We offer expert legal advice and representation with barristers who specialise in Chancery and Commercial law.
Chambers has extensive, collective expertise and considerable practical experience of how multiple legal disciplines often overlap when applied to the actual issues our clients face. We also offer highly skilled barristers who practice in areas that fall outside the scope of traditional Chancery law.
Our friendly, professional Clerks’ Room is the principal port of call for anyone who would like to instruct a barrister at Ten Old Square.
Our team of clerks will advise on the expertise and availability of the barristers in Chambers and discuss the most suitable fee structures for your case. They will do this in a speedy and responsive manner, keeping you fully informed throughout the process.
Our clerks offer a very high quality service combined with a down-to-earth and collaborative approach.
If you would like to discuss a specific case, arrange a meeting or receive further information about any of our barristers, areas of expertise or about the way we work in general, please contact our clerks.
Our excellent legal services extend beyond case work to the provision of remote talks, complimentary training events and programmes to support our clients’ continuing competence requirements.
Further details about this can be found on our events page or by contacting Emily Overett.
Ten Old Square is a professional, friendly and forward-looking set.
We are renowned for delivering an outstanding level of service and welcome applications from like-minded individuals.
Ten Old Square is an award-winning set of Chancery barristers’.
Chambers contains some of the finest and brightest lawyers currently practising in all the current Chancery disciplines. Our Chambers comprises of talented barristers whose expertise meets and exceeds the demands of those who approach us needing legal representation and require expert advice of the very highest calibre.
Partnerships & LLPs
We have a top ranked Partnership and LLP team, with well-known, leading practitioners in this developing area of the law. Our expert barristers are involved in many of the leading Partnership and LLP cases, as well as providing Partnership and LLP advice to firms and individuals.
Ten Old Square has been ranked as Band 1 set for Partnership in Chambers UK Bar for nearly 20 years: The 2023 Edition says – “Ten Old Square is highly regarded for its comprehensive coverage of partnership matters on both the contentious and non-contentious sides. Its members are instructed by solicitors’ firms, property developers and financial services clients, among others, and also involve themselves with farming and medical partnership disputes. They regularly appear in court, arbitration and mediation handling all the varied aspects of partnership law one could care to mention including disputes relating to restrictive covenants, team moves and lateral hires, and partner exits”. Solicitors say: “The set has incredible in-depth knowledge of partnership law, and is both very responsive and user-friendly.”
Ten Old Square is also ranked as a Tier 1 Set in Partnership in the Legal 500 2023 – “The experienced junior counsel at Ten Old Square are sought after for the range of matters in the area and barristers’ caseloads cover an array of sectors. The field of private equity and hedge funds has been an increasingly contentious market, providing a steady flow of work for the ‘tenacious‘ Gideon Roseman. The very highly regarded senior junior Jeremy Callman has continued to be instructed on high-profile, sensitive disputes, but members are also regularly assist in drafting and amending LLP and partnership agreements, as well as other non-contentious documents.”
Contact our Partnerships and LLPs Clerks
Contact our experienced Clerks to find out which Partnership and LLPs barristers would be ideal for you. They have many years of experience and will ensure that you receive a premium service and advise on the suitability, availability and cost of instructing specialist Counsel.
Call +44 (0)20 7405 0758
Email clerks@tenoldsquare.com
Partnerships & LLPs Barristers
Paul Stafford
Call 1987
Jeremy Callman
Call 1991
Jonathan Gavaghan
Call 1992
Samuel Laughton
Call 1993
James E. Petts
Call 2002
Philip Jenkins
Call 2003 & Accredited Mediator
Naomi Winston
Call 2006
Gideon Roseman
Call 2007
James Poole
Call 2016 & Accredited Mediator
James Kirby
Call 2017
Adam Stewart-Wallace
Call 2018
Thomas Arnull
Call 2019
Thomas James
Call 2018
Elizabeth Atkinson
Call 2021 & Accredited Mediator
Our Partnership and LLPs Experience
The partnership team provides experienced barristers ranked in both legal journals and variously described as “highest service level I have ever experienced… thoroughness, intellectual rigour and sheer determination”, “like gold dust”, “clever and approachable”, ”authoritative, thorough and reliable”, “absolutely fantastic” and “extremely bright, with a deep and detailed knowledge of all things partnership and LLP”.
