Adam enjoys a broad practice, being instructed on his own or working as part of a team, and welcomes instructions in all the areas of work in which XXIV Old Buildings specialises.

Adam has been called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Virgin Islands) and is currently acting on behalf of one shareholder in the trial of a shareholders’ dispute in that jurisdiction. In addition, Adam has spent a period on secondment to a major city firm, which enabled him to develop a greater understanding of the needs of and pressures facing professional clients.  Prior to coming to the Bar, Adam also worked at the Department of Trade & Industry in the team responsible for the Companies Act 2006. 

Adam recently acted (with Philip Shepherd QC) for the successful claimant in Emmott v Michael Wilson & Partners [2008] EWCA Civ 184, now the leading Court of Appeal authority on the confidentiality of arbitrations. He also recently acted for an Isle of Man trust company in its successful application in relation to solicitors improperly commencing and conducting proceedings without authority: Warner & SMP Trustees Limited v Masefield and others [2008] EWHC 1129 (Ch).

Other recent / ongoing work includes:

• Acting for the estate of a major painter in relation to a mutli-million pound dispute over a very significant piece by the artist.
• Acting for a beneficiary in challenging a will (on grounds of lack of capacity) and an associated 1975 Act claim in relation to a multi-million pound estate.
• Advising the Department of Trade & Industry / Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform on the implementation of the Companies Act 2006.
• Acting (with Philip Shepherd QC and Steven Thompson) in a multi-million dollar arbitration and various related Commercial Court applications.
• Advising a major bank on its standard form documentation for a new and sophisticated secured lending product.
• Advising (with Shân Warnock-Smith QC) a beneficiary in relation to rights in an estate worth in excess of £1bn, involving proceedings across numerous jurisdictions.
• Advising on a proposed share buy-back and restructuring the deal.
• A High Court trial on the question of agents’ remuneration and the “effective cause” requirement: Pettigrew v George Wimpey [2007] EWHC 2559.
• Acting for a leading asset management fund in an adjudication over a former development consultant’s remuneration.
• Acting (with Elspeth Talbot-Rice QC) for the trustee of an investment product in asset-tracing actions across numerous jurisdictions.  
• A number of contentious estate/probate claims, including capacity, want of knowledge and approval, and 1975 Act claims; claims for the removal and replacement of personal representatives; and a claim for the rectification of a will.
• Acting for a successful applicant for an anti-suit injunction, preventing the respondent from obtaining depositions in the US pursuant to 28 USC §1782.

Academic:
M.A. Law, St John's College, Cambridge
McMahon Scholar (St John's College)
Astbury Scholar, Middle Temple
BVC, Inns of Court School of Law

Professional Memberships:
Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Chancery Bar Association (Committee member)
COMBAR
Institute of Art & Law
Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association

Publications:

• Co-General Editor of International Trust Laws (Jordans, loose-leaf)
• Contributor to Blackstone’s Guide to the Companies Act 2006 (OUP, 2007) and various lectures and seminars for law firms and others on the 2006 Act.
• Co-author of the Wills & Probate section of New Law Journal.
• “Directors’ Duties of Disclosure” [2005] Journal of Business Law 252
• “Heresies and Human Rights” [2005] Cambridge Law Journal 558
• “Knowledge, Attribution and Fraudulent Trading” (2006) 122 Law Quarterly Review 25
• “Proving a Beneficial Joint Tenancy” [2006] Cambridge Law Journal 496
•  “Voluntary Arrangements & Landlords’ Claims” – seminars for R3 (the Association of Business Recovery Professionals) and for the Chancery District Judges’ Association.
• “Fiduciary Duties of Directors” – lecture to Association of Contentious Trust & Probate Specialists, published in ACTAPS Newsletter, September 2007.
• “Proving a Trust of a Shared Home” [2007] Cambridge Law Journal 517

Languages
French