Mr Tim Toomey > Ward Hadaway LLP > Newcastle upon Tyne, England > Lawyer Profile

Disputes involving contractual breaches, defamation claims, issues concerning winding up petitions and professional negligence are frequent mandates for Ward Hadaway LLP’s Newcastle-based commercial litigation team. Practice head Peter Hornsey represents clients in disputes concerning professional negligence, IP and public sector fraud. Seasoned litigator Martin Woodford is the key contact for disputes regarding the challenging of wills and the removal of trustees, also working on multiparty disputes arising out of the cancellation of PFI projects. IT-related disputes and professional negligence claims form a large part of Tim Toomey’s work. Robert Glassford handles complex contractual disputes and administrative court claims, while Russell Ward‘s strengths lie in employment claims which fall within the jurisdiction of the Court. Legal director Lucy Cleghorn not only supports the team but also is experienced in representing litigants who bring appeals before the Privy Council.

The Newcastle-based IT team at Ward Hadaway LLP is led by Damien Charlton and provides nationally and multijurisdictional advice in both the public and private sectors acting on behalf of major suppliers, especially in technology-inherent privacy issues. With a previous career in IT, Judy Baker ‘is a deep subject matter expert with a real passion for her specialism. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and her breadth of knowledge is commendable.’ Phil Tompkins has expertise in all aspects of IT law including advising on smart metering, connected vehicles, electric vehicles batteries, cloud software solutions and licensing. Tim Toomey is the key name for IT disputes. Matthew Cormack was named partner in May 2022.

Ward Hadaway LLP’s Newcastle-based intellectual property team provides contentious and non-contentious advice to tech start-ups, entrepreneurs and clients from the digital and creative sectors. The team led by Bill Goodwin, who is also a chartered trade mark attorney, has particular expertise advising spin-out companies from the university sector. A key practice area concerns trade marks where the team built a strong portfolio of blue-chip clients providing registration and portfolio management services as well as handling trademark disputes. The group, including Tim Toomey, Robert Glassford and associate Sally Hyslop closely collaborates with the firm’s IT specialists, including key figure Judy Baker. Alex Shiel  retired in March 2023.