Simon Atkinson

Property

Property law is a core component of Simon’s practice. He is regularly instructed across the gamut of Chambers’ areas of work including: boundary disputes and easements (including wayleaves), overage agreements, restrictive covenants, adverse possession claims, landlord and tenant work (both commercial and residential), mortgagor-mortgagee disputes, TOLATA claims, commercial development agreements, lease renewals, rent reviews, land registration issues and possession proceedings.

Simon is ranked as a leading junior in both Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 for property litigation.

Notable instructions include:

• Appearing as junior counsel in Asturion Fondation v Alibrahim (one of The Lawyer Top 20 Cases for 2023). These proceedings concern a multimillion-pound property on “Billionaire’s Row” in North London. The fiercely contested claim raises multiple questions of Liechtenstein, Swiss and Shari’a Law, as well as English Law. Simon acts for the defendant, Ms Alibrahim, a wife of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The Court of Appeal judgment [2020] 1 WLR 1627 is now the leading authority relating to the striking out of proceedings for abuse of process where a party is alleged to have “warehoused” proceedings.
• Appearing (with Max Mallin KC) in Al Rawi v Sidawi [2023] EWHC 1415 (Ch). Simon acted as junior counsel for the claimant in a multi-million pound dispute between former business partners engaged in the acquisition and redevelopment of high-value London properties
• Appearing (with James Ayliffe KC) in National Stadium Project (Grenada) Corp v NH (Caribbean) Ltd [2020] UKPC 25. Simon acted for the appellant in a dispute concerning the construction of a sports stadium in Grenada in the late 1990s and the entitlement to a multimillion-dollar fund which had been frozen in 1999. It is an important recent authority on the law of Quistclose trusts and equitable assignment.
• Appearing in ongoing proceedings for a claimant seeking to set aside the registration of a parcel of land in the name of the defendant on the basis that the registration was procured by mistake induced by the conduct of the defendant.
• Appearing for the successful applicant in a five-day trial in the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), in which a purported transfer of valuable property was set aside on the basis that the transfer had been procured by the fraud of a respondent.
• Appearing as sole counsel for the appellants in Catalyst Housing Limited v Martin [2018] EWCA Civ 1206 both in the renewed oral application for permission to appeal and the substantive appeal in proceedings concerning contractual succession to an assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988.
• Appearing for the claimants/appellants in Wood v Waddington [2014] EWHC 1358 (Ch), [2015] EWCA Civ 538, a case concerning boundary disputes and alleged rights of way.
• Appearing (with Julian Greenhill KC) in possession proceedings brought in the High Court seeking expedition of the trial as the site was needed urgently for the manufacture of critical components for a national infrastructure project.
• Appearing for a defendant in a claim for alleged noise nuisance brought by neighbours who complained of the defendant’s use of a wooded area on its land to run outdoor lessons.
• Appearing for the mortgagee, in possession proceedings relating to a multi-million pound country estate.
• Acting for the lessees of land in rectification proceedings where the contractual term of the reversionary underleases had been erroneously recorded resulting in increased Stamp Duty Land Tax.
• Acting for the executors of an estate in respect of potential rectification claims arising out of conveyances of land containing mistakes as to the description of the parcels conveyed.
• Acting (with Julian Greenhill KC) for freehold owners in relation to a dispute with their neighbour concerning the extent of rights of way granted by a conveyance of land and alleged nuisances and breaches of restrictive covenants.
• Instructed in a case concerning the purported forfeiture of a business tenancy in the Dubai International Finance Centre for non-payment of rent and relief under the DIFC Real Property Law and DIFC Law of Damages and Remedies.
• Instructed in a landlord and tenant dispute concerning the repairing obligations of high velocity lifts in a newly built tower in London.
• Acting for a residential tenant of a high-value estate in west London in a dispute as to whether qualified covenants had been waived by the landlord’s predecessor in title.
• Acting for several heirs under Saudi Arabian law, who sought to have restrictions entered against the titles of UK properties as beneficiaries of an English resulting trust.
• Acting for a freehold owner seeking possession of land against trespassers who claimed adverse possession over part of the freeholder’s title.
• Acting for a tenant seeking rectification and variations of a long leasehold estate.
• Advising trustees of a charitable trust as to their powers in relation to the upkeep of a public recreation ground.

