Commercial
Overview
Lisa Linklater K.C. is a leading King’s Counsel specialising in shareholder disputes, insolvency and corporate litigation, often involving allegations of fraud and issues concerning property and trusts.
She is regularly instructed in high-value and complex disputes in the Business and Property Courts and the Court of Appeal and is equally sought after for strategic and commercially focused advice. She is valued for her tenacity and resilience in high-pressure situations.
Lisa is Vice-Chair of the Northern Business and Property Bar Association.
Recommendations
Lisa is consistently ranked as a Band 1 silk by Chambers & Partners and Tier 1 by Legal 500.
Chambers and Partners UK Bar 2026 notes “Her advocacy is top-notch and she is very persuasive”, as well as being “very proactive, very knowledgeable” and “commercially aware”.
Legal 500 UK Bar 2026 states “Lisa is an accomplished silk. She gets to grips with complex cases with ease and pace. She is a pleasure to work with.”
Recent legal directories noted: “She’s absolutely great in helping steer a matter to a successful conclusion and she’s not afraid of taking the plunge when you have to be decisive,” “Lisa is technically excellent” and “a formidable opponent”. Further, she is “pragmatic, intelligent, and always calm and considered,” as well as being “tenacious in battle”.
Expertise
Lisa has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, including in the engineering, technology, energy, financial services, property, retail, construction, sports and manufacturing sectors.
She frequently acts in cases with an international dimension, working with lawyers in other jurisdictions (recent examples include Jersey, Isle of Man, Scotland, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia).
She is adept in cases involving forensic accounting, digital forensics and other expert evidence.
Recent Experience and Highlights
Examples of Lisa’s commercial litigation practice in silk include:
Company law (particularly Shareholder Disputes):
- Secured the dismissal of an application in the High Court made on short notice to appoint a manager over a business in a highly charged shareholder dispute within a family in a long-established business (2026).
- Successfully defended at trial an unfair prejudice petition in a hard fought and longstanding dispute between two families. The dispute involved a confiscation order following proceedings by the Serious Fraud Office. Lisa was first retained as lead advocate for trial in the High Court (2024–2025).
Corporate Disputes
- Retained as advocate for a substantial application in a complex and long-running case involving a share sale agreement with complexities in relation to pre-emption conditions in the Company’s articles of association which were not followed. Successfully concluded by commercial settlement (2025).
- Acting for and advising a minority shareholder in respect of share forfeiture provisions flowing from Good Leaver/Bad Leaver clauses in a shareholders’ agreement, leading to settlement. The shareholders’ agreement was part of a complex suite of corporate documentation, created following investment by private equity investors in the company. The company had developed and owns valuable software (2024–2025).
Insolvency, Restructuring and related Banking and Finance
- Currently acting for administrators of companies in the energy sector in a highly complex and high-value matter involving complex accounting issues within a substantial group of companies with subsidiaries based both in England and overseas (ongoing).
- Currently acting for the liquidator of companies within a group, including an FCA regulated company, in respect of complex legal and factual issues relating to security, directors’ duties and a trust required by the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (ongoing).
- Acting on behalf of one of the world’s largest banking and financial organisations in respect of substantial claims under guarantees and indemnities of commercial lending in respect of company in administration and LLP in liquidation (ongoing).
- Advising guarantors of and shareholders in a company carrying out a substantial residential property development in East Yorkshire on strategy in dispute with lender of a bridging loan of £4m for the development. The dispute involved the alleged sale of their shares in the company to a third party by the lender further to a charge over the shares (2024-2025).
- Acting in the High Court in London for Defendant to very high profile, factually and legally complex alleged claim of £12m by company administrators. The claim is for alleged dishonest assistance and knowing receipt of breach of trust and alleged breaches of directors’ duties, relating to a share sale by the Defendant of his shares in the company. Lisa has collaborated closely with Jersey lawyers in respect of a freezing order obtained in the Royal Court of Jersey (ongoing).
- Acted in claim involving allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation relating to a share sale agreement, leading to early commercial settlement (2025-2026).
Contractual Disputes, particularly post Merger and Acquisition Disputes
- Acting for seller of shares in a company in the technology sector in hotly contested claim against purchaser for earn-out of up to £11m under a share purchase agreement, involving disputes as to the construction of the contract (ongoing).
Substantial Interim Applications
Lisa frequently acts in a wide range of interim applications in a commercial litigation context, such as applications for emergency interim injunctive relief, challenges to jurisdiction or security for costs. For example, she recently acted in the London Circuit Commercial Court on an application as to whether After the Event Insurance was adequate security for costs in the context of a long-running dispute to recover unpaid commission of £2.35m due to the Claimant, as appointed representative for independent insurers.
Related Property and Trusts Issues
- Currently acting in respect of dispute relating to jointly owned commercial and residential property portfolio in London and the North West with a value of over £10m and related allegations of unfair prejudice under s994 Companies Act 2006 (ongoing).
- Acting for and advising the administrator of a company owning substantial land, including a partially completed residential development, giving rise to complex legal and practical issues involving both insolvency and property law (ongoing).
Further Expertise
In 2023 Lisa was chair of a prestigious panel of international experts at the 40th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime and in 2024 she chaired at the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Security Conference in Manchester. She was a keynote speaker at “Reforming Corporate Insolvency Law for the 21st century” in 2025, a joint collaboration between the Society of Legal Scholars and Lancaster University.
