civil
Property
Jonathan McDonnell is listed as “Rising Star” for Social Housing in the 2025 edition of The Legal 500.
Before being called to the Bar, Jonathan spent four years working within the legal department of a large social landlord, New Charter Housing Trust Group. He ran a busy caseload of disrepair, possession and injunction matters during this time. His years working for New Charter have allowed him to better understand the issues his instructing solicitors experience.
Jonathan relies on his experience and skills developed in the Intelligence Corps when appearing in disrepair matters, particularly regarding information management. Jonathan’s clients can expect to receive a skeleton argument that not only sets out the law but also provides a clear overview of the issues in the claim.
Jonathan recently appeared on behalf of a landlord. He persuaded the Court to dismiss the whole claim after careful analysis of the Particulars of Claim, expert and witness evidence. In essence, Jonathan persuaded the Court to limit the Claimant’s claim to the pleaded items and that each had been repaired within a reasonable period. Any additional items that appeared in the witness evidence were disregarded
Jonathan confidently deals with possession matters. He was recently instructed to seek possession of a property for the non-payment of rent. The claim was met with a counterclaim for disrepair. Jonathan persuaded the Court to make the possession order, to award the total amount claimed for in rent arrears, and to depart from the fixed costs regime, resulting in several thousands of pounds in costs being awarded.
In another complex possession matter involving the Official Solicitor, Jonathan persuaded the Court to grant possession at an interlocutory hearing following receipt of the Defence, despite issues being raised including a non-valid increase in rent, a failure to protect a tenancy deposit and disrepair.
Jonathan is routinely instructed to draft pleadings concerning housing matters and prides himself on his ability to return papers soon after instructions are received. Jonathan has also appeared at several successful pre-action disclosure applications.
Commercial & Chancery
Jonathan recently succeeded in a County Court Appeal concerning a parking charge notice. Jonathan persuaded the Court that Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 did not apply, despite the same not being argued at first instance. The Court agreed and dismissed the Appellant’s appeal.
Jonathan is regularly instructed on Payment Protection Insurance cases. He is regularly instructed by both lenders and borrowers at trial, both on the small claims track and the fast track. Jonathan also has experience with a PPI claim involving a claim for equitable rescission. Jonathan is also happy to attend allocation hearings, dispute resolution hearings and any interlocutory applications concerning these claims.
A Local Authority recently instructed Jonathan on a contested Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) matter. Jonathan successfully persuaded the Magistrates’ Court to make a liability order for the total amount owed, plus costs assessed on a summary basis.
Jonathan is well experienced in debt recovery matters. He was recently instructed to defend a business accused of tampering with their electrical meter, resulting in tens of thousands of pounds of debt accruing. Jonathan persuaded a Circuit Judge that the Defendant had not tampered with the meter and consequently reduced the amount paid in damages, interest and costs to a minimum. Before his career at the Bar, Jonathan took a leading role in the debt recovery team at New Charter Housing Trust Group, successfully recovering monies owed to the Trust by local commercial businesses.
Jonathan is regularly instructed to draft Defences for major mobile telephone network companies. Causes of action within these claims usually include reference to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Jonathan has also drafted numerous Particulars of Claims for consumer rights matters, ranging from defective motor engines in sports cars to broken caravan awnings.
Credit hire
Jonathan has a strong credit hire practice and can confidently deal with any issue that arises from such litigation. He adopts a forensic and detailed approach to these cases. Recently, Jonathan persuaded the Court that the Defendant’s Whichrate summary was inadequate, leading to the BHR evidence being stuck out.
Given his experience and knowledge of credit hire, Jonathan was instructed on a permission to appeal hearing following a finding of misrepresentation at first instance. Jonathan successfully persuaded the Court that misrepresentation as a legal concept in credit hire claims is flawed due to the bars to rescission, particularly affirmation of the contract.
Jonathan has appeared at many stage 3 hearings, often attending several in a day. Jonathan has developed a thorough understanding of this process and routinely makes submissions on the full range of heads of loss, from loss of earnings to credit hire. Jonathan has a keen eye for detail and has frequently won cost disputes that arise during these hearings. Jonathan has dealt with cases subject to the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 regarding mixed injury cases.
Jonathan regularly represents both claimants and defendants at trial, infant approval hearings, and a range of interlocutory matters, including case management conferences and CCMCs.
Jonathan regularly drafts pleadings, including particulars of claim, defences, part 18 questions, part 35 questions and detailed schedules of loss.
2013 - Legal Apprentice at New Charter Housing Trust Group, Tameside
2015 - Trainee Legal Associate at New Charter Housing Trust Group, Tameside
2017 - Paralegal at Slater and Gordon Lawyers
2017 - 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, British Army Reserves
2018 - Litigation Executive at Slater and Gordon Lawyers
2019 - Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, British Army Reserves
2020 - Lieutenant, Intelligence Corps, British Army Reserves
2021 - Advocate at DWF LLP
2021 - Pupil Barrister at DWF LLP
2022 - Barrister at PSQB
2021 - Personal Injury Bar Association
2021 - Northern Circuit
Awards
Manchester Metropolitan University Academic Excellence Award
University of Manchester Academic Major Scholarship
University of Manchester Outstanding Achievement Award in International Law for finishing first overall on the LLM
BPP BTC Excellence Award
2014-2019 - Manchester Metropolitan University, LLB Law - First Class Honours
2019-2020 - The University of Manchester, LLM Security and International Law - Distinction
2020-2021 - BTC, BPP - Very Competent