• Appearing for the landlord in the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in an application under Part IV of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 to vary leases of 32 flats in a holiday park.
• Appearing (with Martin Hutchings KC) for the third party, Ford Motor Company Ltd, in Ansa Logistics Ltd v Towerbeg Ltd [2012] EWHC 3651 (Ch). This was a landlord and tenant dispute concerning an alleged breach by the tenant of the covenant against alienation.
• Acting for the freehold owners of land who had, on legal advice, granted and later extended an option over their land. The principal issues in the case concerned the existence or otherwise of a legal adviser’s duty to revisit earlier advice and whether that duty extended to advising on the commercial consequences of extending the option agreement.
• Acting for the vendors of freehold owners of land in relation to a potential professional negligence claim against their conveyancing solicitors. The land had been conveyed subject to certain overage provisions which had not then been fully registered by their legal advisors.
• Acting for the purchasers of an apartment who were in a dispute with their conveyancing solicitors for failing to advise in relation to the increased liability to Stamp Duty Land Tax as a result of a proposed variation to the transaction following exchange of contracts but before completion.
• Acting for the owners of land seeking to redevelop their garden and open land which land was potentially subject to various restrictive covenants contained in a conveyance between their predecessors in title and the neighbouring landowner.
• Acting for the owners of a public house in relation to a dispute over a private road regarding rights of access arising under s. 62 of the Law of Property Act 1925 and/or by prescription.
• Acting for a public body which sought to require statutory undertakers to connect utilities to undeveloped land where the services to be laid had to cross a private road owned by a third party.
• Acting in trespass proceedings for a riparian landowner to whose land various individuals were mooring without permission.
• Appearing (with Andrew Mold KC) in High Court proceedings for breach of fiduciary duty and dishonest assistance, which claims were brought against the claimants’ managing agents and the director of the managing agents.
• Acting for the owner of land in relation to a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought against his former agent retained to negotiate a purchase of the neighbouring land in circumstances where the agent subsequently acquired an option over the neighbouring land for his own benefit.

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Trusts, probate and estates: contentious

Simon is a highly sought-after trusts practitioner. He is frequently instructed on high-value, multi-jurisdictional trusts disputes. He has a keen technical eye as well as a robust and practical approach in both contentious and non-contentious matters. He appears frequently in the High Court on trusts and probate matters.

His instructions span the whole spectrum of Chambers’ work including: breach of trust / breach of fiduciary duty claims; contentious probate disputes; trustee applications for directions; VTA claims; trustee and personal representative removal applications; Inheritance Act claims; TOLATA and family disputes; and professional negligence claims relating to trusts and estates matters.

He accepts instructions relating to onshore and offshore matters. Recent instructions with an offshore element have concerned matters in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Channel Islands, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Virgin Islands.

Notable instructions include:

