Overview

Our insolvency disputes team can advise at all stages in a distressed situation, whether you are a business in financial difficulty, an incumbent stakeholder, a potential investor or an insolvency practitioner. Our insolvency disputes experts have experience advising on a range of cases, including in brand name insolvencies and complex cross border cases. 

We have experience acting for all stakeholders, including insolvency practitioners, creditors, lenders, regulators, landlords, directors and companies on a wide range of contentious insolvency issues.

We provide expert legal and commercial solutions to protect and enforce our client’s rights and mitigate risk. 
Our insolvency disputes team sits within our wider dispute resolution team, meaning they collectively also have experience of advising on a range of other related legal issues, including real estate, fraud claims, asset recovery, regulatory investigations, white collar crime, sanctions, health and safety, insurance, pension claims, banking, judicial review, procurement, and professional negligence.

We work closely with our corporate restructuring and insolvency team, offering our clients a full service for all insolvency and restructuring matters. Whatever type of dispute our clients are facing, we can offer a team of specialists in the relevant area, who also have in-depth restructuring and insolvency experience, to ensure that positive outcomes are achieved at proportionate cost.

We also offer a wide range of funding options and work closely with litigation funders and would be delighted to explore these further upon enquiry.

Areas of focus

  • Assisting with litigation contingency planning in relation to distressed situations including potential challenges made by other stakeholders
  • Advising creditors owed debts by companies in financial difficulty, strategies for debt recovery and mitigating loss
  • Advising companies which are in financial distress, insolvent, or subject to a winding-up petition
  • Acting for officeholders, including liquidators, administrators and receivers
  • Advising officeholders on their investigations and pursuing claims against directors or third parties
  • Advising on urgent steps necessary to protect the assets of the insolvency estate, including freezing orders and other injunctive relief
  • Advising creditors on the insolvency process and claims in an insolvent estate
  • Advising on challenges to director and insolvency officeholder conduct and decisions
  • Advising on complex cross-border insolvency and litigation matters
Experience

Acting for the administrators of Wasps Holdings Limited and the sale of the Coventry Building Society Arena (which involved obtaining an order from the Court that enabled the property to be sold free from security).

Advising on contentious issues arising out of the administration of the Cote restaurant chain – including an application by one of the company’s landlords to lift the moratorium in administration.

Advising on a contested application to appoint administrators in relation to the High Street Group.

Advising the Trustees of the Silentnight Pension Scheme in relation to an investigation by the Pensions Regulator following the insolvent sale of Silentnight to a private equity buyer.

Advising on contentious issues arising from the Quinn Radiators administration.

Advising the receivers of a property held by a company incorporated in Jersey and dealing with cross-jurisdictional issues relating to the disclaimer of leases and the dissolution of companies.

Acting as conflicts counsel to the administrators appointed over the Zinc Group, which held a £500 million portfolio of Hilton hotels.

Acting for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in its capacity as representative of the "Exiting Creditors" in the 2018 High Court and Court of Appeal cases relating to the MF Global UK CVA.

Acting for Co-Operative Bank and Grant Thornton in relation to a challenge to the appointment of BVI Administrative Receivers over a West London hotel.

Meet the team
James Sutherland

James Sutherland Partner

  • Head of Real Estate Disputes
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Professional Negligence
Andrew-Burnette---PGP_3989

Andrew Burnette Partner

  • Dispute Resolution
  • Professional Negligence
  • Banking Disputes
Matthew Walker

Matthew Kaltsas-Walker Partner

  • Dispute Resolution
  • Financial Services
  • Insurance
Caroline Brown

Caroline Brown Partner

  • Commercial Contract Disputes
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Professional Negligence
Michael-Duncan---PGP_5175

Michael Duncan Senior Associate

  • Real estate disputes
  • Dispute resolution 
Headshot of William Bainbridge

William Bainbridge Associate

  • Dispute Resolution 
  • Commercial Contract Disputes 
  • Corporate Disputes 
     
Headshot of Robert Bailey

Robert Bailey Senior Associate

  • Dispute Resolution
  • Real Estate Disputes
  • Telecommunications
Magnus Miller

Magnus Miller Partner

  • Dispute Resolution
  • Real Estate Disputes
  • Insolvency

What others say...

The ‘extremely dedicated and experienced’ James Sutherland leads the Bristol-based practice and specialises in insolvency disputes relating to real estate assets as well as professional negligence claims.
Legal 500

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