Mark is a senior disputes lawyer who represents high-net-worth individuals and their businesses in commercial disputes and in litigation arising from divorce and probate. He has acted in some of the most complex recent cases in the Chancery and Family divisions of the High Court, involving multiple jurisdictions.
Expertise
- Dispute Resolution
- Divorce and matrimonial
- Contentious trust
- Contentious probate
Experience
Commercial Disputes
- Acted for a FTSE250 company in a US$125m breach of contract claim relating to IP and a profit‐sharing joint‐venture manufacture and distribution deal.
- Obtained and enforced search orders for a privately owned project‐finance company in an £8m Chancery claim against former employees and destination company following a team move.
- Acted for an English registered holding company (and its members) which owned energy generation and engineering assets in Russia in various international disputes including for a mortgage default claim by a major Kazakh bank for US$500m and Chancery and Insolvency.
- Acted for BNFL (and successor companies) in substantial claims against major German utilities for misrepresentation, mistake and anti-competitive behaviour, concerning the design, construction and operation of nuclear reprocessing and associated facilities at Sellafield.
- Acted in a complex $5bn dispute between the co‐shareholders of a top luxury brand.
- Acted for a wealth management firm, with c. £3bn under management in a series of claims in contract (misrepresentation) and breach of fiduciary duty between the company and its management and consequential employment disputes.
- Acted for a claimant in a fraud and breach of contract claim concerning secondary‐market, high‐value jewellery distribution.
- Acted for Volkswagen in a claim for breach of contract and anti-competitive behaviour.
- Acted for a UK plc in proceedings in a highly confidential financial management regulatory matter.
- Acted for the FSA-authorised operator of unregulated collective investment schemes in two sets of proceedings brought by investors.
Divorce & Probate Disputes
- Acted for a solicitor QC & High Court Judge in a dispute against a co‐shareholder and spouse concerning the capacity and management of the businesses and the wider estate.
- Represented the estate of a German national entrepreneur and a property investor in multi-jurisdictional fraud, insolvency and contested probate proceedings against former business partners and others.
Trusts & Trustee Disputes
- Advised an ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) and Jersey-based family trust in a series of conjoined and connected disputes with a value of £10m concerning a dishonest scheme on the sale of an historically important building.
- Advised a Jersey trust in a claim against London solicitors for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud arising from conflict of interest in a property transaction.
- Acted for well-known art dealers in a contractual dispute (agency) concerning the sale of artwork worth many $100 million against professional trustees in London, New York and Basel.
- Acted for the trustees of family trusts connected with politically exposed Russian/CIS persons in a very complex and long-running multiparty dispute across multiple jurisdictions.
- Acted for the beneficiaries of a will trust in a removal and restitution claim against the trustees.
Other
- Actions, Freezing Orders and Stop Orders and Committal Applications for contempt.
- Acted for a US national UHNWI resident in the UK bringing a claim against a Saudi UHNWI for £100m. The case was defended on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised in The Legal 500 2020 for Fraud: Civil
Career
Mark qualified as a solicitor 2002. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2017, he worked at the following firms:
- Grosvenor Law
- Dawsons
- Eversheds