Jamie Holmes

Insolvency

Jamie’s insolvency practice is primarily in contentious work (disputes) in the High Court and before the Insolvency & Companies Court Judges, and related advisory and drafting work. He has a broadly equal balance of work in personal and corporate insolvency. Recent insolvency and company cases include Re Palmer [2024] BPIR 1090 and Re Arnbrow [2024] 1 BCLC 34.

His cases often involve substantial and complex disputes, many of which will draw on a cross-over with his other specialist practice areas in civil fraud (or concerning allegations of dishonesty or breaches of fiduciary duty), commercial work and/or trusts and probate.

Jamie has significant experience of obtaining or resisting applications for injunctive or other interim relief, both as sole counsel and as a junior in more complex and high-value cases.

Jamie also enjoys advisory work in writing or over the phone, including on issues of drafting or the interpretation of commercial or trust documents.

He has worked on a number of restructuring matters in recent years, primarily concerning schemes of arrangement or restructuring plans.

Notable work as a junior includes:

• Assisting Thomas Grant KC in the hearing of a test case in the High Court arising out of the Post Office scandal, concerning the novel point of whether one of the voluntary compensation schemes fell within the estate: Re Palmer [2024] BPIR 1090.
• Advising with James Bailey KC on the potential appointment of administrators out of court in complex factual and contractual circumstances
• Acting with Lexa Hilliard KC for the successful applicant beneficiaries of a trust in obtaining an ex parte injunction to restrain advertisement of a petition to wind up a BVI company that held the trust assets, raising a number of novel points on standing. Jamie was also part of the team that successfully resisted a related strike out application in Freed v. Saffron [2023] EWHC 1919 (Ch).
• Acting in a number restructurings concerning a scheme of arrangement and/or restructuring plans: (a) for the scheme company with Daniel Lewis; (b) for bondholders with Stuart Isaacs KC; (c) for the scheme company with Lexa Hilliard KC.
• Acting for the defendant to £13m civil fraud proceedings in the Companies Court involving allegations of fraudulent and wrongful trading, preferences and de facto/shadow directorship (with Marcia Shekerdemian KC). Settled before trial.

Work as sole counsel includes:

• Acting for a Respondent to s341 and s423 claims brought by a trustee in bankruptcy alleging the bankrupt (a former Premier League footballer) perpetrated a £16m Ponzi scheme. The judgment of ICCJ Jones clarified and made new law as limitation, submission to the jurisdiction and the Insolvency Rules: re Rufus [2021] B.P.I.R. 1594.
• Acting for the receivers of an LLP in successfully seeking directions as to the scope of their powers, the winding up of the LLP on an expedited basis, and the determination of their remuneration; against the backdrop of a highly contentious dispute between the two members, and freezing injunctions obtained as part of that dispute.
• Successfully obtaining an order at less than 24 hours’ notice to cure a defect in the appointment of joint administrators by the holder of a qualifying floating charge.
• Acting at short notice against a silk for one of the respondents and a third-party to an application for freezing orders within bankruptcy proceedings.
• Advising at short notice on the impact of the insolvency / proposed restructuring of my client’s joint venture partner, a well-known private equity firm.
• Advising a well-known insurance association on the standard terms of its trust deeds in the event of the insolvency of a scheme member.
• Advising on draft documents for the appointment of receivers over a number of offshore companies, including in light of foreign law advice.
• Acting for the potential Plaintiffs in restructuring proceedings in Jersey.
• More generally, acting on behalf of petitioning creditors and debtors in bankruptcy and/or corporate insolvency proceedings, including (a) acting on behalf of a well-known 2 Michelin star chef, concerning a £19.5m petition debt; (b) appearing at ‘trial’ of opposed petitions, including as between supporting and opposing creditors ; (c) annulment applications; (d) IPO applications; (e) applications for service out. Jamie is particularly familiar with (alleged) disputes in this context concerning guarantees.
• Again more generally, regularly appearing on behalf of administrators seeking directions such as for extensions of their term of office, permission to make distributions, as to exit from administration and/or settlement of their remuneration.
• Acting for the former corporate trustee of a Jersey trust disputing debts stat demanded by a former trustee, including on the basis of a cross claim concerning the trust’s shareholding in a BVI company and overseas proceedings.
• Acting in a series of hearings concerning the validity of a second charge granted after bankruptcy, defended on the basis that the lender did not have notice pursuant to LRA 2002, s86, and seeking specific disclosure in the same (settled before trial).
• Successfully acting in a number of applications as to the pre-cross border merger requirements in the Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007.
• Acting in a series of hearings on behalf of the trustee in bankruptcy of a civil fraudster; including obtaining orders for s366 examination of the bankrupt’s father as the administrator of the bankrupt’s mother’s intestate estate.
• Obtaining an Insolvency Administration Order over a bankrupt estate.

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International arbitration

Jamie has acted in a number of high value arbitrations both internationally and with their seat in London. He has experience of advising on all stages of the arbitration process, and in working day-to-day in teams based in multiple jurisdictions around the world.

Although the details are confidential, the type of work Jamie has been involved in includes:

• Assisting local counsel in one jurisdiction in VIAC proceedings, and in another in having the award recognised there.
• Acting for the successful claimants in an 8-day trial in ICC international arbitration proceedings in Singapore, concerning claims for breach of contract in relation to a petrochemical plant located in Southeast Asia; with an award of over US$40m.
• Acting for the successful claimants at trial in confidential multimillion-US$ LME arbitration proceedings in London, concerning non-delivery of goods and SOGA, s51; with an award of the full sum sought by the claimant as its primary relief.
• Acting as sole counsel in a jurisdiction challenge to VIAC proceedings claiming over half a million pounds for damages said to arise out of a contract to supply engines for specialist military equipment.
• Advising claimants in UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings in HKIAC concerning alleged trade mark breaches in China.
• Acting for claimants in a 2-day hearing in ICC proceedings on the preliminary issue of whether there had been an unreasonable withholding of consent to an assignment of the claims (settled shortly before trial).
• Acting for the claimant in LME proceedings in successfully resisting a strike out application at a hearing concerning Attorney General v Blake.
• Acting in various other procedural or related disputes in ICC proceedings, including (a) acting for claimants resisting a jurisdiction challenge, (b) advising on the appointment/removal of an arbitrator, (c) acting for party seeking to join further parties to extant proceedings, (d) advising on the ability of a party to disclose the existence of arbitration proceedings to a third-party as part of share sale negotiations, and (e) acting in various costs dispute hearings, including as to the jurisdiction of the tribunal to order that costs in one arbitration be assessed only following the conclusion of related arbitration proceedings.

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Trusts, probate and estates: contentious

Download Trusts, probate and estates: contentious CV