Recent presentations by Lisa at Exchange Chambers’ Insolvency and Commercial Litigation conferences include “In the Shadows? Fraud and Insolvency” (2025/2026) and “Recent Developments in Corporate Litigation”
Commercial Cases
Lisa’s experience in commercial litigation and commercial contract before taking silk includes the following:
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
- Securing a favourable settlement for the defendants to a £5 million misfeasance and transaction defrauding creditors claim, brought by the liquidators of an offshore partnership that had moved onshore in long-running HCt BPC proceedings (2018 – 2021).
- Wybone Limited: Successfully defended serious allegations and defeated injunction application against client director in respect of management of successful company (2020)(HCt).
- [2019] EWHC 546 (Ch) and [2019] EWHC 1928 (Ch): Successfully defended challenge to the English High Court’s jurisdiction and claim that England was forum non conveniens, securing payment of debt and withdrawal of claim in Northern Ireland for over £1.7 million (HCt).
- Northgate Lighting Limited v Brite Source PTE Limited: Acted for Singaporean company in disputed winding up petition relating to lighting supplies valued at $2.2 million (2019) (HCt).
- Acted for Sports Direct in defending emergency application for delivery up of items in High Street stores following the purchase of House of Fraser (in administration) (2018) (HCt).
- Representing company that bought a pharmaceutical business from a company in administration in claims brought by the administrators that the terms of the business sale agreement had been breached (2017) (HCt).
- Successfully defending injunctive relief proceedings brought by a major manufacturer of bed products that had purchased a portfolio of properties from administrators in a “fire sale” and obtaining a favourable settlement of claim before a six day trial. The claim centred on allegations of civil fraud and was related to high profile criminal proceedings relating to the premises (2016) (HCt).
- Successfully obtained freezing order for leading travel company, based in Yorkshire (2015) (HCt).
- Advised and represented leading household name in the energy sector in dispute relating to power station in the North West (2015) (HCt).
- Obtained injunction on behalf of an academy in West Yorkshire to help secure pupils and employees following violent threats by a pupil (2014).
- Close Asset Finance Limited v B & ors: Defended application for repossession of specialist machinery, used to make medical milk for export pursuant to licence, and subject to hire purchase agreements, brought by finance house. The first hearing of the application settled, preserving use of machinery for client during administration (2015) (HCt).
- Oxford RFS v AP & ors (2013) (Briggs J) Successfully obtained an interim injunction on behalf of a company against a former employee restraining use of confidential information and records taken in a developing technology in the energy sector and subsequently successfully settled claim.
- Paragon Mortgages Ltd v MP [2011] All ER (D) 65 (David Steel J) Acted for borrower in multi-million pound claims under guarantees and on personal mortgages of buy to let properties in Leeds where LPA receivers had been appointed.
- Lowes v W Machell Joinery Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 794, [2012] 1 All ER (Comm) 153 and [2011] EWCA Civ 798 (Rix LJ, Lloyd LJ and Lewison J) Whether a staircase was unfit for purpose under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 due to non-compliance with Building Regulations and the extent to which new points may be taken on appeal and costs consequences.
- GE Money Home Lending Ltd v H C Wolton & Sons Ltd (t/a Wolton Chartered Surveyors) [2010] All ER (D) 116 (May) [2010] PNLR 28 (HHJ Behrens) Whether or not claim form in professional negligence proceedings could be amended in respect of name of one of the parties outside limitation period.
- Michael Gerson (Leasing) Ltd v Loach and others [2002] All ER (D) 147 (Jul) (Court of Appeal) (Pill LJ, Robert Walker LJ and Sir Martin Nourse) Succeeded in appeal on issue of construction of chattel leasing agreement.
COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS
- Successfully acted for construction company in claim for specific performance of a contract to purchase land with a contract value of £4m in a dispute that had lasted 10 years (2020 – 2021) (HCt).
- Unwin v Bond [2020] EWHC 1769 (Comm), a precedent case on good faith clauses in shareholder agreements and one of the first trials to take place remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Advising a local authority on successfully exiting an onerous contract relating to mortuary services (2019).
- Successfully defending a claim under a joint venture agreement and by proprietary estoppel to a valuable quarry at an 8-day trial (2019) (HCt).
- Representing a Yorkshire Fastest 50 company in defending a claim brought by a commercial agent for in excess of £2.5 million in alleged unpaid commission (2018).
- Advising in alleged breach of contract claim relating to project in Dubai (2018).
- Successfully acted for sellers of shares in claim against purchasers for breach of share purchase agreement involving a company providing car repair services for insurers. Case settled before issue of proceedings (2017).
- Atlantisrealm Ltd v Intelligent Land Investments (Renewable Energy) Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1029, [2017] C.P. Rep. 39, [2017] EWHC 564 (TCC): Acted for the Claimant in a substantial claim of over £1 million for breach of warranties in a share purchase agreement involving a wind farm in Scotland. The case settled before a 10-day trial and following a high-profile appeal centred on disclosure of legally professionally privileged documents by the Defendant.
- Lisa successfully acted for a major commercial landscaping company in obtaining settlement of a claim of just under £1 million in the Mercantile Court against a local authority. The claim was for breach of a public sector contract relating to groundworks in parks, schools and other amenities under the control of the local authority (2015) (HCt).
- Successfully defended seller of shares in claim for alleged breach of warranties in a share sale agreement relating to a debt collection company in a case involving complex forensic accounting issues on the issue of liability (2015) (HCt).
Please see the bespoke CVs opposite for details of Lisa’s practice, expertise and experience in company (particularly shareholder disputes), insolvency, commercial fraud and property and trusts before taking silk.