• Appearing in Goodrich v AB [2022] WTLR 525 (Ch). Simon acted for the trustees of two employee benefit trusts in an important case concerning the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 upon older settlements. The judgment considers the construction of employee trust deeds given their commercial purposes and whether it is possible to read down the CPA 2004 and the MSSCA 2013 compatibly with the ECHR, specifically articles 8 and 14, to eliminate potentially discriminatory treatment between (i) spouses and civil partners, (ii) opposite sex and same sex spouses and (iii) children and step-children in older settlements.
• Appearing (with James Ayliffe KC) in National Stadium Project (Grenada) Corp v NH (Caribbean) Ltd [2020] UKPC 25. Simon acted for the appellant in a dispute concerning the construction of a sports stadium in Grenada in the late 1990s and the entitlement to a multimillion-dollar fund which had been frozen in 1999. It is an important recent authority on the law of Quistclose trusts and equitable assignment.
• Appearing (with James Ayliffe KC) in Wilton UK Ltd v Shuttleworth. These were company proceedings concerning a very substantial development of land in the north-east of England. Simon acted for the defendants, defending serious allegations of conspiracy, dishonest assistance, breach of confidence and breach of fiduciary duty by a number of directors.
• Appearing (with Andrew Mold KC) in Long v Rodman [2019] EWHC 753 (Ch), [2019] EWHC 2451 (Ch). Simon acted for two beneficiaries of an estate valued at c. USD130m. The beneficiaries successfully sought the removal of the professional administrator following a bitterly contested dispute, in which the professional administrator was, unusually, held not to be entitled to recover the majority of his costs from the estate as a result of the way the litigation had been conducted.
• Acting as junior counsel in Labrouche v Frey; Re Olga Martin-Montis Will Trusts [2016] EWHC 268 (Ch).  Simon acted for the professional trustees in a seven-week High Court trial concerning the administration of multimillion-pound will trusts created in 1980. The claim raised a number of complex issues of Liechtenstein, Swiss and English trust law.
• Acting as junior London counsel in a high-value wills and trusts dispute in Hong Kong.
• Acting for the trustee of a very substantial family trust who had been joined to Part 7 proceedings between the two branches of the family in dispute and where Part 8 proceedings needed to be brought by the trustee for approval of the terms of settlement.
• Appearing in the High Court to seek the removal of a co-executor because of his alleged fraudulent activities and to make related specific disclosure and third-party disclosure applications.
• Appearing in the High Court on behalf of a co-executor in relation to a specific disclosure application and directions for the administration of an estate.
• Appearing in the Court of Protection in relation to the disputed appointments of health and welfare attorneys, and property and financial affairs attorneys.
• Advising the trustees of an accumulation and maintenance trust as to whether a proposed distribution would comply with the requirements of section 71 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 and thus allow the settlement to remain subject to favourable tax treatment.
• Acting for several heirs under Saudi Arabian law, who sought to have restrictions entered against the titles of UK properties as beneficiaries of an English resulting trust.
• Advising the settlor of a charitable trust of steps to take where the terms of all the trustees had expired without new trustees having been appointed.
• Advising trustees of a charitable trust as to their powers in relation to the upkeep of a public recreation ground.
• Advising as to whether an inter vivos sale of property at an undervalue would be treated as an advancement under the deceased’s will.
• Acting for the executors of an estate in relation to potential rectification claims arising out of conveyances of land containing mistakes as to the description of the parcels conveyed.
• Acting for the beneficiary of two will trusts in professional negligence proceedings brought against the solicitors retained to draft the wills of the testator and testatrix.
• Acting (with Andrew Child) for the father of a family who was being sued for alleged breaches of trust in relation to the management of the family’s extensive property portfolio which was owned through various offshore entities.
• Advising outgoing trustees of a very substantial investment fund in relation to the vesting of onshore and offshore trust assets in incoming trustees.
• Appearing in various Inheritance Act claims, including acting for claimants, defendants and executors.

Download Trusts, probate and estates: contentious CV

Trusts, probate and estates: non-contentious

Simon is instructed in traditional private client work, including advising upon and drafting trust deeds and related documentation, advising upon estate administration and non- contentious probate matters and discrete tax issues connected with such matters.

Although much of Simon’s non-contentious work is confidential, Simon’s instructions in this area have included the following:

• Advising trustees on the scope and exercise of their powers, their obligations to beneficiaries and appointments to, and the exclusion of, beneficiaries.
• Advising upon new and existing trust deeds, and associated documentation such as deeds of release, deeds of appointment and deeds of variation.
• Advising charitable trustees as to the scope of their powers and upon prospective applications to the Charity Commission.
• Advising on momentous trustee decisions and the desirability of making applications to bless such decisions under the High Court’s Public Trustee v Cooper jurisdiction.
• Advising on the history of the administration of trusts, and on the need for applications to court for directions.
• Advising upon prospective applications under s. 57 of the Trustee Act 1925.
• Advising on matters under the Settled Land Act 1925.
• Advising upon and appearing in applications under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958.
• Advising trustees and others upon connected tax matters such as UK IHT, CGT and SDLT.

Download Trusts, probate and estates: non-contentious CV