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FINANCE AND CONSUMER CREDIT GROUP

PRESENT

A COURT ROOM DRAMA

FOR

THE CREDIT SERVICES ASSOCIATION AND DEBT BUYERS AND SELLERSGROUP ANNUAL CONFERENCE

SEPTEMBER 09

2 Harcourt Buildings, Temple, London EC4Y 9DBTelephone: 020 7583 9020 Fax: 020 7583 2686 Email: [email protected]

Website: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk DX: 1039 Chancery Lane

Henderson Chambers – Finance & Consumer Credit Group

MOCK TRIAL – THE FACTS

FECKLESS FACTORS LIMITED v. HAPLESS

After over-indulging on Christmas Day 2008, Harold Hapless decided that he was sick and tired of theconstant financial problems he had experienced while running a mobile fish and chip stall in the smallvillage in East Sussex where he lived, and that it was time to get a proper job. He decided to set up as anagricultural contractor, but needed to finance the acquisition of a lorry. Transmissions, the local dealers ingood vehicles, dealt in the kind of lorry that Hapless needed, but he was worried that his very poor creditrating would make it impossible for him to get finance. One night in the pub he was telling one of his oldfish and chip customers about the problem, and the customer suggested Hard Cases Limited as a financecompany that specialised in lending to people with poor credit ratings.

Hapless telephoned Hard Cases Limited the very next morning and spoke to Chris Jolly, explaining that heknew nothing about agricultural vehicles and was trusting Transmissions to ‘find him a good one’ if HardCases would finance its acquisition. Jolly said he would be only too happy to oblige.

Hapless went straight round to Transmissions, and spoke to Andy Bigg, who said that Jolly had alreadybeen on the phone to him, that Transmissions had just the vehicle at a price of £45,000. In fact, as Biggwell knew but Hapless did not, the market value of a lorry of that type was no more than £30,000. As Bigg(though not Hapless) also knew, it had a dodgy transmission, three defective brake pads and a forged MOTcertificate. Bigg offered to take Hapless’s fish and chip van in part exchange for £2,000 (knowing its re-sale value was £4,000). Bigg, who habitually dealt with Hard Cases, had a stack of Hard Cases hire-purchase agreements, produced some paperwork for Hapless to sign, and Hapless signed without readingit.The paperwork consisted of a hire-purchase agreement whereby Hard Cases let the lorry to Hapless for aterm of three years. In addition to the basic finance of £43,000, Hapless agreed to pay a ‘finders’ fee’ of£5,000 and what were described as ‘administrative charges’ of £2,000 so that the actual sum financedwas £50,000. The APR was 65%. The final page of the document contained an agreement by Hapless topay Transmissions a ‘royalty’ of 2% of all freight earned by the lorry.

Hard Cases factored all its debts to the Claimant Feckless Factors Limited and assigned Hapless’sagreement to Feckless, who gave written notice of the assignment to Hapless.

Shortly after Hapless acquired the lorry, it broke down. Hapless took it to a reputable dealer who lookedat the hire-purchase agreement and advised Hapless that he had been ‘ripped off’. Hapless cancelled thedirect debit for the hire payments and tried to return the lorry to Transmissions only to find thatTransmissions had gone out of business.

Feckless served the requisite statutory notices, in due course terminated the hire-purchase agreement forbreach, and sued Hapless in the Brighton County Court to recover the balance of the hire-purchase price(less an allowance for accelerated payment). Hapless served a Defence settled by counsel which set outthe facts as related above (including the over-pricing of the lorry and the under-pricing of the part-exchange van) and asked for an order to be made on the ground of ‘unfair relationships’ under section140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

Sections 140A and 140B of the Act here follow


Consumer Credit Act 1974

140A Unfair relationships between creditors and debtors(1) The court may make an order under section 140B in connection with a credit agreement if it determines that therelationship between the creditor and the debtor arising out of the agreement (or the agreement taken with any relatedagreement) is unfair to the debtor because of one or more of the following—(a) any of the terms of the agreement or of any related agreement;(b) the way in which the creditor has exercised or enforced any of his rights under the agreement or any related agreement;(c) any other thing done (or not done) by, or on behalf of, the creditor (either before or after the making of the agreementor any related agreement).

