Simon Passfield KC > Chambers of Anna Vigars KC > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile

Simon Passfield KC

0117 930 9000 simon.passfield@guildhallchambers.co.uk

Work Department

Insolvency.

Position

Simon is a specialist insolvency barrister who undertakes litigation and advisory work in all aspects of corporate and personal insolvency law. He has been consistently recognised as a leading junior in this field by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 and has appeared in more than 40 reported insolvency cases. He is regularly instructed to act in high value and complex insolvency litigation and against leading counsel.

Simon is a member of the Attorney General’s Regional A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown and regularly acts for the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Official Receiver in directors’ disqualification cases.

In December 2020, Simon was appointed as a Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge.

Career

Called 2009, Gray’s Inn.

In the last year, Simon has:

• Acted for Pure Gym Limited (leading Samuel Parsons) in relation to restructuring plans proposed by Virgin Active under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006;
• Acted for the joint liquidators of Hudspiths Limited (an unregulated forex trader suspected of operating a Ponzi scheme with unsecured creditors in excess of £60m) in obtaining freezing injunctions and pursuing a multi-million pound misfeasance claim against its former directors;
• Acted for the joint liquidators of Overfinch Bespoke Vehicles Limited (a company which customised Land Rover and Range Rover cars which entered into administration in 2010) in pursuing multi-million pound misfeasance claims against the former administrators of the company;
• Acted for the joint liquidators of Ethos Solutions Limited (an umbrella company which operated a tax avoidance scheme involving the use of an offshore trust) in pursuing a multi-million pound claim against 63 respondents pursuant to s.423 of the Insolvency Act 1986;
• Acted for the Law Society in obtaining the appointment of provisional liquidators over two companies (Kash1 and Kash2 Ltd) used as vehicles for the diversion of approximately £11 of client monies from Kingly Solicitors Ltd. He subsequently acted for the provisional liquidators in obtaining freezing injunctions and administration orders against other connected companies involved in the diversion of monies;
• Acted for the joint liquidators of Premier FX Limited (an FCA-regulated entity which collapsed in 2018 leaving 121 creditors with claims in excess of £6m) in seeking Berkeley Applegate relief;
• Acted for the joint liquidators of a company pursuing claims against 40 recipients of post-petition payments totalling more than £1m (Re Posh Foods Ltd);
• Advised the joint administrators of a company with liabilities in excess of £10m in relation to a proposed Scheme of Arrangement pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006;
• Assisted in the drafting of the Insolvency Practice Direction relating to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

His practice encompasses all aspects of corporate and personal insolvency law.

In addition, Simon has a broad experience of company law and general commercial matters arising in an insolvency context, including contractual and corporate disputes, agency matters and guarantees.

In December 2020, Simon was appointed as a Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge.

Memberships

• Fellow of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3)
• Chancery Bar Association
• Insolvency Lawyers’ Association
• Insolvency and Companies Court Users’ Committee

Education

Ilford County High School; University of Nottingham (2008 LLB (Hons)); BPP Law School (2009 BVC – outstanding).