Wilberforce Chambers features twice in The Lawyer’s Top 10 Appeals of 2026

We are delighted to announce that our barristers feature in two of The Lawyer’s Top 10 Appeals of 2026, identifying this year’s most-talked-about disputes in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

London Trocadero v Picturehouse Cinemas and others

This appeal concerns a significant commercial landlord and tenant dispute arising from Picturehouse’s successful challenge to insurance rent payments made between 2015 and 2022 at the Trocadero Centre in Piccadilly Circus. In a May 2025 judgment, Mr Justice Richards held that insurance commission received by the landlords from their brokers should not have been included within the “premium” recoverable from the tenant, entitling Picturehouse to approximately £700,000 in repayments. The landlords now appeal that decision.

The case is of wide importance to the commercial property sector. The Court of Appeal is expected to consider the proper construction of insurance rent clauses, in particular whether “premium” excludes landlord commissions, as well as the availability of restitutionary remedies for unjust enrichment during the currency of a lease. The outcome may have far-reaching consequences for landlords who have historically recovered insurance costs on a similar basis, with potentially substantial retrospective liability at stake.

Jonathan Seitler KC, Benjamin Faulkner and Naomi Kilcoyne are appearing on behalf of the respondent, Picturehouse Cinemas and others, instructed by CMS partner Julie Gattegno and associate Jim Pang.

Kowski v NOAL SCSp and others

This appeal raises an important issue in UK insolvency law concerning the distinction between members’ voluntary liquidations (MVLs) and creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs). The case centres on the solvency test applicable to MVLs, which requires directors to declare that a company can pay all its debts, including contingent and disputed liabilities, within 12 months.

At first instance, the court held that where any such debts remain unpaid after 12 months, the statutory scheme mandates an automatic conversion from an MVL to a CVL. Luxembourg private equity fund NOAL SCSp now appeals that decision, arguing that it imposes an unduly narrow and rigid test. The outcome of the appeal is expected to have significant consequences for insolvency practice, either entrenching a strict legal standard for MVLs or restoring a more flexible approach, particularly in cases involving contingent liabilities.

Jack Watson is acting on behalf of the respondents NOAL SCSp, alongside Enterprise Chambers’ Stephen Davies KC, instructed by McDermott Will & Schulte partner Mark Fennessy.
Tim Matthewson is acting on behalf of the appellant, Stefan Kowski, alongside South Square’s Felicity Toube KC, instructed by Stephenson Harwood’s Tal Goldsmith, Paul Hollands and Kyrsten Baker.

Subscribers to The Lawyer can read the full article here.

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External Conferences

PLA South Coast Spring Training

Thursday 23 April 2026 | 12.15pm
Foot Anstey, Southampton

Free to attend for PLA members

Speakers:
Jonathan Seitler KC | Mark Galtrey | Naomi Kilcoyne

Events / Webinars

Property Breakfast Briefing – Damages: some tricky bits

Tuesday 10 March 2026 | 8.30am - 9.30am
Wilberforce Chambers, 77 Chancery Lane

Free to attend | 1.0 CPD

Events / Webinars

Property Breakfast Briefing – Negotiating Damages and s.84(1) LPA Compensation

Thursday 26 February 2026 | 8.30am - 9.30am
Wilberforce Chambers, 77 Chancery Lane

Free to attend | 1.0 CPD

Articles

An office-holder’s liability for adverse costs in litigation

Tom Robinson KC and Zihang Liu have written an article on an office-holder’s liability for adverse costs in litigation. The article covers the following aspects: the general position if an office-holder is a claimant or a defendant in litigation the... Read more

By Thomas Robinson KC | Zihang Liu
Thursday 22 January 2026