(2) In deciding whether to make a determination under this section the court shall have regard to all matters it thinksrelevant (including matters relating to the creditor and matters relating to the debtor).

(3) For the purposes of this section the court shall (except to the extent that it is not appropriate to do so) treat anythingdone (or not done) by, or on behalf of, or in relation to, an associate or a former associate of the creditor as if done (or notdone) by, or on behalf of, or in relation to, the creditor.

(4) A determination may be made under this section in relation to a relationship notwithstanding that the relationship mayhave ended.

(5) An order under section 140B shall not be made in connection with a credit agreement which is an exempt agreement byvirtue of section 16(6C).

140B Powers of court in relation to unfair relationships(1) An order under this section in connection with a credit agreement may do one or more of the following—(a) require the creditor, or any associate or former associate of his, to repay (in whole or in part) any sum paid by thedebtor or by a surety by virtue of the agreement or any related agreement (whether paid to the creditor, the associate or theformer associate or to any other person);(b) require the creditor, or any associate or former associate of his, to do or not to do (or to cease doing) anything specifiedin the order in connection with the agreement or any related agreement;(c) reduce or discharge any sum payable by the debtor or by a surety by virtue of the agreement or any related agreement;(d) direct the return to a surety of any property provided by him for the purposes of a security;(e) otherwise set aside (in whole or in part) any duty imposed on the debtor or on a surety by virtue of the agreement orany related agreement;(f) alter the terms of the agreement or of any related agreement;(g) direct accounts to be taken, or (in Scotland) an accounting to be made, between any persons.

(2) An order under this section may be made in connection with a credit agreement only—(a) on an application made by the debtor or by a surety;(b) at the instance of the debtor or a surety in any proceedings in any court to which the debtor and the creditor are parties,being proceedings to enforce the agreement or any related agreement; or(c) at the instance of the debtor or a surety in any other proceedings in any court where the amount paid or payable underthe agreement or any related agreement is relevant.

(3) An order under this section may be made notwithstanding that its effect is to place on the creditor, or any associate orformer associate of his, a burden in respect of an advantage enjoyed by another person.

(4) An application under subsection (2)(a) may only be made—(a) in England and Wales, to the county court; . . .

(8) A party to any proceedings mentioned in subsection (2) shall be entitled, in accordance with rules of court, to have anyperson who might be the subject of an order under this section made a party to the proceedings.

(9) If, in any such proceedings, the debtor or a surety alleges that the relationship between the creditor and the debtor isunfair to the debtor, it is for the creditor to prove to the contrary.


FINANCE & CONSUMER CREDIT GROUP

Henderson Chambers is recognised as a leading set in the law of financial services and consumer law.Members of chambers regularly appear in finance and consumer cases both in the criminal (e.g.regulatory prosecutions) and the civil courts. We advise and represent multi-national organisations,foreign and domestic corporations, banks, insurance companies, government departments and agencies,local authorities, non-governmental organisations, professional bodies and private individuals in a widevariety of contentious or non-contentious matters. We also act for consumers, and consumer groups, inclaims made by and against businesses.

