Profile description
Commercial
Having worked for international trading companies, Stephen is particularly interested in
contractual disputes. In Smuts v Pearson, he acted for the successful claimants in the trial of
a preliminary issue to determine whether they made the contract to sell their business to the
defendant or the defendant’s company, which had gone into liquidation.
He acted for the successful buyer in an arbitration concerning a shipment of prawns from
India and the successful defendant in a trial concerning a joint venture to purchase vehicles
from the USAF that had been used for transporting cruise missiles.
Company and Partnership
Stephen has dealt with a number of partnership disputes between GPs, surgeons,
accountants, insurance brokers and solicitors.
Arbitration
Stephen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has been the sole arbitrator
in 66 documents only arbitrations, mainly concerning claims against travel companies arising
out of package holidays. He is on both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ Business
Arbitration Scheme panel and CEDR’s arbitration panel.
Banking
Stephen has experience in dealing with claims concerning guarantees, documentary credits,
mortgages and consumer credit. His most recent case in this field was Goldhill Finance
Limited v Berry [2018] PLSCS 184. HHJ Monty QC held that in taking possession pursuant
to its common law rights, despite an order suspending a warrant for possession, the mortgagee had rendered its relationship with the mortgagor unfair.
Professional Negligence
Stephen has experience of dealing with cases involving the negligence of solicitors,
surveyors and accountants; see the references to the Court of Appeal cases of Littlewood v
Radford [2010] 1 P & CR 18 and Dudarec v Andrews [2006] 1 WLR 3002 .
He is on CEDR’s adjudication panel dealing with RICS referred complaints against
surveyors.
Real Property
Stephen has experience of dealing with easements, party wall disputes, nuisance, trespass
and fraud. For example, in Gill v Gill, he appeared for the claimant who successfully sued
her siblings for conspiracy to forge her signature on a TR1 transferring title to her brother
and in Dawoodi v Zafrani [2015] EWHC 3168 (TCC) for the claimant who successfully sued
the defendant developer for damages in trespass and nuisance.
Trusts, Probate & Estates
Stephen is an ACTAPS registered contentious trust and probate specialist.
In Watts v Watts [2014] WTLR 1781, Stephen appeared for the claimant who successfully
sued his brother for breach of trust, undue influence and deceit.
In Howard v Howard-Lawson [2012] EWHC 3258 (Ch) (and on appeal [2013] EWCA Civ
654) Stephen appeared for the defendant who successfully resisted his son’s claim that he
committed multiple breaches of trust and exercised undue influence over him in connection
with a variation of a trust.
