Tom Roscoe

Insolvency

Tom regularly encounters and advises upon insolvency issues in practice, particularly in the context of landlord and tenant disputes and attempts to secure security over real property. He also accepts instructions in pure insolvency cases.

Illustrative examples include:

• Acting (with Lexa Hilliard KC) in the Court of Appeal in the latest round of the ‘Waterfall’ litigation to establish the priority of creditors following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This appeal concerned the relative ranking of various notes and sub-debt agreements on the proper construction of the instruments: Lehman Brothers Holdings Scottish LP 3 v Lehman Brothers Holdings Plc [2021] EWCA Civ 1523.
• Acting on behalf of a trustee in bankruptcy in proceedings to challenge a declaration of trust over property as a transaction intended to defraud creditors.
• Appearing on applications to set aside statutory demands on the basis the debt is contested: Rankin v Dissington Lending Co Ltd [2021] EWHC 172 (Ch).
• Appearing in the BVI Commercial Court on a contested three-day application to stay insolvency proceedings brought by loan note holders in the BVI in favour of a multibillion-dollar court supervised restructuring of the OAS group of companies in Brazil (with Thomas Lowe KC).

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International arbitration

Tom has advised upon and acted in a range of domestic and international arbitrations, and arbitration disputes are forming an increasing part of his practice.

Notable recent examples include:

• Acting (with John Wardell KC) in an ongoing c.$50m dispute between a private service provider and the government of an offshore jurisdiction about the sums due and/or the extent of any historic overcharging under an agreement for the provision of key public services (ICC Rules).
• Acting (as sole counsel) on a two-day hearing in a DIFC-LCIA arbitration in Dubai for the recovery of a loan advanced for the purchase of petrochemicals.
• Acting (with Andreas Gledhill) for a purchaser in seven-day arbitration to determine the purchase price of a substantial property portfolio as part of a complex corporate takeover.
• Acting (as sole counsel) on a two-day arbitration in Doha (under the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce) on a multimillion-dollar claim made by a security provider for unpaid invoices following the termination of their security services contract with an oil and gas company.

Tom also has experience of:

• Expert determination processes, and appeared (with Jonathan Seitler KC) in the Court of Appeal in Great Dunmow Estates Ltd v Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 1683, concerning the extent of an expert valuer’s ability to determine the parameters of their own task in a dispute under a contract for the sale of land.
• Challenging arbitration awards, e.g. (with Michael Bloch KC) on a claim to set aside a shipping arbitration award on the ground that the award had been procured by fraud: Nestor Maritime SA v Sea Anchor Shipping Co Ltd [2012] EWHC 83 (Comm).

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Property

Tom has extensive experience of advising and acting on a wide range of real property and commercial landlord and tenant disputes, both domestically and in the Caribbean.

He is a member of the Property Bar Association, and is ranked in both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 for his property litigation practice.

Tom has a particular experience of and interest in development disputes, including site acquisition and possession issues, overage provisions, user clauses, rights of way and other easements and restrictive covenants.

Tom is particularly well known for his work in claims involving protestors and squatters, with clients including HS2 and leading energy firms. He acted as sole counsel for Cuadrilla in the important Court of Appeal decision in Cuadrilla Bowland v Persons Unknown [2020] EWCA Civ 9 which upheld committal orders for breach of a ‘persons unknown’ injunction, and has acted in several High Court cases to obtain such injunctions and orders for the possession of land.

Tom’s broader chancery practice means that he is particularly well suited to, and enjoys, cases spanning multiple practice areas including issues of trusts of land, insolvency and contractual disputes arising from sale purchase, overage, joint venture or development agreements.

He also has recent experience in the resolution of property disputes in arbitration and by expert determination.

Recent illustrative cases include:

• Appearing for the tenant (a national retailer) in a two-day trial of a contested business lease renewal, where (the tenant having conceded ground (f)), the landlord was relying on ground (a) (rent arrears) and ground (b) (disrepair) to avoid paying statutory compensation (Leeds County Court).
• Appearing for the appellant in the ECSC Court of Appeal (on appeal from the BVI) in an appeal against the grant of an interim injunction to restrain, pending trial, the operation of a bed and breakfast in alleged breach of a user covenant: Villa Cornucopia v Esther Developments (8 December 2023).
• Acting for a joint venture company, its director and related companies, resisting attempts (including applications for freezing injunctions, third party debt orders, charging orders and under s.423 of the Insolvency Act 1986) by a judgment creditor to enforce a substantial judgment debt arising from a property development joint venture arrangement (High Court, Business & Property Court).
• Applying for a vesting order in respect of a property which had been overlooked as part of a trust restructuring and not transferred to new ownership before dissolution of the Panamanian trust company (High Court, Business & Property Court).
• Acting for a purchaser in seven-day arbitration to determine the purchase price of a substantial property portfolio as part of a complex corporate takeover (led by Andreas Gledhill KC).
• Appearing (with Jonathan Seitler KC) in the Court of Appeal in Great Dunmow Estates Ltd v Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 1683, concerning the extent of an expert valuer’s ability to determine the parameters of their own task in a dispute under a contract for the sale of land.

Download Property CV

Trusts, probate and estates: contentious

Tom has a broad range of experience of private client disputes, which span the range from very modest domestic trusts and estates to offshore structures worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Tom acts for clients including professional and lay trustees and executors, beneficiaries and parties appointed to represent minor and unborn beneficiaries.

As a complement to his property practice, Tom also frequently advises and appears on disputes concerning trusts of property.

Ongoing or recent illustrative cases include:

• Advising a beneficiary of a substantial Guernsey trust in connection with a contested application by the trustee for the ‘blessing’ of a proposal to separate the interests of various beneficiaries into new trusts (with Jonathan Hilliard KC).
• Advising the professional trustee of a Jersey trust in parallel administrative and hostile proceedings concerning a proprietary claim to the entirety of the trust fund by a non-beneficiary (with Robert Ham KC).
• Assisting the Jersey Advocate appointed to act for minor and unborn beneficiaries in complex proceedings concerning the validity or rationality of the trustee’s proposals to divide the fund in the face of competing claims to particular shares in the fund by some adult beneficiaries. 
• Advising as to the equitable ownership of property in Grenada in the context of a probate dispute.
• Assisting the Guernsey Advocate appointed to act for minor and unborn beneficiaries in proceedings before the Guernsey Court of Appeal concerning the construction of a clause in the trust deed requiring the partition of the fund in the event of the death of a beneficiary.

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