Our experience covers:

Credit, finance and leasing and all aspects of consumer credit legislation:We have a large team, drawing on experience at all levels, whose members regularly act in thecontentious and non-contentious aspects of such work.Recent work has included claims arising out of regulated consumer credit and consumer hireagreements, claims involving mortgages and guarantees, disputes resulting from improperlyexecuted consumer agreements, and advice on the recent Consumer Credit Regulations.We are regularly involved in the drafting of a wide variety of financial agreements and instruments,including loan agreements, overdraft facilities, credit card agreements, hire, finance hire and hirepurchase agreements, conditional sale contracts, whether in the commercial context or whetherregulated by the terms of the Consumer Credit legislation.In particular, we have recently been advising trade associations in the credit industry in theirregulatory dealings with the Office of Fair Trading.Two members of Chambers have recently published in 2008 The Blackstone’s Guide to theConsumer Credit Act 2006 and Butterworths Commercial and Consumer Law Handbook.Members of Chambers are contributing editors to:Goode Consumer Credit Law & Practice,Vol 9(1) Halsbury’s Law – Consumer Credit,Butterworths Civil Court Precedents – Credit Leasing and the Consumer Credit Act,Butterworths Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents – Consumer Credit, andBullen, Leaks & Jacob’s Precedents of Pleadings – Credit Finance and Leasing.

Professional negligence in a consumer contextWe regularly act for both claimants and defendants in claims arising out of allegedly negligentprofessional advice, whether given by accountants, financial advisers, surveyors or others.

Sale and carriage of goodsWe have long experience of contractual claims involving defective products, whether or not givingrise to issues over exclusion clauses, in the context of commercial disputes or consumer claims.Recent work has included claims arising out of defective vehicles, infected fish, animal feed, andengineering equipment.

Title to goods


We have regularly acted in claims brought for the recovery of goods, particularly vehicles acquiredor hired under finance arrangements.

Consumer protection (including Food & Drink Law):We have wide expertise in domestic and European consumer protection legislation, and we act forboth trading standards and the defence in consumer protection, product safety and other regulatoryprosecutions.We advise companies and organisations on precautionary steps and improvements to be taken toensure compliance with relevant regulatory regimes in relation to products in general, and food/drinkin particular. We regularly advise manufacturers and suppliers of food/drink, whether multi-nationalcompanies or small suppliers, on the requirements of relevant domestic and European foodregulations, including those relating to labelling, packaging, food safety and product recall.We also represent producers in cases (both criminal and civil) involving contaminated food anddrinks. Recent cases have concerned benzene in carbonated drinks, genetically-modified ingredientsin pizzas, and food products containing carcinogens.Chambers is fortunate to have Professor John Miller as a door tenant. Professor Miller is Professorof Law at the University of Birmingham, the leading academic authority on the regulatory regimesgoverning food and product safety, and is the author of the authoritative loose-leaf Encyclopaedia ofProduct Safety.

We provide both formal advice and representation for our clients, as well as an ongoing commitment tocases in which we are involved, working closely with the lay clients and instructing solicitors at everystage of the litigation.

We offer a strong team, at all levels of seniority, to advise and represent clients in a range of consumerclaims. Our members include recognised leaders in the field both at silk and junior counsel level.

We are frequently and increasingly instructed directly by our corporate clients under the Bar Council’sDirect Access Scheme, which offers dual benefit to our clients in terms of both cost and ease ofinstruction. Chambers have been at the forefront of direct access and one of the first to invest in thetraining of staff and qualifying members to gain accreditation.

Our current web site allows for the quick assessment of any potential client’s needs and our clerks aretrained to give clear guidance as to our internal protocols which are specifically designed to maximiseefficiency of administration and to inform the client as to the scheme’s scope.

Work highlightsIn the course of the last year, members of chambers have been involved in the following cases:

A high volume of cases in the county courts involving consumer credit agreements, especially thoseinvolving allegedly extortionate credit bargains.

Various trading standards prosecutions, including proceedings against a company director under theTrade Descriptions Act 1968,

Various environmental prosecutions, including proceedings against a business under theEnvironmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste Management Regulations.

In the course of the last year, members of Chambers have also advised on the following:


Advice on the impact of the various Consumer Credit Regulations and the impact of the ConsumerCredit Act 2006 (in particular the changes in relation to extortionate credit bargains and businessexemption).

