News & Events
News & Events
Outer Temple Chambers congratulates Anthony Lo Surdo SC for being ranked in the Doyles Guide as a Leading Mediator in New South Wales for the sixth consecutive year. Outer Temple Chambers congratulates Anthony Lo Surdo SC for being recognised by clients and peers for his expertise across a range of mediation disciplines including general Commercial Litigation, Insolvency, Employment, Insurance and Estates Litigation in the 2023 Doyles Guide to Leading Mediators in New South Wales. The fact that he has been ranked each year since 2018 is testament to not only his expertise but also the high regard with which he is held in the Dispute Resolution community. Doyles Guide Doyles Guide is an awards recognition program for law firms and lawyers…
News 27 Jun, 2023
In one of the first expositions by the DIFC Court of the effect of Schedule 4 of the DIFC Insolvency Law, the case confirmed that the UNCITRAL Model Law applies in the DIFC only in relation to corporate insolvency. David Russell QC and David Holloway appeared as counsel. This case has generated great interest and was recently included as a Case Focus in Lexis Middle East Law Alert March/April 2022. David Russell QC and David Holloway appeared as counsel and have also written a more detailed Case Comment, first published in the MENA Business Law Review 2022 First Quarter. What happened? An application was made by Trustees who had been appointed by the Abu Dhabi Court in some insolvency proceedings.…
External Publications 8 Apr, 2022
Helen Pugh acted for the successful applicants, Crimson Flower Productions Ltd and others, who were seeking the maximum extension of 2 years to an existing extended civil restraint order in Re: Glass Slipper. The respondents were various companies within the ‘Glass Slipper group’ and their sole director who had persistently sought to re-litigate a dispute they had with Crimson Flower Productions Ltd arising out of the production of a Film in ‘Swan Lake’ by the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. That dispute had been decided definitively in favour of Crimson Flower, one of the applicants, a number of years ago in IPEC proceedings. Trower J’s order extending the ECRO demonstrates the flexibility and breadth of the ECRO jurisdiction. Noting there was…
News 15 Mar, 2022
Justina Stewart has been working closely with Sandton Capital Partners on the launch of Tresartis, a litigation funder focused on the insolvency market. Private equity and special situations institutional investor, Sandton Capital Partners, has announced the launch of Tresartis, a new litigation funding platform focused on the insolvency market which forms part of Sandton’s “IP Unlock” offering. The platform consists of a team of specialist solicitors and legal counsel to deliver a simple, transparent and commercial option into the market, which includes Outer Temple member Justina Stewart. Justina is acting as external counsel to Tresartis, contributing her deep, practical and commercial knowledge of insolvency litigation and litigation funding. What is Tresartis? London-based Tresartis will purchase claims or provide funding for…
News 25 May, 2021
Andrew Spink QC and Helen Pugh signpost the potential impacts of the Pensions Scheme Act 2021 on restructurings. The Pension Schemes Act 2021 (‘the Act’) addresses a number of critical areas concerning pensions, and importantly brings about a number of significant changes. The focus of this briefing note is upon 4 key areas relevant to restructurings: The creation of two new criminal offences with penalties of up to 7 years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine; Mirror civil liability with penalties of up to £1m; The expansion of the existing contribution notice/ moral hazard powers of the Pensions Regulator (‘TPR’); The expansion of notification requirements for certain corporate activity. Whilst the Act received Royal Assent on 11 February 2021, it is…
Legal Blogs 10 Mar, 2021
Following on from their previous article considering the scope of the moratorium from a lender’s perspective, Andrew Spink QC, Justina Stewart and Saaman Pourghadiri consider the thorny question of whether all defined benefit pension scheme contributions are exempt from the payment holiday under the moratorium. In this note Andrew Spink QC, Justina Stewart and Saaman Pourghadiri consider one important issue for insolvency and pensions practitioners which arises from the Moratorium in Part A1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“IA 86”) introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (“CIGA 2020”). The note sets out various arguments going to the vexed issue of which forms of employer contribution to an occupational pension scheme fall within the payment holiday under the…
Legal Blogs 15 Oct, 2020
