Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester, 2010-2017, PhD
College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium 2004-2005; LLM European Legal Studies;
University of Durham 1999-2001 and 2002-2003; LLB Law and European Legal Studies;
University of Fribourg, Switzerland 2001-2002; European Legal Studies component of LLB
Chancery Bar Association
Northern Chancery Bar Association
Northern Circuit Commercial Bar Association
European Circuit Committee Member
Court of Protection Association
Michael is a Manchester-based business and property law barrister, regularly instructed to deal with difficult and high-value cases, often involving allegations of fraud, or complex legal issues, and typically against significantly more senior opponents.
As well as taking on factually-difficult cases, which often depend upon fraud being proven, he is also at ease dealing with a wide range of black-letter areas of law, and not least property, landlord and tenancy, insolvency, company, contract and consumer credit, but also cases involving aspects of EU law, public law and judicial review and banking and finance.
Before being called to the Bar, Michael taught judicial review and public law to undergraduates and studied EU law to masters level. More recently, he has been awarded a PhD in banking reform, and corporate governance. Given his grounding in public, EU and commercial law, Michael is at ease dealing with all manner of regulatory and commercial cases, often with international dimensions. He also has a developed practice in probate and inheritance matters, partnership, professional negligence, and all aspects relating to trusts.
Michael speaks French, and is well travelled. As well as travel and foreign languages, his hobbies include writing on banking reform, chess and wine.
Court of Appeal
Ehrentreu v IG Index Ltd [2018] EWCA (Civ) 79
IG Index Limited v Ehrentreu [2017] EWCA Civ 326;
Weymont v Place [2015] EWCA Civ 289;
High Court
Cantt Pak Ltd v Pak Southern China Properties Investment Ltd [2018] EWHC 2564 (Ch) – The Vice-Chancellor, Mister Justice Barling – 7 day trial dealing with legal and factual arguments around whether a seller who refused to give vacant possession because they believed the buyer was unable to raise finance was ready able and willing to complete and thus entitled to rescind their sale agreement
Khan v Anwar and anr [2017] Mister Justice King – resisted C’s appeal of a decision of the County Court in which HHJ Platts granted permission to re-litigate issues which had been raised and determined in previous proceedings on the basis that the earlier judgment might have been obtained by collusion;
Davies v GE Money [2018] Manchester High Court – resisted an abuse of process strike out application in which C alleged D was wasting disproportionate resources by re-litigating issues raised previously in other proceedings struck out;
County Court
Malik v Anwar [2016] – 5 day multi track trial – established that C had sold D’s UK property notwithstanding that the debt secured by C’s charge had already been repaid albeit via a payment made in Pakistan by a third party to a fourth party pursuant to C’s oral agreement to accept payment in such manner.
Atkinson v Boyle [2016] – 3 day multi-track trial – established that various written agreements were shams and that the true orally agreed arrangement was that C notionally bought D’s property but held it on trust for her to enable him to borrow money which he agreed C could use to repay her debts.
Insolvent divorces, N.L.J. 2008, 158(7347), 1667-1668
Sole searching, N.L.J. 2008, 158(7329), 995
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