Confidential advice to major manufacturing companies in the food and drink sector on potential civiland criminal liabilities.

Advice on product safety and product withdrawal to major food and drink retailers andmanufacturers (e.g. Christmas puddings, foods containing carcinogens).

Advising companies on liability in relation to consumer claims in relation to the sale of products(such as motorbikes, televisions, telephones).

Advising consumers in relation to injury caused by consumer products, including food and drink andmedical devices.

Chambers has also run seminars on consumer credit, finance and leasing

Brief individual summaries from some members of the finance and consumer credit group

Charles Gibson QCCharles is currently ranked by the Legal 500 as a leading silk in consumerlaw.In 2006 he has continued to represent a large number of companiesdefending individual and group claims by consumers injured by variouscommercial, food and pharmaceutical products. He has continued to act inthe Sudan Red litigation and in numerous claims brought under theConsumer Protection Act involving a wide rage of consumer products.His consumer law work also involves advising various companies on foodlabelling issues and on the their liabilities under Consumer Law Regulationsand in respect of product recall issues.

Roger Henderson QC (1964/1980):Roger has broad continuous experience over the past 3 decades in relation toinnumerable aspects of Finance (but no recent experience in respect ofConsumer Credit, despite having lectured about hire purchase and consumercredit many years ago).

Since taking silk, he has variously

Promoted the GLC money bills in Parliament;

Advised and represented the GLC in relation to its financial battles withthe Government, particularly in relation to budgeting, the finance of major projects andrating/taxation;

Advised CIPFA and thus all UK Local Authorities, in relation to interest rate swaps;

Represented and advised numerous Local Authorities in relation to interest rate swaps;

Represented 3 groups of “names” in the Lloyds litigation;

Advised and represented the GLC, the GLA and many Local Authorities upon their financial issuesover 25 plus years, including the GLA budget in the past 4 years of c£10 billion each year;

Advised and represented public authorities and others re Local Government finance, including the


raising of money by issuing Eurobonds and other financial instruments;

Advised both public and private bodies re state aid and public procurement issues, representing themin this field;

Advised and represented Waste authorities in respect of their finances and restructuring;

Advised and represented PTEs in relation to their finances;

Specialised in audit and auditors and accountancy work; e.g. chairing the JDS Tribunal in respect ofEquitable Life;

Chaired numerous JDS Tribunals in respect of major financial matters; e.g. Maxwell, Polly Peck,Equitable Life audits;

Represented and advised Local Authorities in respect of their companies; e.g. NEC.

Richard Mawrey QC (1964/1984):Richard has been involved in a very wide range of consumer credit work sincewell before the Consumer Credit Act 1974 was passed.The Legal 500 currently lists Richard in the list of leading silks for ConsumerLaw and Legal Experts lists him in the list of leading silks for Consumer Law.He has recently advised major banks, building societies, finance companiesand other lending institutions on new forms of credit and on the drafting ofagreements and other documents. In particular, with George Alliott, he hasadvised the Finance and Leasing Association in relation to the attack madeby the OFT on many of the important standard terms and conditions incommon use throughout the industry. Recent cases include Feldarol

Foundry plc v Hermes Leasing (London) Ltd [2004] EWCA Civ 747 which established that a limitedcompany can deal as "consumer" for the purposes of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and ConisterTrust Ltd v John Hardman & Co [2008] EWCA Civ 841 on the effect of unenforceability of consumercredit agreements on CFA litigation schemes.He was the founder specialist editor of Goode Consumer Credit Law & Practice and of ButterworthsCounty Court Precedents and Pleadings in 1981 (now Butterworths Civil Court Precedents), and iscurrently editor of Section F of BCCP (Business Law) which includes consumer credit, hire-purchaseand leasing, sale of goods, bills of exchange etc. He is the specialist editor of Bullen Leake and JacobPrecedents of Pleadings 13th, 14th and 15th Editions: including the sections on consumer credit, hire-purchase and leasing, sale of goods etc. He is the author of the following books:Computers and the Law (Blackwells 1988)Blackstone’s Guide to the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (OUP 2006) (With Tobias Riley-Smith ofHenderson Chambers)

Butterworths Commercial and Consumer Law Handbook (Butterworths) (2008) (With Tobias Riley-Smith of Henderson Chambers).

