Joss Knight > Chambers of Matthew White > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile

St John’s Chambers hosts several members with considerable experience in the field of professional negligence claims. James Pearce-Smith recently acted for and against defendant solicitors, including in Mercer v Burningham & Brown, which concerned a significant claim alleging a negligent failure to obtain a right of way to nearby land with development potential, a case raising issues regarding quantification and mitigation of loss. John Dickinson mainly handles claims that emerge from his Chancery and commercial practices, while Joss Knight acts on behalf of claimants, defendants, and insurers, principally in claims against solicitors, architects, and construction professionals.

St John’s Chambers’ ‘excellent‘ Chancery and probate team stands out on the Western Circuit, with members offering ‘a wide range of expertise‘. Clients benefit from John Dickinson’s former experience as a Chartered Accountant and his ‘fantastic eye for detail’, while Alex Troup KC recently acted in the high-profile Court of Appeal case of Hughes v Pritchard, which considered the validity of the deceased’s will on the grounds of testamentary capacity as well as a proprietary estoppel claim to a substantial plot of farmland. Christopher Jones is a highly regarded probate and trust specialist and has recently acted in contested will claims, disputes over the administration of trust funds, and several significant proprietary estoppel claims, while Oliver Wooding has broad experience, including in connection with the rectification of lifetime trusts and applications for the removal of executors, and Joss Knight appeared in Bracey v Curley, which considered the principles of will construction and the availability of rectification as a remedy.