With suspension of insolvency enforcement due to end shortly, lenders face the prospect of borrowers entering the new, free-standing moratorium. Andrew Spink QC, Justina Stewart and Saaman Pourghadiri consider the impact of the new moratorium from a lender’s perspective. How vulnerable are lenders upon entry into the moratorium? Which categories of charge holders are more vulnerable? How might lenders protect their positions, and what opportunities might a moratorium present to lenders? In this in-depth article, Andrew, Justina and Saaman consider: Protections for lenders arising from: the requirement of companies to meet lenders’ capital and interest payments during the moratorium; the disapplication of “ipso facto” provisions to most financial services contracts; and the ability of lenders, in practice, to stymy the…
Legal Blogs 9 Sep, 2020
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to announce that Anthony Lo Surdo SC has joined chambers as a Professional Associate, based in Sydney, Australia. Anthony joins our global team of legal experts and will enhance our existing presence in the Southern Hemisphere with his experience and impressive existing practice. He is qualified to practice across all states and territories of Australia as well as internationally. Anthony is a Senior Counsel practising primarily from 12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers in Sydney, Australia. He also practises from Lonsdale Chambers in Melbourne. He qualified as a barrister in 1996, following 9 years’ practice as a solicitor in leading Australian law firms and was appointed an SC, equivalent to QC, in 2011. He was also Head…
News 14 Aug, 2020
Tim Prudhoe and Justina Stewart look at the likely implications of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill on several overseas jurisdictions. In the short time since first published (22 May 2020), much electronic ink has been spilt on the most significant reforms introduced by the UK Parliament in a generation to insolvency and restructuring law – the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill. Much, though, is still left unsaid as to the likely wider reach outside of the UK of the finished product. The raw material is there for this to have a major impact in several overseas jurisdictions that follow the English common law model (albeit not, directly, its actual statutory regime). In this article, Tim Prudhoe and Justina Stewart highlight the…
Legal Blogs 12 Jun, 2020
The Government has published the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill setting out the measures it intends to bring in to help businesses survive the economic shock caused by Covid-19, together with important reforms to insolvency. In this article Saaman Pourghadiri of Outer Temple Chambers and Meriel Hodgson-Teall and Daniel Mills of Enyo Law consider what those measures mean for directors and suppliers to companies. This article updates a note Saaman, Meriel and Daniel wrote when measures to assist businesses were first announced. That note can be found here. Overview of the Bill The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) introduces temporary measures to respond to the Covid-19 crisis and permanent additions to the UK insolvency regime. As at the…
Covid-19 3 Jun, 2020
In more Covid-19 related business news, the Government will amend the UK Insolvency Act 1986 to temporarily suspend provisions relating to wrongful trading by UK directors to help them to tackle these extreme trading conditions without the threat of personal liability. Saaman Pourghadiri has collaborated with Meriel Hodgson-Teall and Daniel Mills of Enyo Law to analyse the proposed suspension of wrongful trading provisions & Directors continuing liabilities and duties. Amongst a set of far-reaching new measures designed to ease the pressures and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK businesses, the UK Government recently announced its intention to temporarily suspend provisions relating to wrongful trading by directors of UK companies. The measures, implemented by way of amendment to the UK…
Covid-19 28 Apr, 2020
A High Court judgment has provided important guidance on the provisions for furloughing employees where a company has gone into administration due to COVID-19. Peter Linstead explains how it is no less relevant despite the new Treasury Direction on furlough leave. On Easter Monday 13th April, a High Court judgment gave declaratory guidance on how the provisions for furloughing employees should be applied by administrators where a company had gone into administration as a result of the effects of coronavirus. The judgment succeeds in providing essential clarity on the status of employees’ claims in an insolvency situation and has wider application to contractual variations in the context of furlough. It remains relevant in both these areas despite the publication on 15 April of…
Covid-19 15 Apr, 2020
