Wilberforce features in four of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2023

We are delighted to announce that Wilberforce Chambers appears in four of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2023, identifying this year’s most-talked-about disputes. Four cases is a record achievement for us, meaning that nine of our members are involved across the different hearings.

R (Annington Property & others) v Secretary of State for Defence

Joanne Wicks KC and Daniel Petrides are appearing in the real estate proceedings of this case, which The Lawyer is describing as “one of the most prominent judicial reviews of 2023”, relating to the MOD’s plans to reaquire a number of properties it sold to Annington Homes on a sale and leaseback arrangement for 200 years in 1996.

Arma Partners v Wejo 

Alan Gourgey KC and Ram Lakshman are acting for the defendant, Wejo, in one of the first cases involving special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transactions to hit the English courts.

Asturion Foundation v Aljawharah Bint Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alibrahim

Simon Atkinson and Joseph Steadman are representing the defendant, Aljawharah Bint Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alibrahim, in this dispute over who is entitled to a multimillion-pound property on “Billionaire’s Row” in North London. The claim raises multiple questions of Liechtenstein, English and Shari’a Law.

Re BHS Group

Lexa Hilliard KC, Rachael Earle and Tara Taylor are defending one of the former directors of BHS against wrongful trading and misfeasance claims said to be worth over £160 million; the claim is one of the largest pieces of insolvency litigation this year and relates to the collapse of BHS and the significant liability owed to the employee pension scheme.

Subscribers to The Lawyer’s Litigation Tracker can read the full article here.