Commercial, Chancery & General Litigation

Chancery and commercial disputes are a cornerstone area of instruction for East Anglian Chambers”

Legal 500 (2019)

Our specialist civil team has the expertise and knowledge to deliver comprehensive practical advice combined with quality advocacy for commercial clients and private individuals from the UK and overseas in a wide variety of matters. Many of the team are acknowledged by the legal directories as leaders in their fields.

Members of the team have a thorough understanding of the demands of litigation and are aware of the need to use the litigation process as a means of achieving best outcomes, preferably by avoidance of formal court or arbitral proceedings where possible.

We are able to provide a flexible service from representation at ADR, through small claims, tribunal and County Court hearings to high value disputes in the High Court and above. We have barristers who are experienced in high value international litigation in the Business and Property Courts and arbitral proceedings involving disputes both inside and outside the EU.

Amongst the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the civil justice system has been the dramatic magnification of the delays in obtaining court hearing dates that had already bedevilled legal practitioners and their clients; with many courtrooms, District Judges’ hearing rooms and other facilities rendered incapable of use due to current social distancing and other precautions, or likely to be subject to priority use by the even more seriously affected Crown Court. Clearing the current – and officially recognised – backlog is likely to take a very long time, especially with government priorities as ever focussed elsewhere. Parties and their advisors may therefore be forced to adopt more radical solutions if justice is to be obtained in a timely fashion.

Our team can provide skilled and experienced practitioners, some also qualified as arbitrators, as mediators or who sit part-time as fee-paid judges in the courts and tribunals, who may be able to assist as appropriate neutrals for the purpose of :

  • conducting private arbitrations, either on paper or at a hearing
  • early neutral evaluation of the merits of rival parties’ cases, or
  • expert determination (i.e. reaching a binding decision as an expert, and not under the provisions of the Arbitration Act).

Hearings may be conducted :

  • face-to-face, if suitable premises are available, or
  • by telephone conference call (for short matters) or
  • by Zoom or Microsoft Teams video conference (for longer, or more document-heavy, matters).

 

We are able to provide sound advice and/or representation in a wide range of areas including :

  • Agricultural disputes
  • Banking and consumer credit
  • Building and construction
  • Business and share sale agreements
  • Contractual and commercial trade disputes
  • Costs
  • Franchising
  • Fraud, restitutionary and tracing claims
  • Insolvency – both corporate and individual
  • Insurance
  • Negligence and nuisance
  • Partnership & joint venture disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Sale and supply of goods and services
  • Unfair prejudice and derivative claims

See also the additional specific areas of work:
Court of Protection
Employment
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
Property and Planning
Public Law and Regulatory
Inheritance Probate and Trusts
ADR and Mediation