Stuart has mediated disputes involving the following issues:

• Claim by liquidators’ assignee against former directors for repayment of unlawful distributions and breach of duties following substantial payments made by the company pursuant to an EFRB scheme and subsequent claims by HMRC against the company for non-payment of tax.

• Dispute between US investors and Uruguayan company over ownership of valuable domain name, involving issues of Uruguayan insolvency law and international domain name rules and regulators.

• Claim for recovery of unlawful dividends against former directors of insolvent telecoms company.

• Claim against former directors for preferences in respect of payments and stock transfer against outstanding DLAs prior to a pre-pack purchase by the directors.

• Claim against former directors for unlawful payments of dividends without distributable reserves.

• Various claims by Liquidators against parent and other group companies for inter-company loans and disputed inter-company transactions and against directors for breaches of duties.

• Claim by law firm for unpaid fees resisted on the eve of bankruptcy petition hearing and opposed on grounds of various counterclaims.

• Claim by Liquidator against directors of company supplying engineering equipment internationally, for DLAs and for preferring creditors by the settlement of consultancy invoices by transferring title to equipment.

• Preference, undervalue and misfeasance claims against former director of manufacturing business, including assigned company claims in favour of litigation funder.

• Claim by funders/assignees of creditors’ claims against former directors under s216 IA 1986, defended under s217 on grounds of non-dormancy.

• Claim for possession against personal guarantors of company debt, defended on human rights grounds due to the disability and terminal illness of one of the guarantors.

• Claims alleging sham trusts.

• Claims against insolvency practitioners for dishonesty.

• Directors’ personal guarantees of insolvent
companies’ borrowings.

• Partnership insolvency.

• Claims by Liquidators, Administrators, Administrative Receivers.

• Claims by LPA Receivers.

• Claims against directors for breach of duty/delinquency/misfeasance.

• Claims in respect of transactions at an undervalue.

• Claims in respect of preferences.

• Claims in respect of transactions defrauding creditors.

• Priority claims between creditors.

• Level of office-holders’ remuneration and expenses.

• Questions of ratification and shareholder approval.

• Insolvencies in the construction, property development, building products and public houses sectors.

• Equitable charges and mortgages.

• Formalities and registration of charges and debentures.

• Personal bankruptcy.

• Claims for false accounting.

• Claims for repayment of unlawful dividends.

• Disputes involving asset realisation, including shareholdings and disputes with other shareholders.

Recent examples include:

• Claim for possession and balance of loan defended on grounds of non-compliance with CCA.

• Claim against former directors and shareholder in relation to allegedly unlawful distributions following failed tax avoidance scheme and failure to consider potential liabilities to HMRC in assessing solvency.

• Substantial claim under trade credit insurance following collapse of main contractor debtor of insured M&E sub-contractor, involving issues of account certification by administrator and alleged set-offs and counterclaims against primary account and their effect on the insured loss.

• Claim by liquidator against former directors for unlawful dividend in specie on demerger of profitable division of group.

• Claim by mortgagor against mortgagee and LPA Receiver for breach of duty to obtain a reasonable price following alleged failure to approach interested parties.

• Claims by Liquidator of care home company against former directors and related company for misfeasance in investing company funds in African mining interests, extraction of funds and repayment of loan account.

• Dispute as to the value of a 50% shareholding held by the shareholder’s liquidator, including issues of management rights, derivative claims, just and equitable winding-up and unfair prejudice.

Stuart has experience of litigating and advising on a number
of insolvency-related disputes, including the following:

• The forfeiture of shares held as security.

• Forfeiture proceedings against petrol distributor in respect
of petrol filling stations.

• Statutory demands.

• The duties of Administrators.

• Defending and pursuing claims by office-holders.