Our barristers deal with partnerships, LLPs and LPs of all types: from professional services, hedge funds and private equity to agricultural, medical and family property partnerships. Members regularly appear in court, arbitration and mediation as well as advising management on internal issues and dealing with non-contentious advisory work.
Recent notable cases include:
- Boyle v Burke [2020] Bus LR 220: key case on partnership dissolution; whether a transfer of business had resulted in dissolution and the impact on partnership annuities.
- Schillings International LLP v Scott [2019] EWHC 1335 (Ch), [2018] EWHC 1210 (Ch): Injunction on behalf of the firm against departing member in advance of arbitration.
- Shah v Shah [2019] EWHC 872 (Ch): long running partnership dispute between brothers who carried on numerous business interests in India and England, including running oil tankers, property development and share portfolios.
- Muniment Ltd v Priestley Homes Ltd and ors [2019] 11 WLUK 34: joint venture dispute re incorporation of a new company and conspired with his associate, purported exercise of chargee’s power of sale to ‘sell’ the property to the second defendant’s new company.
- Brierley v Otuo [2019] EWHC 2145 (Ch) long running partnership dispute; summary judgment obtained against the defendants who were seeking to assist the first defendant (the claimant’s former partner) to make himself judgment proof.
- Galloway v Independent Films Ltd [14.11.18, unreported]:film based joint venture dispute, trial as regards alleged repudiation of the agreement.
- Dr B v Dr B [23.10.18, unreported]:GP partnership dispute as regards exclusion from the partnership and partnership accounting, settled following day one of the trial.
- Horlick v Taylor and Rockpool Investments [2018] EWHC 4034 (Ch) acting for the defendants in resisting an application restraining an LLP from holding a meeting for the purpose of passing resolutions to dilute voting rights.
Partnership and LLPs Frequently Asked Questions
Do you appear for firms and individuals?
Yes. The partnership barristers at Ten Old Square regularly advise firms (often liaising with managing partners, General Counsel and management teams on exits, team moves, post termination breaches and internal issues of all types) but we also act for many individuals who face partnership issues with their firms.
Do you advise on partnership/LLP agreements?
Our expert team of partnership barristers often assist in reviewing and updating agreements to bring them into line with current best practice and law. We draft entire agreements, as well as giving existing agreements a ‘refresh’ and advising on specific clauses. We also advise on ‘conversions’ from partnership to LLP status both in England and offshore.
Can you assist with injunctions and other urgent hearings?
Yes. Our experienced partnership barristers often appear on urgent injunctions and other court and arbitration hearings that require speedy action.
Do you appear in arbitrations?
Absolutely. We regularly represent clients in arbitrations and our team includes a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Yes. Our partnership barristers often represent clients in confidential partnership/LLP mediations which can provide, if handled correctly, a highly productive and cost-effective method of resolving disputes.
Can we instruct a barrister directly on a partnership dispute?
We can accept your instructions if you are a solicitor and hold a current practising certificate under our usual terms of business. We may also accept instructions from other professional clients under the “licensed access” rules. If you are not a solicitor or professional client, then we cannot accept your direct instructions, but our experienced Clerks can recommend appropriate solicitors who can assist you and through whom you can instruct us.
At what stage do your partnership barristers get involved in a dispute?
Our expert partnership barristers can help at all stages of an LLP or Partnership dispute. We have a huge amount of experience in dealing with disputes within LLPs and partnerships and can therefore add significant value in giving early guidance long before litigation or arbitration proceedings begin. Most disputes are best dealt with early and we are able to provide useful input before matters escalate and also help you draw up a strategic plan to protect your interests and avoid pitfalls. Our experienced team of Clerks can discuss with you how (and if) we might help.
Areas of Partnership and LLPs Expertise
Examples of areas which our Partnership and LLPs barristers regularly deal with include:
- Partner and member exits: expulsion and compulsory retirement
- Team moves and lateral hires
- Partnership property and assets (including goodwill)
- LLP and partnership agreements: drafting and construing key clauses
- Status of partners/members (employee versus partner/member)
- Duties within partnerships and LLPs
- Unfair prejudice in LLPs
- Restrictive covenants and garden leave in partnership disputes
- Dissolution and termination of partnerships and taking accounts
- Partnership and LLP insolvency
- Discrimination issues in partnerships
- Partnership regulatory issues (including advice about investigations by the SRA and Legal Ombudsman, and representation before the SDT)
