Civil Litigation
Alastair is Head of Litigation and a highly regarded solicitor with over 20 years’ experience representing clients in a wide range of civil matters. He has held senior partnership positions at a number of highly regarded firms and has a proven record of success in his field. His areas of expertise encompass property disputes, landlord and tenant disputes, complex will and trust disputes, breach of contract, debt recovery and employment issues including claims before an employment tribunal. He has significant experience in pursuing these matters from County Court level through to the Court of Appeal often working with senior Chancery counsel.
Whilst Alastair will vigorously litigate matters, he is also often successful in concluding disputes through ADR where a pragmatic approach can lead to a more certain outcome with significantly less costs being incurred. His client base is varied though he has developed a strong following with high-net worth city-based clients.
Family and Matrimonial
Alastair is a very experienced matrimonial solicitor in both financial relief and child arrangement proceedings. He is a trained Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer who in the first instance looks towards resolving matters between parties through ADR. He has specific experience in high value financial relief matters often where the assets are of an amount which exceeds the parties needs. In relation to child arrangement matters he often acts in circumstances where parents cannot agree with whom a child should live, how often a child should see the non-resident parent, where grandparents wish to see a grandchild, where a parent wishes to live with a child in another country or specific issues such as where a child should go to school.
He has a special interest in cases involving parental alienation where a parent is seeking to distance a child from a parent. He represents parties where they are unmarried and need to assert rights in relation to a property or obtain maintenance for children. He can also advise upon pre/post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.
If you would like to speak to our expert legal team about this, or any related subject then please contact our team by phone on 0207 936 6329, Email or by completing our Quick Contact Form below.
Acting on behalf of a widow in successfully arguing against a pension nomination where her deceased husband had nominated his mistress. The pension trustees overturned the nomination and gave the entirety of the widows’ pension to the widow amounting to a significant 6 figure sum.
Representing sons of a deceased farmer in a multi-million-pound High Court matter where the farm was left in the will to one son to the exclusion of the other two sons. Successfully arguing that this was in fact a partnership dispute and the farm was a partnership asset to be divided amongst the remaining partners who were the two sons equally.
Representing a client in relation to an option to purchase an island in Indonesia and successfully recovering a significant six figure deposit 10 years after it was paid.
Successfully representing an accountancy firm in relation to historic outstanding fees obtaining significant costs orders against the defendants resulting from their litigation conduct over the 5 years of the litigation.
Acting on behalf of the daughters of the deceased where a deputy acting on behalf of the deceased during his lifetime had misappropriated funds. Successfully overturning a pension nomination and recovering funds from the bond holder.
Successfully arguing for the grant of a prescriptive right of access where the right had been enjoyed by a successful business for over 40 years in circumstances where a developer had purchased the land over which access was required. Without the access the business would have been unable to operate.
Acting on behalf of a senior director in relation to a settlement agreement where the settlement figure was over £800,000.00
Acting for a mother where the parties were unmarried but had 3 children with special needs which required funding by the father post separation. The father had significant wealth and despite this being a co-habitation matter and following significant negotiation provided not only for the children but also his former partner during the children’s minority and thereafter.
Acting for a wife in circumstances where the husband was attempting to mislead the court as to the extent of his assets. Following on from forensic accountancy expert evidence and cross examination at a final hearing the wife was able to prove that the husband had significantly more wealth than he had previously disclosed and obtained a settlement which exceeded her expectations.
Acting for a wife in a pre-nuptial agreement where the husband’s assets were more than 20 times that of the wife. Negotiating terms which provided generously for the wife in the event that the marriage ended despite the husband’s initial position being that she would not benefit at all from his assets in those circumstances.
Acting for a father wishing to re-establish a relationship with his children in circumstances where it was accepted that domestic abuse had taken place during the marriage. Following on from the issue of proceedings by the father and enquiry by the court, negotiated re-commencement of the father’s relationship with the children leading to the father spending regular unsupervised time with the children.
