'A very good and experienced tactician' -
Simon originally qualified as a barrister, and subsequently joined the commercial litigation department of Lewis Silkin where he was admitted as a solicitor in 2003. Simon joined Charles Fussell & Co LLP in March 2011 and became a partner on 1 July 2012. He is also a solicitor-advocate.
Simon acts in all areas of commercial disputes, with a particular focus on litigation and expert determination.
Consistent with the firm’s broader practice, Simon’s practice centres upon commercial fraud, claims for professional negligence, especially against solicitors in respect of corporate and property transactional work, and business disputes, especially over loan and guarantee instruments. He also has significant experience of insolvency disputes (both personal and corporate), shareholder and partnership disputes and contentious property matters.
Throughout his career, Simon has conducted his own advocacy as well as drafting pleadings and submissions. He is now a solicitor-advocate.
In addition, Simon is a member of the London Circuit Commercial Court user group, which gives Simon insight not only into the workings of that Court but also into wider developments and initiatives from the Ministry of Justice.
Examples of Simon’s significant matters include:
- acting for a cryptocurrency mining company in dispute with its former IT supplier over the alleged failure to provide a system which would permit the owners of cryptocurrencies holders to spend their cryptocurrency in real world transactions using a debit card;
- acting successfully for the promoter of a company sued for fraudulent misrepresentation while a parallel criminal investigation was ongoing: Barley v. Muir [2018] EWHC 619 (QB). Following the dismissal of the civil claim, criminal proceedings were abandoned;
- acting for a claimant seeking damages for the repudiation of an option over 5% of the shareholding in a private bank in Luxembourg;
- acting for four overseas defendants sued jointly for a £1 million placement fee said to be due following a fundraising;
- acting for a Russian bank and a Bulgarian telecommunications company in a dispute with a UK bank over the distribution of €15 million held in escrow following a capital restructuring;
- acting for the successful claimants in Bataillon v. Shone [2016] EWHC 1174 (QB) concerning the liability under Section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 of the estranged wife of a party in breach of contract to contribute towards a judgment against him by setting aside transactions in her favour – widely-reported and commented upon in a number of respects;
- acting for the defendant in Porter Capital Corporation v. Masters at first instance (judgment in December 2013) and on appeal ([2016] EWCA Civ 5) concerning the construction of foreign law loan and guarantee documents and numerous technical accounting issues arising from those issues of construction;
- acting for the successful claimant in Walsham Chalet Park Limited v. Tallington Lakes Limited [2015] EWHC 2083 (QB) – which featured a significant interim appeal ([2014] EWCA Civ 1607 – widely-reported and cited since) concerning the importance of the parties’ obligation to co-operate to bring a case to trial in the context of arguments concerning procedural default;
- acting for a film production company in various disputes arising from delays in the production of a music promotional video;
- advising on consolidated claims against former solicitors for negligent advice in relation to security documents for loans;
- acting for an alleged partner in an investment scheme which it was claimed contravened the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
- acting for a manufacturer in a claim brought in the Technology and Construction Court by the ultimate consumer of a fire protection system;
- acting for a private equity placement agent in a dispute with another placement agent concerning fees; acting on behalf of a partnership of general practitioners in a negligence claim against their former solicitors in relation to past, present and future funding arrangements for NHS practices;
- acting as part of a team of litigators in forensic investigations required to recover over £4 million misappropriated funds in respect of a false invoicing scheme;
- acting for a national package holiday company against a timeshare telemarketing operation and successfully preventing the defendant from using the claimant’s name without permission;
- acting for the claimant in McKinnon & anor v E.Surv Limited [2003] EWHC 475 (Ch)
Education
MA (Hons), St John’s College, Oxford, 1992-1995
CPE, City University, 1996-1997
BVC, Inns of Court School of Law, 1997-1998
QLTT, BPP Law School, 2003
Languages
Simon has a working knowledge of German