jurisdiction to which he is sent.

  • Education

    Qualifications
    St Malachy’s College, Belfast (2008-2015)
    Queen’s University, Belfast (2015-2018), LLB Law with Politics, First Class Honours
    BPP Manchester (2019-2020), LLM Legal Practice, Distinction

    Scholarships
    Inner Temple Major Scholarship
    Inner Temple Duke of Edinburgh’s Scholarship
    BPP Academic Excellence Scholarship

  • Memberships

    Northern Circuit

    The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

  • News

Insolvency

Ben is frequently instructed to handle a variety of Insolvency Act matters and applications, in both the personal and corporate insolvency contexts.

Ben has spoken at insolvency conferences, including the R3 Northern Forum, where he provided a mock-trial demonstration for a wide selection of insolvency practitioner delegates.

Instructions of particular note in Ben’s insolvency practice include:

  • His instructions in Settle v Sandstone Legal Limited and Others [2025] EWHC 742 (Ch). Ben was instructed to represent the interim managers of a Manchester based law firm that was the subject of an administration application, brought by its sole director, to enable a pre-pack sale. Ben’s client was one of the proposed administrators of the firm, and he successfully ensured their appointment, in the face of contest from alleged creditors of the firm who averred to be owed £2 – £6m from it. The case was discussed in the Insolvency Insider (https://insolvency-insider.co.uk/p/sandstone-legal-case-update );
  • His instruction to appear for the petitioning creditor in a contested winding up petition in pursuit of a debt valued at circa £910k. After exchange of skeletons, the debtor company abandoned its contest to the petition and instead entered CVL – appointing its own choice of liquidator. Ben’s client (the petitioning creditor) still pursued the compulsory order, against £2.1m purported creditors who preferred the CVL. The court accepted Ben’s submission on the lack of probity of the £2.1m worth of asserted creditors and the court made the winding up order in respect of the company. Ben was also successful in respect of a materially similar instruction concerning two concurrent petitions valued at £205k regarding two inter-related companies (more details of this case can be found here: https://www.exchangechambers.co.uk/high-value-recent-successes-for-ben-lafferty/ );
  • His instruction to appear on behalf of a Respondent to an application to set aside a statutory demand worth £687k. Ben obtained the dismissal of the application and, therefore, preserved his client’s right to pursue its sizeable debt in the insolvency arena;
  • His obtaining of an order restraining presentation of a winding up petition on behalf of a company that was asserted to owe monies to a purported creditor which it strongly disputed;
  • His obtaining of three concurrent bankruptcy orders in a debt claim valued at circa £3.2m. In these actions, Ben provided procedural advice throughout, which ultimately assisted in obtaining the final orders, on issues such as the steps to be taken where capacity of a debtor may be relevant in insolvency proceedings;
  • His obtaining of a bankruptcy order on behalf of a petitioning creditor in a case concerning the enforcement of EU judgments in England and Wales through personal insolvency proceedings. Ben successfully obtained a bankruptcy order stemming from a circa £320k judgment made by the High Court of the Republic of Ireland. Ben saw off an attempt to dismiss the petition based on section 271(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986 in obtaining the bankruptcy order;
  • His obtaining of a bankruptcy order on behalf of a petitioning creditor in a case concerning a petition debt of circa £420k, which had previously been attended by Stephen Connolly of Chambers. Ben successfully obtained the dismissal of the debtor’s opposition to the petition and successfully obtained the dismissal of the debtor’s application for an interim order to allow an IVA to proceed;
  • His attendance in a high court appeal in a bankruptcy case, to challenge the basis on which the court at first instance found a liquidated debt. This element of the appeal was conceded, as it was accepted that a court could not transfer a liquidated debt of a primary obligor to a guarantor, if the guarantor’s own liability was not itself of the liquidated debt variety. The case can be found under neutral citation [2025] EWHC 414 (Ch);
  • His representation of joint administrators in an application to lift the statutory moratorium in an administration, so a creditor could bring a claim in respect of the company. Ben successfully obtained the dismissal of this application and an indemnity cost award for his client; and
  • His involvement, both by the provision of drafting work and appearances in court, in a CVA challenge application valued at circa £1m, concerning the differential treatment of commercial landlords – where properties had been categorised into differing classes in the CVA. In this matter, Ben was pitted against a silk at the interlocutory stages and was led by Giles Maynard-Connor KC.