News

Welcome to April's newsletter In this edition we welcome Mathew Gullick QC's appointment as Silk and our new tenant Alex Leonhardt. We also introduce you to our new on-line employment law resources. Our team has reviewed the judgments in the following cases: Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake & Others [2021] UKCS 8; Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley; Rodgers v Leeds Laser Cutting Ltd; Mallon v AECOM Ltd; Page v Lord Chancellor and ors; Smith v Pimlico Plumbers Ltd UKEAT/0211/19/DA and...

Settlement negotiations and tactics for property litigators

5th April 2021

On 17th March 2020, 3PB’s specialist property law barrister Thomas Talbot-Ponsonby delivered a webinar on settlement negotiations for 180 members of the Property Litigation Association. Thomas Talbot-Ponsonby was called to the Bar in 2011 and practises in a wide variety of property, commercial and chancery matters, including neighbour and boundary disputes, landlord and tenant, and probate matters, as well as other commercial disputes and insolvency. View Thomas Talbot-Ponsonby’s profile. Please find a copy of Thomas...

3PB Family takes on two new junior tenants

1st April 2021

Midlands family barrister Ria Herbert (call:2017) and recent 3PB family law pupil Sam Pentony (call:2019) have both joined 3PB’s 70-strong family law team. Ria Herbert  is a junior barrister from Northampton Chambers who is teaming up again at 3PB with their chambers’ senior clerk Adam Gayton. A former in-house advocate with a mid-sized law firm in Milton Keynes, she is used to attending a large variety and number of public law and private law hearings....

Trio of regulatory barristers talk about their journey to specialising in inquests

30th March 2021

On 26 March 2021, three of 3PB’s regulatory barristers specialising in inquests were invited by the University of Bristol Bar Society to share their experiences of their own personal journey to the Bar in a talk entitled ‘No Bar to the Bar - Inquests and Inquiries at the Bar Talk'. Elisabeth Bussey-Jones, Susan Jones and Sunyana Sharma shared stories of how they came to practise in inquest work, a recount of day to day life as a barrister and...

3PB examines truth in business and property cases and enhanced measures for the taking and making of witness statements

29th March 2021

3PB commercial and property Silk Joseph Giret QC (pictured here) and 3PB pupil barrister Amanda Fernandez examine the impact of Practice Direction 57AC on Witness Evidence at Trial (“PD57AC”). This will apply to witness statements for use at trials in the Business and Property Courts, specifically to claims issued next week - after 6 April 2021 - or to existing proceedings where the witness statements for trial are signed on or after 6 April 2021....

Equal pay claim of Asda v Brierley: is it time for large employers to undertake a widespread review of their pay structures?

29th March 2021

Supreme Court Judgment on the Equal Pay claim of Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley – Is it a ‘watershed moment’ as some commentators have suggested or purely a clarification of existing principles? Simon Tibbitts, employment law specialist at 3PB Barristers provides his analysis and commentary on the Judgment of the Supreme Court which was handed down last Friday, 26th March 2021. The case provides clarity on the approach and principles to be adopted when dealing...

Victoria Jones represents British Gymnastics before the Court of Appeal

25th March 2021

3PB's specialist intellectual property barrister Victoria Jones (pictured here) represented British Gymnastics before the Court of Appeal. The appeal was brought by UK Gymnastics against the judgement of IPEC Judge HHJ Clarke handed down on 26 June 2020 in which she found UK Gymnastics to be liable for acts of passing off and trade mark infringement. On 24 March 2021, the Court of Appeal handed down its decision with Lord Justice Arnold upholding the findings...

Seb Oram analyses good faith and ‘the spirit of agreement’ in commercial contracts

24th March 2021

3PB's specialist commercial and construction law barrister Seb Oram (pictured here) has reviewed the case of Westfields Homes Ltd v Keay Homes (Windrush). The case involved a potential breach of commercial, land-development contract and serves as a must-read for all commercial lawyers and litigators alike. In this case, the Court held that where the contract prescribed no basis for determining the meaning of clauses of good faith or ‘the spirit of the agreement’, it would...

Two of 3PB’s specialist crime barristers feature in BBC’s new documentary ‘’Football’s Darkest Secret’’

22nd March 2021

Adam Feest QC, who heads 3PB’s group of criminal law barristers, is appearing tonight with fellow 3PB crime team counsel Berenice Mulvanny in the BBC’s new three-part documentary about child abuse in English football. The BBC’s new three part documentary ‘’Football's Darkest Secret’’ which airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One, follows a number of high profile cases involving sexual/child abuse in English football. Specialist crime barristers Adam Feest QC and Berenice Mulvanny will talk...

Neil Fawcett gives legal opinion that estate agents could be 'negligent' for not disclosing air pollution levels

19th March 2021

3PB’s commercial barrister Neil Fawcett has co-produced,  with Jessica Simor QC from Matrix Chambers,  a 20-page legal opinion for the Central Office of Public Interest which says there is a "strong legal argument" that estate agents not disclosing air pollution levels would be considered negligent. This follows the news about a new pollution rating tool for every postcode in the UK, addresspollution.org - using 1.5 billion data points generated by air pollution experts at Imperial...

Rogue landlords: Do multiple offences mean multiple rent repayment orders?

18th March 2021

As more tenants become aware of the provisions made in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (“HPA2016”) to sanction the behaviour of rogue landlords, 3PB property litigation barrister Antonietta Grasso considers the recent case of Ficcara & Others v James [2021] UKUT 0038 (LC), [2021] All ER (D) 30 (Mar), in which the tenants raised the issue of the interpretation of sections 40, 43 and 44 HPA2016 and whether the multiplicity of offences by a...

Tom Evans' client found not guilty in Bristol Crown Court of causing death by careless driving

18th March 2021

3PB Crime barrister Tom Evans’ client, Stephen Johnson, was involved in a collision with a motorcycle that resulted in the death of a motorcycle rider, Keith Pearce. The defendant accepted that he was required to give way; had not come to a stop; he had cut the corner; had not activated his indicator; and had not taken a second look along the carriageway before commencing his turn. However, the jury in Bristol Crown Court concluded...