Insolvency

Insolvency

Members of Wilberforce Chambers’ Insolvency Group specialise in all aspects of corporate and personal insolvency litigation and advice. We do so in the UK and offshore. Our Group includes winners and nominees for Insolvency and Restructuring industry awards and authors of leading textbooks in the area.

Members have been involved in high-profile insolvency matters in many jurisdictions over the years. Examples include Equity Trust (Jersey) Ltd v Halabi [2022] (a pivotal Privy Council decision on the interplay between insolvency and trusts law), Leeds v Lemos [2017] (the leading case on the right to assert privilege in insolvency), Akers v Samba [2017] (the Supreme Court’s decision on void transactions under s.127 of the Insolvency Act 1986), Re Stanford International Bank [2016-2017] (acting for former liquidators in jurisdiction battles in London and professional negligence claims in London and Antigua), and Re Nortel / Lehman [2013] (the Supreme Court’s decision restating the law on provable debts).

We also work in connection with restructurings, in particular where issues cross-over with our other practice areas such as property and pensions. Recent examples include the New Look CVA, the Travelodge CVA, the pensions restructuring case of Halcrow, the HMV CVA and the Baha Mar receivership and provisional liquidation in the Bahamas.

We act on office holder claims, directors’ disqualifications as well as dealing with international and multi-jurisdictional disputes under both the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings and the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations.

Chambers offers strength in depth, from senior KCs to recently qualified juniors. Members are experienced in acting for creditors (secured and unsecured), debtors, officeholders and others in insolvency related matters. Chambers is also able to draw on Members’ expertise in other specialised areas of law, including pensions, civil fraud, trusts, asset recovery and property law.

Marcia Shekerdemian KC sits as a Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge.

Publications

James Ayliffe KC is co-author of Transaction Avoidance in Insolvencies, OUP, 3rd ed (2018), and the specialist editor of the insolvency chapter in one of the principal practitioner texts on landlord and tenant law, Hill & Redman’s Law of Landlord & Tenant.

Tom Robinson co-edits and he, Marcia Shekerdemian KC, Anna Littler and Bobby Friedman are contributors to Sweet & Maxwell’s Kerr & Hunter on Receivers and Administrators,  20^th ed, 2018

Lexa Hilliard KC is a contributor to OUP’s Company Directors – Duties, Liabilities and Remedies 3rd Edn 2017 (edited by Simon Mortimore)

David Pollard has written “Corporate Insolvency: Employment and Pension Rights” (2022), “Corporate Insolvency: Employment Rights” (2016) and “Corporate Insolvency: Pension Rights” (2016).

Rankings and recognition

Chambers & Partners 2023: Wilberforce Chambers is noted for its impressive work tackling both corporate and personal insolvency matters. Members are frequently called upon to undertake cases arising both in the UK and further afield, and offer significant expertise in the handling of complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. Areas of particular strength for the set include administrations, CVAs, restructurings and schemes of arrangement. The team is also regularly instructed in cases involving complex pensions and property elements, owing to the set’s established strengths in these areas. An enviable client list includes creditors, debtors and insolvency office holders. Recent cases of note include Re Vireol, in which members acted for three directors of the company in a claim brought by liquidators for breaches of fiduciary duty. Wilberforce were also instructed on Marylebone Warwick Balfour Management v Richard Balfour Lynn and others, a claim against seven former directors for breach of fiduciary duty.

The Legal 500 2023: Wilberforce Chambers fields teams of counsel that cover multi-disciplinary cases and have ‘become a force in the insolvency world‘. In 2021 chambers was further strengthened in this field with the additions of both Sri Carmichael and Jessica Brooke, and they join a set that includes Clare Stanley KC, and experienced insolvency silk in both onshore and offshore courts. Her recent caseload has included Al Jaber and others v Mitchell and others, where she acted for the successful appellants in a $1bn fraud/insolvency claim by liquidators.

TRI Awards: Winner of Insolvency & Restructuring Chambers of the Year 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Lawdragon’s 2020 list of the 500 leading global restructuring and insolvency lawyers: Thomas Lowe KC, Lexa Hilliard KC, Marcia Shekerdemian KC and Max Mallin KC feature.

Global Restructuring Review Awards 2019:  Nominated for the “most significant restructuring or insolvency-related litigation” for our work on Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB) v Al-Sanea & Ors.