Selborne Chambers

Barrister

Chris helps his clients to resolve or avoid disputes relating to:

Wills, trusts, and estates; property (including co-ownership and landlord and tenant issues); and corporate and personal insolvency.

Chris also deals with professional negligence claims arising in these areas, with poorly drafted wills, conveyancing negligence, and impostor/title fraud being specialities.

In addition to providing drafting and advisory services, Chris frequently appears as sole counsel in the Chancery Division, the Insolvency and Companies Court, and the County Court. Chris prides himself on his skill as an advocate, and he has recently been successful in a four-day boundary dispute before HHJ Mitchell, a two-day “transaction at an undervalue” trial before Deputy ICC Judge Agnello KC, a one-day costs appeal before HHJ Luba KC, and a two-day mortgagee possession trial raising Consumer Credit Act 1974 issues before HHJ Simpkiss. Chris has also recently obtained a 12-month committal order against a defaulting executor who was in contempt of Court.

As junior counsel, Chris is currently instructed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in high-profile director disqualification proceedings. (That is just one example of the variety of work which Chris has undertaken for the Government since his appointment to the Attorney General’s C Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown in September 2021.) Chris has also been led on some of the most important property law appeals in recent years, including Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd v. Cine-UK Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1021 (which concerned liability for rent arrears accrued during the COVID-19 lockdowns).

As part of his private client practice, Chris is a co-author of “Drafting Trusts and Will Trusts: A Modern Approach” (Sweet & Maxwell; 15th ed., 2023), forming part of an editorial team led by James Kessler KC. Chris sits on the Bar Council’s Legal Services Committee.

STEP (Society of Trusts & Estates Practitioners), ConTrA, Chancery Bar Association, Property Bar Association.

Magdalen College, University of Oxford: BA (Hons) Classics (1st).

Kaplan Law School: Graduate Diploma in Law (Commendation).

University of Law: Bar Professional Training Course (Very Competent).