Peter Susman QC (1966/1997):


Peter has been active in consumer credit law since the 1970s, when he conducted a series of conferencesto inform and warn lending institutions and others on the implications of the Consumer Credit Act 1974as it was about to come into force. A few years later he was engaged to draft documentation for secondmortgage lenders, and has since extensively advised upon and has been engaged in draftingdocumentation to meet the changing requirements of the secondary legislation in this field. His articleattacking the poor drafting of one of round of secondary legislation, entitled “Another Fine Mess”appeared in [2005] NLJ 770 (20 May 2005). More recently, he has advised a ‘household-name’ insureron problems arising from the failure to comply with the legislation of its consumer credit agreements forthe financing of insurance premiums.

Bernard O’Sullivan (1971):Bernard has considerable experience in consumer law. He appears on behalfof creditors and debtors in debt recovery and consumer credit cases. In2008 Bernard was a leading contributor to Goode on Consumer Credit andregularly advises on contentious and non-contentious matters arising out ofthe Consumer Credit Act 1974.

George Alliott (1981):George has extensive experience in the fields of credit, leasing, financialservices and consumer law (sale of goods etc).In 2006 he undertook a 6 month part-time secondment to the FSA working inthe legal department, consumer regulation section. Here he dealt with arange of regulatory issue involving, for example, mortgage providers, UCITSSchemes, e’money, credit unions, friendly societies etc.He undertakes advisory, drafting (both contentious and non-contentiousforms) and litigation work in all fields.Examples of advisory work include, with Richard Mawrey QC, advising theFinance and Leasing Authority in the face of an extensive attack made by theOFT on industry standard terms and conditions. More recently, the changes

to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 brought about by the 2006 Act (and problems caused thereby) haveresulted in extensive advisory and drafting work.Recent commercial clients include Nissan Finance Limited, Black Horse Limited, Shogun Finance,United Dominions Trust, Daimler Chrysler Finance, Singer & Friedlander Finance Limited and


James Palmer (1983):James has acted in consumer credit cases for over 20 years, covering allaspects of the Consumer Credit legislation. In the majority of cases he hasacted on behalf of finance houses or lending institutions, but he has also actedon behalf of the suppliers of goods under credit agreements, and from time totime the debtor.He has advised on, reviewed and drafted terms and conditions for financehouses and credit card companies (including store cards). He has acted onbehalf of Citibank, UDT, Lombard, Blackhorse Finance and many of thecredit companies providing dedicated motor vehicle finance under specificmanufacturer’s brands.

In addition James has acted on behalf of banks in secured credit and personal guarantee claims, as wellas claims arising out of asset, business and working capital finance agreements, including the draftingand implementation of invoice finance and factoring agreements.James has also been involved in product liability and recall claims, advice and representation relating tofood production, labelling, safety and hygiene offences (involving both civil and criminal liabilities).

Andrew Davies (1988):Andrew has considerable experience of contentious and non-contentiousfinance and consumer work. He advises and appears for financialinstitutions and debtors covering a wide range of issues. He has drafted andadvised upon standard documentation and deals regularly with majorinstitutions. He has particular experience of financial regulation underFSMA and the regulatory aspects of consumer credit, lending and insurance.

Patrick Green (1990):Patrick has acted in a number of consumer cases over the years, in the HighCourt and County Court. He has drafted standard documentation for twoclearing banks and has advised commercial organisations and localgovernment both in contentious and non-contentious matters, includingselection of test cases for large financial institutions on novel points of law.He has also drafted international ‘hold harmless’ agreements allocatingproduct liability risk in respect of consumer claims in supply chains. He hasexperience of the application of competition law in consumer cases andbrings a wide range of experience to bear in this area.


