William Golightly

Areas of expertise

• Property

  Property

  William accepts instructions in all areas of property law and frequently appears in the High Court and County Court.

  He has recent experience of:

  • Advising and representing the representative defendants in a massive unilateral mistake rescission case, with judgments including Barclays Bank UK Plc v Terry [2023] EWHC 3113 (Ch)
  • A multi-week High Court trial on the principles of a service charge dispute between five GP surgeries and their commercial services provider Valley View & Others v NHS Property Services Ltd [2022] EWHC 1393 (Ch), with John de Waal KC and Katrina Mather.
  • Advising and drafting in a high-value proprietary estoppel claim.
  • Advising, drafting and representing in residential landlord and tenant, possession, forfeiture and disrepair claims.
  • Advising and representing in relation to harassment and anti-social behaviour injunctions in a housing context.
  • Advising on leaseholders and freeholders’ obligations to finance the repairs to listed buildings under a section 106 Town and Country Planning Act 1990’ agreement.
  • Advising and representing in relation to misrepresentation claims against vendors of property.
  • Advising on bona vacantia in the context of the dissolution of foreign companies.
• Professional liability

  Professional liability

  William accepts instructions and has recent experience in the following areas:

  • Advising on conveyancing solicitors’ failure to advise on escalating ground rent clauses.
  • Advising on a claim against a financial adviser for a failed tax mitigation scheme.
  • Advising on a claim against insurance brokers for failure to procure adequate business interruption insurance arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Commercial dispute resolution

  Commercial dispute resolution

  Williams accepts instructions in all areas of commercial disputes resolution and has recent experience in:

  • Advising, drafting and representing in business-to-business contractual disputes, especially in a sale of goods and services context. William has a particular interest in misrepresentation claims and restitutionary remedies.
  • Assisting in high-value company disputes in claims against former directors.
  • Advising, drafting and representing in business-to-consumer disputes, especially in a construction and consumer credit context.
  • Advising, drafting and representing enforcement agencies in relation to third party claims for controlled goods and claims against enforcement agents.
  • Advising and representing in relation to civil restraint orders.

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  During his pupillage, William also assisted with:

  • Pakistan International Airlines Corporation v Times Travel [2021] UKSC 40 – an international airline’s defence to a claim for lawful act duress, in which the Supreme Court recently gave a landmark judgment on the doctrine.
  • IGE USA Investments Limited v HMRC [2021] EWCA Civ 534 – a landmark Court of Appeal decision which confirmed the limitation period for equitable recission in cases of fraudulent misrepresentation.
• Private client

  Private client

  William has a broad practice of contentious and non-contentious work in probate disputes and the administration of trusts, appearing regularly in the High Court and County Court, both led and unled, as well as representing clients in many successful mediations.

  William’s expertise includes:

  • Contesting the substantive validity of wills, often in the context of undue influence, lack of knowledge and approval and lack of testamentary capacity. William has also had experience in will forgery cases.
  • Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, both on behalf of applicants and executor-beneficiaries.
  • Section 50 Administration of Justice Act 1985 executor removals.
  • Donatio Mortis Causa claims for deathbed gifts.
  • Construction and rectification applications where the provisions of a will are ambiguous.
  • Professional negligence claims against will-drafters.
  • Unjust enrichment claims where estates have been distributed only for a later will to be discovered.
  • Unwinding life-time transactions procured as a result of financial abuse by family members.
  • Advising and drafting in multiple TLATA claims, seeking declarations as to shares of ownership and orders for sale, often in the context of family breakdowns.