What can I do for you
Simon specialises in disputed wills, estates and trusts, as well as resolving corporate and commercial disputes. He has particular expertise in helping clients manage crises and problems in the life sciences, private wealth and charity sectors. He is in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for both commercial litigation and contentious probate in the North West.
Supporting your ambitions
As part of his work around disputed wills and estates, Simon has recently successfully represented a widow in a substantial claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, achieving a settlement for her of £6M in an estate of substantial value including assets in various foreign jurisdictions and involving difficult issues of trust and pension law. Separately he represented a trust corporation in successfully resisting an application to remove it as administrator of a highly contentious and disputed estate. He is representing the same corporation in this same estate in obtaining possession of multiple properties and in resolving a significant number of other disputed matters.
In his commercial work, he has recently acted in various significant injunction proceedings to restrict unlawful protest activity in the life sciences sector, including dealing with large scale injunctions against persons unknown and associated contempt of court proceedings.
He has also assisted a household name retailer in various disputes with suppliers involved in its store fit-our programme.
In the charity sector, he is helping a client investigate possible fraud by its chief executive, and is assisting various other charity clients with regulatory matters.
What do others say
Simon is a leader in his field in Chambers and Legal 500, and is in the latter's hall of fame (one of very few Manchester litigators so noted). They say he is "absolutely the top of the tree for this kind of work", "astonishingly bright and tactically astute with excellent judgement" and that he is "calm and has an open personality which makes his client manner unbeatable".
What else should you know
Simon is a keen musician and is an eight-times national championship winning barbershop singer, competing with Bolton's Cottontown Chorus, and he has recently taken up the drums, to the delight of his family. He also (possibly rather sadly) has a fairly encyclopaedic knowledge of Doctor Who, gained over many decades!