Geraint Webb (1995):Geraint is recommended as a leading junior by the Legal 500 in ConsumerLaw. He is also recommended by the Legal 500, Legal Experts and/orChambers UK and Chambers Global in the fields of Product Liability, PublicProcurement and Information Technology.

Consumer Protection and Food law: Following his experience asjunior Counsel in the benzene litigation involving contamination ofsoft and alcoholic beverages with benzene, a genotoxic carcinogen,Geraint has been instructed on a variety of food and drinkcontamination and personal injury claims. He is currently instructed

on both the Sudan 1 and Para Red food contamination recalls.He has also advised companies in relation to product recalls and limitation of liabilities forpotential and actual consumer claims in a variety of sectors, including the motor industry, mobilephone industry and the agricultural sector and in relation to pharmaceuticals. He has bothprosecuted (on behalf of trading standards) and defended companies in General Product Safetyprosecutions arising out of dangerous products sold to consumers. In addition, over the past yearGeraint has advised individual consumers and manufacturers in relation to claims relating tounsafe consumer goods, including motor vehicles and household products, as well aspharmaceuticals. He has also advised consumers in relation to defective “new build” houses.

Consumer Credit: Geraint undertakes a broad range of consumer credit work, both on behalf ofmajor finance companies and on behalf of consumers. He regularly advises companies on thedrafting and enforceability of standard terms and conditions.

Toby Riley-Smith (1995):Toby is a specialist in finance and consumer credit law. He appears regularlyin the county courts, for both lenders and consumers, in cases involvingconsumer credit agreements. He advises consumers and finance houses onnon-contentious and contentious aspects of the 1974 Act.

Finance and Consumer Credit Litigation: He has great experienceof cases involving consumer credit and hire agreements, whetherlitigation involving the agreements themselves or PPI or commercialclaims arising out of litigation funding schemes based upon regulatedloans.

Consumer Credit advice & drafting: He has been heavily involvedin non-contentious matters including drafting compliant agreements, notices and forms; advisingon the impact of the recent reforms introduced by the 2006 Act; advising on the rights andliabilities of those purchasing debt through bulk discount schemes; advising on the formalrequirements for start-up consumer credit businessesConsumer protection & trading standards:He has developed a burgeoning practice in the field of consumer protection. He has representedthe defence in regulatory prosecutions, including prosecutions brought against a wastemanagement company under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and footwear importersunder the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. He advises businesses on the issues of product integrityand on strategic issues such as product recall.He has also advised confidentially on the impact of the product safety and labelling regulations.Finally, he has significant experience in litigation involving consumers and defective products,


and therefore much of the experience listed above is equally relevant to the field of ConsumerLaw.

Sudan Red: he has, with Prashant Popat, continued to act for a major supplier and manufacturerin the food sector on the possible liabilities arising from the supply of products contaminatedwith illegal food dye. Given the confidential nature of the instruction, no further details may beprovided.

Product safety and product recall: In the course of 2006 he has provided other general, butconfidential, product liability and product safety advice to various manufacturers and suppliers,including advice on product recall. Contact details of the various in-house counsel, whoprovided instructions directly, cannot be given.

Relevant publications Contributing editor of Goode: Consumer Credit Law and Practice (Looseleaf) Contributor to Volume 9(1) of Halsbury's Laws - Consumer Credit (1998) Contributor to Product Liability Law and Insurance (2000) Contributor to Volume 37 of Halsbury's Laws - Practice and Procedure (2001) Co-author of The Blackstone’s Guide to the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (2006). Co-author of the Consumer Credit volume of the Butterworths Encyclopaedia of Forms and

Precedents (2007). Co-author of the Butterworths’ Commercial and Consumer Law Handbook (2008)

Adam Heppinstall (1999):

Adam has wide experience of all types of commercial disputes. He hasadvised on franchise agreements, finance leasing arrangements, agencyagreements and all forms of consumer credit. He regularly appears onbehalf of Creditors and Debtors in the County Courts and High Court andhas lectured and given Seminars on the effects of the Consumer Credit Act2006. He has been seconded to the legal departments of the FinancialServices Authority, Railtrack and Nestlé (UK) Ltd.

