Insolvency
Richard is an experienced Junior in the Insolvency department, with significant experience in the area, acting in an advisory capacity, in drafting and in advocacy of all kinds.
More particularly, Richard’s practice encompasses:
- all aspects of personal and corporate insolvency, for both office holders and those subject to insolvency proceedings;
- voidable transactions and other matters;
- misfeasance;
- directors’ disqualification and unfair prejudice petitions; and
- injunctions
Richard is also a member of the Commercial, Commercial Fraud and Property teams and thus able to deal with matters also covering those areas of law.
Richard is listed as a Leading Individual in Chambers & Partners in Restructuring/Insolvency, and a Leading Junior in The Legal 500 in Company and Insolvency.
Further, Richard’s role as Junior Counsel to the Crown (Regional A Panel) involves him being instructed regularly in cases involving breaches of directors’ duties, public interest winding up petitions and directors’ disqualification proceedings.
Insolvency Cases
Recent and relevant cases include:
Royle v Together Commercial Finance Ltd [2024] EWHC 2915 (Ch) – led by Lesley Anderson KC and involving numerous other silks – concerning allegations of various breaches on the part of a lender and other parties, said to amount to some £40,000,000, including various insolvency aspects
Re Alam Investments Ltd [2023] EWHC 1460 (Ch) – led by Mark Cawson KC and later Paul Chaisty KC – 42 day trial of preliminary issues in 5 linked actions, amongst other hearings, concerning control of a family supermarket business and a family history spanning several decades, with the actions including an unfair prejudice petition, derivative action, a possession claim and claims for various economic torts
Re G – 2023 – unrep – insolvency case concerning fictitious citations generated by unchecked use of Chat GPT – reported in Law Society Gazette, 29 May 2023
Absolute Living Developments Ltd v DS7 Ltd and others [2018] EWHC 1717 (Ch) & [2018] EWHC 1432 (Ch) – being led by David Mohyuddin KC in a case involving allegations of de facto and shadow directorship and largescale fraud amounting to £14,000,000 generally, and in two reported decisions relating to contempt of Court and security for costs as against a liquidator. Richard was further involved in drafting appeal papers to the Court of Appeal in the matter.
Re Batra (December 2018/Jan 2019) – acting for receivers of numerous properties comprising hotels in London in an action to seek a validation order for the intended sale of those hotels for a sum in excess of £15,000,000 in the face of opposition from the debtor. The case involved consideration of the jurisdiction of the Court to validate a sale of property by Court appointed and out of Court appointed receivers. Commentary in Insolvency Intelligence, 2019, Issue 4, p 159 and Sealy v Milman’s Annotated Guide to the Insolvency Legislation.
Re Budniok [2017] EWHC 368 (Ch) and related cases – acting as part of the legal and Counsel team for the Crown concerning the interpretation of the then newly instituted bankruptcy application process (commentary on the case may be found in Insolvency Intelligence (Insolv. Int. (2017) Vol.30 No.6 Pages 89-91) and New Law Journal (N.L.J. (2017) Vol.167 No.7737 Page 17)).
Re Warwick – [2017] EWHC 2610 (Ch) – concerning distribution of funds in relation to a company limited by guarantee in liquidation, including concerning deceased or dissolved past members, in the absence of provisions in the Articles as to the same
