News & Events
News & Events
Elaine Palser and Helen Pugh, instructed by RPC and CMS Cameron McKenna respectively, acted successfully for the first and second trustees in bankruptcy (T-in-B) respectively in the recent High Court decision of McFadzean v Martinez [2026] EWHC 426 (Ch). A former bankrupt sought the court’s leave to sue her two former trustees in bankruptcy for alleged negligence in the sale of a substantial French property. The judgment considers the test for leave to bring a claim against a trustee pursuant to section 304 of the Insolvency Act 1986 where the proposed claim is brought by a former bankrupt and where the trustees have already had their release. Whilst the court will weigh up all the relevant factors in each case,…
News 25 Mar, 2026
Judgment has been handed down in Parkman (Trustee in Bankruptcy) v Dabir Ahmed and Ors [2025] EWHC 3500 (Ch). Ahmed Elhusseiny acted for the Applicant. ICC Judge Prentis refused to “prise open” costs order pursuant to Section 375 of the Insolvency Act 1986 where the Applicant raised allegations that reserved legal activities were carried out by non-qualified individuals contrary to the prohibition in section 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007. The case will be of some interest as one of the latest iterations of judges grappling with the fallout from Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341. While the Applicant claimed that significant work streams were carried out by non-qualified individuals, ICC Judge Prentis refused to exercise the…
News 22 Jan, 2026
Ahmed Ehusseiny successfully acted for the Petitioning Director in the Insolvency and Companies Court on the question of whether the court is prepared to exercise its “extraordinary jurisdiction” to go beyond a final judgment of the High Court. The Insolvency and Companies Court dismissed an attempt by Siobhain Crosbie, a psychotherapist, to resist a bankruptcy petition brought against her by Caroline Ley, another therapist, arising from a judgment debt of £237,753.78. The petition debt stemmed from a judgment of Knowles J following a contested trial in 2023 in which Ms Crosbie’s passing-off claim against Ms Ley was dismissed and Ms Ley’s counterclaims for defamation and harassment were upheld. Ms Crosbie was ordered to pay damages and costs. In those proceedings, Ms…
News 10 Nov, 2025
OTC is delighted with an outstanding set of rankings in the Legal 500 UK 2026 Guide
News 7 Oct, 2025
Chambers and Partners UK Bar 2025 have today launched their 2025 Guide and we are delighted to share the highlights from this year’s rankings, including two Band 1 awards for our Pensions Law team and Travel Law team. We are delighted to share the news that Outer Temple Chambers has yet again been awarded 9 set rankings in the 2025 Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide and over 110 individual rankings. In what is our best set of rankings ever, our individual rankings see 12 new entries and 16 elevations, whilst we are delighted with two new Band 1 set rankings. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks for another year of excellent results. A particular thank…
News 17 Oct, 2024
The Legal 500 2025 rankings have just been announced and Outer Temple Chambers is delighted with another year of excellent results including a Tier 1 Pensions ranking We are proud to announce that we have been recognised as a Top Tier Set in Crypto & Blockchain Assets again, as well as achieving a Top Tier Set ranking in Pensions. These Tier 1 rankings mean we are now ranked for excellence in nine practice area rankings with 73 individual members ranked across 27 practice areas. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks within these teams for another year of excellent results. A particular thank you to all our clients and colleagues for taking the time to provide references.…
News 2 Oct, 2024
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…
Insights 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…
Insights 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…
Insights 9 Sep, 2020