Noel Dilworth (2001):Noel’s practice encompasses all forms of debt recovery and consumer finance.In particular, he has, according to the Legal 500 2008, “fantastic experience” inthe field of product liability. He has appeared for finance houses and debtorsin a variety of cases in the High Court and County Court in cases concernedwith regulated or unregulated agreements. He also has extensive experience of


harassment claims brought against credit card companies. During his tenure as Judicial Assistant to LordPhillips, he was concerned with a number of important cases concerning regulated claims.

Nazeer Chowdhury (2002):Nazeer was seconded to the Insurance and Reinsurance Department of theFinancial Services Authority (FSA) for one year between 2002 and 2003.He advised the FSA as standing counsel on various contentious and non-contentious matters arising out of business and consumer agreements underthe Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.He has been heavily involved in advising Banks and Finance Houses onthe impact of the Government White Paper on consumer credit law and thevarious consumer credit regulations laid before Parliament in 2004. Sincethen he has been advising Banks and Finance Houses on the implications

of the Consumer Credit Act 2006 and has advised Development Companies on the nature of creditagreements and modifications required under the Consumer Credit Act 2006.Since the recent removal of the £25,000 limit under the Consumer Credit Act 2006, Nazeer has beendrafting finance agreements for Banks and Finance Houses and advising on the nature and extent of theexemptions available to them. His clients include: International Banks and Finance Houses, LeadingCity Solicitors and Local Authorities.He spends a huge amount of time appearing on behalf of Banks and Finance Houses up and down thecountry and has given talks and seminars to assist in the understanding of the Consumer Credit Act 1974and the Consumer Credit Act 2006.

James Purnell (2002):James regularly appears in the county courts in a broad spectrum of consumercredit litigation, predominantly but not exclusively for creditors including:debtor-creditor-supplier litigation; enforcement orders; time orders; civilfraud trials; unfair bank charges; injunctions; and harassment.In addition, James frequently drafts and reviews consumer credit contracts,particularly since the recent changes in legislation brought about by the recentConsumer Credit Act.James drafts and appears in a variety of finance and debt litigation, includingbank charges litigation, guarantee and cheque disputes, misrepresentation andrestitution cases.James was retained by the UK Home Office (Immigration and Nationality

Directorate; Refugee Integration Section) to advise on financial disputes arising out of its managementof the European Refugee Fund (ERF), including the recoverability of funds misapplied by fundbeneficiaries. In addition to tracing and recoverability actions against beneficiaries, James advised theHome Office on financial correction procedures imposed by the European Commission.


Financial litigation often spills into the field of harassment litigation, of which James has considerableexperience. He appeared for the successful claimant in Ferguson v British Gas [2008] EWHC 1964(QB), a claim for harassment arising out persistent and unjustified demands for money.

Jonathan Lewis (2007):Jonathan qualified as a solicitor at Slaughter and May, where he gainedexperience in general corporate work as well as commercial litigation.Thereafter, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal as a judicial assistant toMummery L.J. and Brooke L.J. (each for six months).

Common Law: Jonathan advises, drafts pleadings, and representsclients in all matters of contract and tort. He recently assisted TobyRiley-Smith in an appeal in the Court of Appeal on the application ofthe common law principle of ex turpi causa non oritur actio (Gray vThames Trains Ltd and another [2008] EWCA Civ 713).

Company and Commercial: Jonathan has represented clients ingeneral commercial disputes both on the small claims and fast track.

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