Practice overview
Michael works across Gatehouse Chambers' core practice areas with a particular focus on professional liability, commercial and property law.
He is an experienced and confident advocate, who is frequently instructed in high value and complex disputes. He is comfortable being instructed as sole counsel or as part of a legal team.
Clients value Michael’s practical and focussed advice. In particular, they appreciate the value of his clear, strategic approach to litigation, which underpins the advice he gives.
Michael has recently returned from living and working in Melbourne, Australia. He worked for the state Department of Justice as a mediator in cases regarding professional liability, contractual disputes and construction matters.
Prior to working at the bar, Michael worked at an international law firm, where he was involved in a number of international arbitrations including disputes over major infrastructure projects and power plants.
Areas of expertise
- Commercial litigation
Commercial litigation
Michael undertakes a range of commercial work across chambers’ areas of expertise. He has experience of a broad range of work including contractual disputes, insurance coverage and subrogated claims, insolvency work and company law claims.
He is an experienced court advocate and has also acted in a variety of ADR processes, including mediation and adjudication.
Related work:
- Working as part of the legal team in support of a £150m claim in the Chancery Division.
- Advising a developer on an application for disclosure of insurance position.
- Acting for a communications company in a dispute regarding the purchase of telecommunication service contracts.
- Advising and acting for SMEs in contractual disputes.
- Acting for a hire-purchase company defending claims from customers.
- Assisting senior counsel in partnership disputes.
- Acting for creditors in insolvency proceedings.
- Various applications against the Registrar of Companies.
- Professional liability
Professional liability
Michael has a busy professional liability practice, acting for both claimants and defendants in a range of sectors. He has experience in matters relating to solicitors, financial advisers and construction professionals.
Michael has previously undertaken a secondment in the professional negligence department of a law firm. Through this experience, he gained valuable insight into the needs of client firms and how best to be able to assist as counsel.
Related work:
- Providing advice to insurers in a claim against conveyancing solicitors.
- Acting for claimants in a dispute relating to the Icebreaker partnership scheme.
- Acting in claims for and against architects for defective building designs.
- Acting for a hotel developer against a design and build contractor.
- Construction & engineering
Construction & engineering
Michael has a busy construction and engineering practice, acting for employers, contractors and construction professionals. He has a particular interest in the area having previously worked in the construction group of an international law firm.
Michael accepts instructions under the Gatehouse Chambers Fixed Fee Adjudication Scheme.
Michael is a contributing author to Paul Reed’s Construction All Risks Insurance (2nd Ed: 2016), the Practical Law Construction Blog and to Lexology.
Related work:
- Acting for a building contractor in a case concerning allegations of defective work and overpayment.
- Acting for homeowners in a variety of claims against contractors regarding domestic construction work.
- Advising an insurer in respect of a water damage claim against a subcontractor.
- Assisting with an adjudication regarding payment notices.
- Acting for a subcontractor in a claim regarding damage to utilities.
- Advising and acting for the employer in claims against a roofing contractor.
- Property
- Commercial landlord & tenant
Commercial landlord & tenant
Michael is developing a broad property practice with a focus on commercial property disputes.
Michael acts for both commercial landlords and tenants. He has experience of forfeiture claims and contractual disputes as well as assisting with a wide variety of commercial property matters.
Related work:
- Successfully representing a commercial landlord in a dispute over insurance rent.
- Advising a commercial tenant on a rent abatement claim.
- Advising and acting in successful claim for rent arrears in a claim resisted on the basis of a limitation defence.
- Advising on recovery of rent arrears under a disputed rent review clause of a retail premises.
- Housing (social & privately rented)
Housing (social & privately rented)
Michael acts for both landlords and tenants in residential property matters. He is regularly instructed by private landlords, housing associations and local authorities.
He also has experience of anti-social behaviour claims by housing associations.
Related work:
- Acting for local authorities and housing associations in service charge disputes.
- Acting for private landlords, housing associations and local authorities in possession proceedings.
- Drafting pleadings for housing associations in disrepair claims.
- Leasehold & leasehold management
Leasehold & leasehold management
Michael is building up experience in the issues relating to long leases such as enfranchisement, service charge disputes and forfeiture.
Recent work:
- Acting for local authorities and housing associations in service charge disputes.
- Advising and acting in successful claim for rent arrears in a claim resisted on the basis of a limitation defence.
- Advising on recovery of rent arrears under a disputed rent review clause of a retail premises.
- Real property & mortgages
Real property & mortgages
Michael handles a number of real property and mortgage disputes as part of his growing property practice.
Recent work:
- Advising on a right of way in a proposed claim against a housing developer.
- Advising a commercial tenant on a rent abatement claim.
- Commercial landlord & tenant
Professional associations
- Professional Negligence Bar Association
- London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association
- Society of Construction Law
Publications
Contributing author to Construction Professional Indemnity Insurance, published by Sweet & Maxwell.
Contributing author to Construction All Risks Insurance, published by Sweet & Maxwell.
Qualifications
- BPTC, City Law School
- LLB (Hons), University College London
- Santander Scholarship, City Law School
- Faculty Research Prize, UCL
- 8 New Square Prize for dissertation performance, UCL