GATEHOUSE CHAMBERS - Key Persons
Alaric has made an in-depth study of the Insolvency (England & Wales) Rules 2016 and the problems that they engender. In 2017 he headed up the Gatehouse Chambers team that completely revised the 2017 Issue of Atkin's Court Forms and he also drafted the court forms for use in company insolvency cases (as approved by Chief Registrar Briggs) that now appear on the Court Service Website.
Alaric is a leading insolvency junior (Legal 500), dealing with all aspects of personal insolvency, including statutory demands, petitions, annulment, issues relating to assets (such as realizations, co-ownership, vesting, disclaiming of onerous property, etc.: see further under Property Insolvency) and avoidance of antecedent transactions (preferences, transactions at an undervalue, transactions defrauding creditors), public and private examinations, proofs, challenges to the trustee's decisions and/or expenses, as well as a range of problems arising in or in connection with IVAs. He acts for debtors and/or members of their family, for creditors and for office-holders.
Alaric has made a thorough study of the Insolvency (England & Wales) Rules 2016 and the problems that they engender. He was one of a panel of presenters in the well-attended and highly acclaimed half-day Seminar on the New Rules in March 2017.
Alaric is an experienced costs barrister whose practice covers a wide range of cost-related issues in various courts as well as pure costs litigation.
Alison Meacher appointed to Equality & Human Rights Commission's panel of counsel
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Manager
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- Head of Marketing
- Member of the Marketing Team
Where a son had become a party to his parents purchase of the family home from the local authority in order to raise a sufficient mortgage to complete to purchase there was no evidence of a common intention that he should have a beneficial interest in the property.
Cameron is a committed member of Advocate and has taken on a number of pro bono matters since joining chambers. In addition, Cameron regularly volunteers for the Chancery Litigants in Person Support Scheme and was one of the first Pro Bono Champions recognised by the Chancery Bar Association, an award given to advocates who have volunteered the greatest number of times for the scheme.
Carl Brewin is a specialist property barrister with a particular focus on cases involving land and real property, landlord and tenant matters and disputes concerning and arising from property transactions.
Recognised by The Legal 500 as a leading property practitioner, his clients include: well-known retailers, national housebuilders, institutional investors, property managers, insurers, local authorities and housing associations, as well as high net worth individuals. Carl is sought out as a confident and firm advocate and he is known for giving clear and concise advice that enables clients to understand their legal position as well as what that means for them in practical terms. He has a wide range and experience of advisory work, drafting and advocacy in all levels of court and tribunal.
Carl studied Russian and Politics. Before coming to the Bar, he worked in a busy solicitors' office and for a city-based firm of corporate governance consultants advising pension funds and other large investors.
In alpine ski season Carl can be seen on the slopes attempting to match Eddie the Eagle's finest achievements. For the rest of the year he can be seen mostly recovering from those attempts.
Carl has been appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the South Eastern Circuit and is also an accredited mediation advocate.
Areas of expertise
Property
Job Titles:
- Finance Manager
- Member of the Finance Team
Job Titles:
- Specialist in All Areas of Property
Clare is a specialist in all areas of Property and Housing Law, with a particular emphasis on residential and commercial landlord and tenant work. Clare also handles the full spectrum of land and real property cases and has a keen interest in disputes over beneficial ownership of property and trusts of land.
It is with great sadness that we report that our great friend and colleague, Maggie Bloom died on 11 July 2018.
Maggie was held in high regard by friends and colleagues.
Before being called to the Bar, Maggie practised as a medical General Practitioner for over 13 years in south London. She sat as a Deputy Coroner for Inner London North and later for Greater London North for over 11 years. She also sat on an ethics committee for a Ministry of Defence research establishment.
Maggie became a barrister in 1994 and worked exclusively in the areas of Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury, Mental Health and Coroner's Law.
She was recognised for many years in the legal directories, Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a leading clinical negligence practitioner.
She was respected by colleagues, competitors, clients and commentators working in this area of law who valued her experience, insight and tactical nous. Due to the nature of her work and the long-running nature of the cases she worked on, Maggie often lived through cases with her clients and the families affected for a very long time, often many years.
The large proportion of Maggie's work as a barrister was in the field of clinical negligence, where her medical qualification enabled her to provide dual medical and legal insight into each case. She specialised in particular in brain injury at birth and cerebral palsy, and negligent treatment in the neonatal period.
