Ram Lakshman

Ram is consistently praised by solicitors for the quality of his work and his ability to achieve a positive outcome for the client. Recent feedback includes:

• “Ram’s involvement has been a godsend from our perspective. I am not sure we could be anywhere near as advanced on everything without his involvement.”
• “Ram is always very responsive, concise and not only gets the job done but is a real pleasure to work with.”
• “Ram is very clear and methodical and very pleasant to work with. He is very reasoned in everything he does. Ram is very good with clients and very hard working and supportive.”

Recent examples of notable work include:

Commercial

• Acting, led by Alan Gourgey KC and Harris Bor in Wejo Limited v Arma Partners LLP, one of the Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2023. Ram acts for the Defendant in this substantial commercial dispute relating to the payment of a success fee for a SPAC transaction.
• Acting, led by Robert Anderson KC and Carmine Conte on behalf of a major Canadian corporation and its English subsidiary in ongoing civil fraud proceedings against its founder, former CEO and majority shareholder. The proceedings are ongoing, but to date the Claimants have achieved notable successes in several interim application hearings.
• Acting as sole counsel on behalf of a major national retailer, defending claims for breach of confidentiality, misuse of private information breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998. The claim was successfully settled on a no-admissions basis shortly before trial.
• Appearing successfully as sole counsel for the Claimant in a trial relating to the payment of a recruitment fee, obtaining judgment in excess of £50,000.

Company Law

• Acting, led by Andrew Mold KC and James Goodwin, advising a group of investors in Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), now in liquidation, about potential claims against the former directors and managers of the VCTs.

• Acting, led by Anthony Pavlovich, on an application for permission to appeal on the issue of whether a charging order can be granted in order to enforce a buy-out order following an unfair prejudice petition. The matter was settled prior to the application being heard.
• Acting on behalf of the co-founder and 50% shareholder of a company engaged in education and training, on claims in unfair prejudice against his co-founder and holder of the other 50% of shares. Ram helped navigate the claim to a successful settlement.
• Appearing successfully as sole counsel in the High Court in an application to enforce a buy-out order following an unfair prejudice petition, obtaining final charging orders over four properties.

Insolvency

• Acting, led by Lexa Hilliard KC, on behalf of the joint administrators in relation to a complex administration involving the intermingling of assets between group companies. Ram appeared as sole counsel on an application to extend the administration and successfully obtained a 3-year extension.
• Appearing, led by Jack Watson, in the matter of Louise Mary Brittain (as trustee in bankruptcy of Jonathan Ferster) v (1) Jonathan Ferster (a bankrupt) (2) Jonathan Seeds and (3) Evolution Software (UK) Ltd [2022] EWHC 1060 (Ch). Jack and Ram acted for the applicant trustee in bankruptcy and successfully obtained a suspension of the bankruptcy to its fifth anniversary as well as extensive orders for the disclosure of information and documentation.
• Appearing successfully as sole counsel in various insolvency proceedings (both personal and corporate) in both the High Court and the County Court. Ram has particular expertise in complex or non-standard insolvency proceedings, including where there are allegations that the debt is disputed.

Pensions

• Acting, led by Jonathan Hilliard KC and Sebastian Allen, in relation to a complex and high value pensions dispute involving the validity of benefit changes made to a pension scheme across a period of more than 20 years.
• Advising on various contentious pensions matters, including in relation to the entitlement of the beneficiary of a Jersey trust to the payment of an annuity.
• (As a pupil) assisting Tom Robinson and Henry Legge KC in Punter Southall Governance Services Ltd v Hazlett [2021] EWHC 1652, the leading case on forfeiture and limitation in the context of claims to pension arrears.

Trusts and Estates

• Acting as junior counsel to Jonathan Hilliard KC advising trustees in relation to very high value divorce proceedings in which the wife was seeking orders for the trusts to be varied or otherwise treated as a matrimonial resource.
• Acting as sole counsel on behalf of a category of beneficiaries in relation to a complex dispute concerning the construction of a will.
• Acting as junior counsel to Jonathan Hilliard KC advising the defendants to a complex estates dispute, with the claimants seeking to set aside a number of payments made by the deceased prior to her death on the grounds of undue influence, lack of capacity, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Property

• Acting, led by Tom Roscoe, on behalf of High Court Enforcement Officers, defending claims for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and breaches of the human rights act brought by protestors in relation to their eviction from HS2 land.
• Acting on behalf of the landlord in relation to a dispute concerning possession of a skate park.
• Appearing successfully as sole counsel in various commercial and residential possession proceedings (both landlord/tenant and mortgagor/mortgagee), as well as proceedings to stay the enforcement of writs and warrants of possession. Ram has particular expertise in complex or non-standard possession proceedings, including where issues are raised relating to the failure to comply with the deposit protection legislation, or where there are allegations of disrepair.