Alice Hawker

Civil fraud and asset recovery

Alice’s recent experience of civil fraud work includes:

• Acting for the successful Respondent Husband in his application for indemnity costs after the Applicant Wife discontinued claims of fraud, conspiracy and sham one week before a 7-day trial. Led by Justin Kitson. (Crowther v Crowther [2020] EWHC 3555 (Fam))
• Acting for the applicant to obtain orders for service out of the jurisdiction and substituted service in a claim involving allegations of conspiracy, breach of fiduciary and statutory duties and dishonest assistance.
• Acting for claimant to secure proprietary and freezing interim injunctions for fraudulent misappropriation of proceeds of currency spot trades, structured options and forwards.
• Acting for senior director subject to freezing injunction and inspection orders in alleged invoice fraud.
• Acting for claimant to secure freezing injunctions for e-mail hacking fraud.
• Working in Grand Cayman on AHAB v Saad, the largest trial in Cayman history lasting over one year and involving disclosure of over 5 million documents. The multi billion-dollar claim involved allegations of fraud arising from one of the largest corporate collapses of the credit crunch. Alice worked on one of the three successful defendant teams for the 34th Defendant, a fund of funds which is now in liquidation.

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Insolvency

Alice undertakes a wide range of both personal bankruptcy and corporate insolvency work, such as:

• Issues arising in company liquidation and administration
• Bankruptcy hearings
• Winding up petitions

She is often instructed on cases that raises issues of both property and insolvency law, of which she has extensive experience. 

Alice’s recent cases include: 

• Appearing for HMRC in response to applications to annul bankruptcy orders. 
• Acting for two respondent landlord companies to an application by 164 tenant applicants to appoint administrators. 
• Advising and representing the Respondent to an application to set aside a statutory demand concerning whether a solicitor’s bill is an unliquidated debt. 
• Appearing for the successful appellant on an appeal concerning service of statutory demands for the purpose of s. 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (Canning v Irwin Mitchell LLP [2017] EWHC 718 (Ch)). 
• Working in Grand Cayman on AHAB v Saad, the largest trial in Cayman history lasting over one year and involving disclosure of over 5 million documents. The multi-billion dollar claim involved allegations of fraud arising from one of the largest corporate collapses of the credit crunch. Alice worked on one of the three successful defendant teams for the 34th Defendant, a fund of funds which is now in liquidation. 
• Representing the respondent to an application by a liquidator to pay out money pursuant to s. 234(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986, in a case raising issues of subrogation (either statutory or equitable). 

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Professional liability

Alice undertakes claimant and defendant work in connection with professional negligence claims, in particular relating to matters of real property and land registration. 

Alice’s recent cases include: 

• Acting on a multi-million pound professional negligence claim in the Chancery Division of the High Court, involving underlying questions of adverse possession and easements. Led by Gary Blaker KC. The case settled during the trial before Nugee J. 
• Advising on a potential professional negligence claim against an independent financial advisor in respect of a life insurance policy relating to a mortgage. 
• Advising on a potential professional negligence claim against conveyancing solicitors arising from a cohabitation dispute. 

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Property

Alice is ranked as a leading junior in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 for property litigation.

Alice’s practice encompasses all aspects of property litigation. She is regularly instructed on both commercial and residential property matters, including: 

• Forfeiture and lease renewals under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 
• Trusts of land, proprietary estoppel and co-ownership 
• Easements, restrictive covenants and boundary disputes 
• Adverse possession 
• Land registration and conveyancing

Landlord and tenant 

• Acting for the successful claimant on an 8-day trial in a service charge claim for c. £2.3million concerning central London property. Led by Nicholas Trompeter KC. (Criterion Buildings Ltd v McKinsey & Co Inc [2021] EWHC 216 (Ch)). 
• Advising in connection with pandemic rent claims, including rent cesser and insurance provisions. 
• Acting for the claimant on a claim for terminal dilapidations of commercial premises, raising issues regarding the effect of insolvency on guarantees under the lease. 
• Representing the respondent to an application for a vesting order of leasehold property pursuant to s. 1017 of the Companies Act 2006. The case raised issues of whether a Notice of Disclaimer was properly constituted, and whether the applicant had standing under s. 1017(1)(a) of the 2006 Act (McWalter v (1) Her Majesty’s Attorney General (as representative of the Crown) (2) Executors of the Estate of Jeffrey Mattey [2018] EWHC 563 (Ch)). 

Real Property 

• Acting for the claimants in a three-day trial of a boundary dispute, raising issues of T-marks on plans and adverse possession (Simic and Simic v Gray [2021] 4 WLUK 453). 
• Acting for the defendant in a four-day trial regarding breach of repair covenants, breach of contract for sale, breach of the Defective Premises Act 1972 and nuisance. 
• Advising on the enforceability of restrictive covenants on freehold properties on an estate comprising over 35 houses and 60 flats. 
• Acting for the claimants in a claim for specific performance of an option agreement to purchase land, or damages in lieu. 
• Presenting an application for summary judgment for payment of an award under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. 
• Advising and representing three defendants in a long-running dispute concerning trespass and harassment. Appeared at the return hearing for an interim injunction and cross-examined five relevant witnesses, and the subsequent successful application to strike out the claimant’s case against one defendant. 
• Representing the appellant in a matter arising from a boundary dispute in an appeal against the trial judge’s refusal of relief from sanctions. (Lakhani v Mahmud [2017] EWHC 1713 (Ch)). 
• Representing the claimant at trial in a claim for a declaration as to the beneficial ownership of property registered in joint names, raising issues of remedial constructive trusts, proprietary estoppel and undue influence. 

Mortgages 

• Representing the respondents to an application to set aside a possession order arising from the applicant’s refusal to vacate under the terms of a Tomlin Order. 
• Representing LPA Receivers in their claim for possession of various properties arising from a settlement agreement. 

Land registration and conveyancing 

• Representing the third defendant to a claim for a declaration that the claimant held a leasehold interest in one of 262 flats raising issues of the validity of the transfer, land registration rules and the freeholder’s authority to grant a sub-lease. 
• Advising on a claim for an indemnity from the Chief Land Registrar pursuant to Schedule 8 of the Land Registration Act 2002 arising from omissions and errors in the Register.

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