Some highlights of Maggie's other work include:
Job Titles:
- Finance Director
- Member of the Finance Team
Gemma de Cordova is an experienced property litigator. She has a busy practice encompassing the full breadth of landlord & tenant and real property disputes.
Gemma's practice encompasses property litigation in the County Court; First Tier Tribunal; High Court; and the Court of Appeal. She has extensive trial experience, winning praise from solicitors and judges for her skills in cross-examination and handling the unusual and often-unexpected issues that multi-day trials can throw up. She also undertakes advisory work and drafting and is an experienced mediation advocate.
She is known for her ability to engage well with both professional and lay clients at all levels of seniority.
Gemma deals with all types of real property dispute including possession claims by mortgagees, issues of misrepresentation and undue influence, restrictive covenants, disputes concerning easements and rights of way. She has a particular interest in parking rights and adverse possession.
We have such fond (and funny) memories of our friend and colleague George, who was a colourful and kind man. He was in every sense a larger than life character. He loved a party and/or celebration, and he was very much a people person who took a genuine delight in the achievements of others. He especially enjoyed giving time to and assisting the young, especially students whom he could guide and mentor.
George made a valuable contribution to Gatehouse Chambers over many years. The Bar must have seemed like a very different place at the point he retired from practise to the profession he joined in 1971. He had a great and distinguished career as a barrister and a judge.
George was an active Bencher of his Inn, was the Chancellor of the Diocese of Chelmsford where he was loved and appreciated, and had been Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough for many years. He was very proud of having been made a Fellow of his old college, Downing College Cambridge, and was a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.
He was truly a collegiate man, and one who loved friendship and fellowship, and was rightly proud of and loving towards his family. He will be sadly missed.
During the course of his career, George was an experienced insurance lawyer and was instrumental in building Gatehouse Chambers's formidable reputation in commercial circles. He accepted instructions from clients on all sides of the insurance arena, including Lloyd's underwriters, insurers and mutual insurance associations, brokers and assureds.
George's practice included advising and representing doctors and consultants on their liability, often in cases with complex clinical dimensions. He was equally experienced in bringing cases against negligent medical practitioners by patients, local authorities and the NHS. His work in the mental health arena naturally overlapped with his work in medical negligence and public liability.
He was a leading silk in the personal injury field and gained significant recognition for his appearances in court. He had decades of experience in both employment and personal injury law and acted in many multi-party and test cases.
George was also a leading expert on product liability and regulatory compliance. He represented clients who have been injured by dangerous products, and in the defence of HSE and corporate manslaughter prosecutions.
In addition to his extensive knowledge in these practice areas, George had particular experience in cases concerning:
Churches
Costs sharing orders (multi-party actions)
Costs limiting orders (CPR)
Firemen and fires
Horticultural machinery (e.g. mowers, cultivators etc.)
Part 36 offers (claimant/defendant)
Railway accidents
Schools
TV and film
Tyres (e.g. blow outs) and seat belts.
He was formerly junior counsel to the Crown, defending judicial review and damages claims for the Crown, and he had an interest in the ecclesiastical Canon Law of the Church of England.
George established himself as an extremely capable legal advisor and was involved with the Hong Kong Government Legal Aid Study Group, the Legal Aid Green Paper and the Personal Injury Bar Association. He was also a lecturer for the Judicial Studies Board, the University of Kent and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
Job Titles:
- Deputy District Judge
- Specialist
Henry is a specialist practitioner in the fields of personal injury, clinical negligence, health and safety law, coronial law and related insurance issues. He has experience of acting for both Defendants and Claimants and has a varied practice encompassing employer, public liability, motor claims and occupiers' liability with a strong interest in health and safety law and environmental law.
Henry is a leading personal injury specialist, dealing with all injury related claims including road traffic accidents, employer's liability, occupier's liability, travel claims, occupational disease and public liability. He is particularly adept at handling claims where fraud, exaggeration or dishonesty are suspected. Henry has experience in serious injury claims and those involving complicated causation issues.
Henry deals with all areas of public liability, including accidents on the highway and landlords' liability cases. He has experience of accidents abroad and cases involving the Animals Act 1971. He also advises defendants and insurers on coverage and policy interpretation issues arising in this area.
