Peter Guzhar > Carson McDowell > Belfast, Northern Ireland > Lawyer Profile
Carson McDowell Offices

MURRAY HOUSE
MURRAY STREET
BELFAST
BT1 6DN
Northern Ireland
- Firm Profile
- Go to...
Peter Guzhar

Work Department
Litigation
Position
Peter is a partner in the commercial litigation team at Carson McDowell and heads up the firm’s contentious IP practice. Peter has extensive experience of advising and acting in company, shareholder and partnership disputes to include minority shareholder petitions, breach of directors’ duties actions and partnership dissolution actions. Peter’s breadth of experience also includes defending and prosecuting intellectual property actions in the High Court in Northern Ireland to include a number of high value and complex patent infringement cases for clients in the technology and manufacturing sectors; advising and acting in copyright and trademark infringement matters, and further misappropriation and misuse of confidential information actions which have necessitated applications for injunctive relief to include mandatory injunctions and search and seizure orders. Peter also has experience of advising in complex contractual disputes relating to supply and manufacturing defect issues and has defended a number of Commercial Agency Regulations claims brought by agents. In addition, Peter has successfully prosecuted a judicial review action on behalf of interested parties against a Health Trust in respect of the failure to properly consult on the proposed closure of a hospital facility.
Career
Trained Carson McDowell LLP; qualified 2006; joined commercial litigation team; associate 2012 – 2017; partner 2017 – to date.
Memberships
The Law Society of Northern Ireland
Education
Loreto College, Coleraine; Queens University Belfast (LLB); and the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.
Lawyer Rankings
Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
Carson McDowell is a key name in the market for advising on IT infrastructure agreements, most recently assisting Fibrus with Project Stratum, a public initiative to develop broadband across rural areas. The team has also been advising Statsport, which has attracted investment from footballer Raheem Sterling. Dawn McKnight leads the team and excels in IT contracts and software development agreements. The team also has a contentious offering, with Peter Guzhar focusing on copyright infringement and licensing disputes. Associate Aisling O’Hare is a key name for non-contentious work.
Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property
(Next Generation Partners)Advising on contentious and non-contentious matters, Carson McDowell is a highly respected name for IP work and recently assisted Linen Mills Studios with its agreement with HBO for the new Game of Thrones tour. The team has also carved out a niche in the university sector, and advises Queens University and Ulster University on IP matters. Other sectors of interest include the life sciences, technology and financial services industries. Co-chair Declan Magee is highly experienced in IP disputes, especially patent litigation. Dawn McKnight also leads the team and advises on the IP aspects of commercial agreements and corporate transactions. Peter Guzhar, who excels in trade mark litigation, is also recommended.
Northern Ireland > Dispute resolution
Carson McDowell’s broad commercial litigation practice has standout strengths in handling procurement challenges as well as assisting manufacturing companies in disputes concerning their commercial agreements with suppliers and other parties. Declan Magee heads the ‘professional, efficient and thorough‘ commercial litigation and dispute resolution team and has extensive experience in procurement challenges, counting Translink as a key client. Another key area of expertise is insolvency litigation, with head of debt recovery Darren Toombs regularly acting on restructuring and debt recovery cases. Commercial litigator Peter Guzhar is another key name in the team; he acted for Tayto in a widely publicised trade mark infringement case against a supplier which was selling the Republic of Ireland’s similarly named yet separate crisps in bars and restaurants in Northern Ireland. Head of insurance Hugh McGrattan and head of construction Stuart Murphy are also highly recommended for disputes in their respective areas of expertise.
Lawyer Rankings
- Dispute resolution - Northern Ireland
- Intellectual property - Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms)
- IT and telecoms - Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms)
- Next Generation Partners - Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Real estate > Commercial property
- Real estate > Construction
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Energy, project finance and PFI
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Real estate > Planning and environment