John Dickinson > 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.

St John’s Chambers’ ‘excellent‘ commercial team offers its expertise to both businesses and individuals in relation to a wide range of disputes. John Dickinson ‘deals with difficult cases with ease’, including those involving local authority procurement claims, breaches of contract, restraint of trade, and fraud. In Capital Green Recycling v Bird, James Pearce-Smith represented the defendants in a significant claim for damages for misrepresentation and breach of warranty, brought by the overseas purchaser of shares in a waste recycling company. Matthew O’Regan specialises in competition disputes, while Charlie Newington-Bridges regularly displays a ‘superb mastery of company-commercial disputes‘, focusing on shareholder and partnership disputes, commercial contract disputes, claims relation to directors, and financial litigation. He recently acted for the first respondent in the High Court case of Duneau v Klimt Invest SA, which concerned the winding up of a listed company on the just and equitable ground of loss of substratum. Natasha Dzameh is a ‘confident advocate‘ who represents a wide range of clients, including financial institutions, international corporations, and individuals.