Ian Silcock began his career as a barrister specialising in IP litigation in the legal department of The Body Shop Intl Plc. Before commencing independent practice at the bar in 2002, he worked as in-house counsel to a global domain name consultancy, and later as technical assistant to a leading firm of patent & trade mark attorneys, as well as undertaking a post-graduate degree in computer science, which he obtained with a distinction, having been awarded a scholarship by the European Physics & Science Research Council.
Ian's practice covers all aspects of intellectual property, information technology, telecoms and media law, including the law of trademarks and passing off, copyright, designs, and patents, as well as related fields, such as franchising (including interim injunctions to enforce restrictive covenants), music, media and entertainment law (including the law relating to broadcasting, TV formats, and emergency pre-broadcast and pre-publication injunctions), defamation, privacy, breach of confidence, data protection, Norwich Pharmacal applications, telecoms, and competition law. Ian has experience of acting for clients in mediation, as well as in arbitrations, and has also been instructed as an expert witness in the field of copyright law. In November 2014, Ian was identified by the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys Review as being one of the top 10 most frequently instructed counsel in hearings before the UK Intellectual Property Office.
In addition, to his dispute resolution practice, Ian is also frequently instructed to draft and provide advice in relation to commercial agreements, assignments and licences falling within his areas of specialisation.
He has represented a diverse range of clients, from individuals, including high profile performers and entertainers, as well as start-up businesses and SMEs, through to substantial global corporations. He also has experience acting both against, and defending, various police forces, local authorities, universities, and other public sector organisations, trusts and charities.
Ian lectures regularly in the field of intellectual property law. He has lectured to the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Institute of Professional Representatives before the EPO (epi) in Munich, and to the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA).
Areas of expertise
Commercial dispute resolution
Led by Jamal Demachkie in a matter concerning a claim for specific performance of a family trust arrangement for the sale of a multi-million-pound farm estate. Cameron successfully resisted an application for summary judgment before Master Brightwell and the matter is due for trial in summer 2023.
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Senior Fees Consultant
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- Marketing Assistant
- Member of the Marketing Team
John Beresford specialises in commercial and property law. John has appeared in levels of tribunal up to and including the Court of Appeal. He has experience of a wide variety of commercial matters including contractual disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fraud, joint venture disputes, shareholder disputes, tracing claims, agency disputes, breach of confidence claims and financial services regulation. John's substantial property practice encompasses commercial and residential landlord and tenant disputes, leasehold management matters, secured lender claims and various matters heard in the First-Tier Tribunal.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Manager
Job Titles:
- Marketing Consultant
- Member of the Marketing Team
Karl King is a property practitioner with extensive experience dealing with both commercial and residential matters at all court and tribunal levels. Karl's practice, whether advising or litigating, has had an emphasis on landlord and tenant and real property as well as cases involving trusts and wills and insolvency either in connection with property disputes or as independent areas.
An important part of Karl's practice involves claims about restrictive covenants, easements, trespass, party wall and boundary disputes but Karl is also very comfortable dealing with issues arising out mortgage transactions.
Karl has seen a complementary professional liability practice develop alongside his property work and this is mainly focused on lawyer and surveyor liability.
In addition to that Karl has substantial experience of acting for local authorities in cases involving contractual and property disputes with third parties. He is very often instructed by local authorities and housing providers in the most serious claims for possession and disrepair.
His work with local authorities has also resulted in Karl being retained to undertake various enquiries.
Karl is a former member of the Civil Justice Council and has also served on the Bar Council where, having been appointed as a Tribunal member, he has adjudicated in numerous controversial professional misconduct cases. In addition Karl served for 9 years as a Board Member of a top 15 housing Trust where he gained unique first-hand experience of the management, regulatory and governance environment operating in this sector.
Away from practice, Karl is a genuine sports fan who has a very special passion for the beautiful game for which he became a qualified coach. Karl's other passion is astronomy and he is comfortable discussing a whole range of topics whether it be about the intricacies of quantum mechanics, relativity, the cosmological constant, the meaning of time or the big crunch versus the big freeze.
Areas of expertise
Property
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Assistant
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- Member of the Finance Team
- Finance and Fees Assistant
Job Titles:
- Finance Assistant
- Member of the Finance Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fees Team
- Head of Fees Collection
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Manager
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- Practice Operations Director