Practice overview

Julian is a property, commercial and professional liability specialist. Often his cases straddle these different fields. Julian handles complex cases in an approachable and user-friendly manner. Persuasive advocacy, both oral and written, is central to Julian’s approach in every case. The core of Julian’s experience lies in commercial property litigation and commercial litigation where the subject or context of the dispute is property.

Julian regularly acts as an expert determining disputes within his areas of expertise.

He is ranked as a leading silk in Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal.

Julian's expertise

Download Property CV

Property

Julian is a property specialist. Property litigation is the focus of most of his work. He is widely recognised for his property work and his work encompasses all aspects of property, real estate, and landlord and tenant litigation.

He has a particular expertise in disputes arising from the development of land. Over the last decade Julian has acted for or against many of the leading national developers and institutional investors in cases arising from a wide variety of development contracts and leases, following his appearance in the House of Lords in one of the most notable development and overage cases, Chartbrook v Persimmon Homes Limited [2009] 1 AC 1101.

Julian’s property expertise includes:

  • Property development agreements including development funding agreements, option agreements, joint ventures, promotion agreements, and collaboration agreements. In 2018 Julian gave a Blundell Lecture on ‘Clauses That Catch: Agreements and Development’.
  • Sale and purchase agreements including overage and clawback arrangements.
  • Land Registration and real property disputes (easements, restrictive covenants etc) especially arising in the context of commercial or development land.
  • Business landlord and tenant disputes including guarantees and leasehold covenants, rent review, and business lease renewal.
  • Telecoms and electronic communications, acting for and advising landowners faced with applications from telecoms operators under the “new” Electronic Communications Code 2017 including Cornerstone v St Giles General Partner Ltd [2019] UKUT 103 (LC).
  • Utilities infrastructure including water and sewerage, gas and electricity supply.
  • Major infrastructure contracts and property rights including docks, harbours, airports, road and utility tunnels.
  • Insurance claims relating to real property and disputes over insurance covenants in business leases.
  • Property-related insolvency including administration, receivership and CVAs.
  • Arbitration of commercial property and property-related disputes.
  • Equitable and pre-emptive remedies in relation to disputes involving property including specific performance and injunctive relief including freezing orders. Julian has particular experience of contractual rectification claims having acted in the leading rectification case of Chartbrook Limited v Persimmon Homes [2009] AC 1101 (voted one of the fifteen most important cases of the last 125 years in an ICLR poll in 2015) and in numerous other rectification cases.
  • Professional negligence work in a property context including claims arising from any of the above areas brought against solicitors, surveyors, valuers, insurance brokers, and land agents.

Notable cases include:

  • The Tropical Zoo Limited v Hounslow London Borough [2024] EWHC 1240 (Ch) – acting for the claimant tenant in a dispute over the forfeiture of a 125-year lease of a large site adjacent to Heathrow Airport.
  • Old Street Retail Trustee (Jersey) No 1 Limited and anr v Argos Limited [2024] (Ch) – acting for the defendant national retailer in a dispute over whether a user covenant tied to Use Class A1 under the pre-2020 Use Classes Order permitted fulfillment of online sales from the premises.
  • Burges Salmon LLP v Glass Wharf JV Limited [2023] (Ch) – acting for the defendant landlord in a dispute over liability to replace corroded pipework forming part of the heating and cooling system throughout a modern office block.
  • Bodorgan Properties Limited v (1) Southern Electricity Power Distribution (2) Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2023] (KBD) – acting for the defendant electricity undertaker in a dispute over the validity of a wayleave supporting power distribution to 146,000 consumers.
  • Acting for the owner / landlord of a series of poultry farms in a four-week £multi-million arbitration in London against a renewable energy company for defects in the installation and maintenance of a biomass renewable-energy heating systems which formed the largest biomass project in the UK at the time (2021).
  • Fishbourne Developments Limited v Stephens [2020] EWCA Civ 1704 – acting in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal for the successful defendant / respondent landowner in a dispute over whether an option to purchase farmland in West Sussex for development had been triggered by the claimant option holder.
  • Colt Group Limited v Unicourt Wandsworth LLP [2020] EWHC 2549 (Ch); [2021] 1 P&CR DG3 – acting for the landlord defending a Part 8 claim concerning a dispute over the interpretation of the insurance provisions in a 99-year commercial headlease of the main pre-sales site of a major luxury car dealership.
  • Cornerstone v St Giles General Partner Ltd [2019] UKUT 103 (LC) – acting for the landowner of a flagship development in the middle of the West End of London in a case under the New Code in which the telecoms operator was seeking code rights to make a Multi-Skilled Visit. The operator was forced to limit the scope of its code rights and to increase dramatically the size of indemnity offered.
  • Bamlet v Newton (2019)(CC, Southampton) – acting for the claimant farmer in a dispute over the scope and interpretation of a right of way to a farm with development potential.
  • Zinc Cobham 1 Limited v Adda Hotels [2018] EWHC 1025 (Ch) – high profile £110 million claim by the landlord of ten Hilton-operated hotels seeking specific performance of covenants in the hotel leases requiring Hilton to adhere to its own published hotel standards.
  • Advising a high-net worth individual in relation to a threatened nuisance by reason of noise and vibration damage to his listed home and its antique contents caused by refurbishment of a neighbouring office building in Central London (2018).
  • Pennant v Watkin Jones & Sons Limited [2018] EWHC 790 (Ch) – acting for the defendant developer of a housing development in North Wales in a dispute over the scope and exercise of a right to lay a sewer over a historic listed bridge in order to drain the development.
  • Vivienne Westwood Ltd v Conduit Street Development Ltd [2017] EWHC 350 (Ch); [2017] L&TR 23 – the first case applying the penalty principle in the landlord and tenant field in England, a principle recently re-cast by the Supreme Court in Cavendish v Makdessi.
  • TCG Pubs Ltd (In administration) v The Master and Wardens or Governors of the Art of Mystery of the Girdlers of London [2017] EWHC 772 (Ch) – acting for the tenant in a claim for exercise of a right of pre-emption and wrongful refusal of consent to assign a valuable London pub property to another pub operator as part of a sale in a pre-pack administration.
  • Hanson Marine Limited v H Sivyer Transport Limited (2016) ChD – successful expedition application in an urgent and publically important possession claim acting on behalf of Hanson to obtain possession of a large site beside the Thames needed to supply the concrete to build the eastern section of the “Super Sewer”.
  • Denouement Pty v Shaffer (2016) ChD – acting for a Queensland-based service company in a long-running and complex possession claim against the daughter of the late screenwriter and playwright, Anthony Shaffer, for possession of a valuable mews dwelling in Knightsbridge.
  • UK Leasing Brighton v Topland Neptune Limited [2015] EWHC 53 (Ch); [2015] 2 P&CR – reported case elaborating the implications of the leading guarantees case of K/S Victoria v House of Fraser [2012] Ch 497 for covenants granting consent to assign conditional on the provision of a repeat parent company guarantee, dealing with the mechanism for unravelling an unlawful assignment without contravening the 1995 Act.
  • K/S Habro Gatwick v Scottish & Newcastle Limited [2015] EWHC 2084 (Ch) – acting and appearing at trial for the third-party, GLH Hotels, defending a claim for an indemnity in relation to sums payable by the original tenant under an “old tenancy” of a hotel near Gatwick Airport following disclaimer by the insolvent tenant.
  • Tindall Cobham 1 Limited v Adda Hotels [2014] EWCA Civ 1215; [2015] 1 P&CR 5 – the first case to explore the implications of the leading guarantees case of K/S Victoria v House of Fraser [2012] Ch 497 for covenants granting consent to assign conditional on the provision of a repeat parent company guarantee.
  • Manchester Ship Canal Company Limited v United Utilities Plc [2014] 1 WLR 2576 (Supreme Court) – acting and appearing for the successful appellant sewerage undertaker in a dispute over the interpretation of the Water Industry Act 1991 governing the lawfulness of over one hundred separate discharges of water and treated effluent into the Manchester Ship Canal (earlier decisions at [2013] 1 WLR 2570 and [2012] EWHC 232 (Ch)).
  • Blueco Limited v BWAT Retail Nominee (1) Limited [2014] EWCA Civ 154 – appearing for the successful respondents both at trial and on appeal in a dispute over the interpretation of a pre-emptive right to acquire a share in the rental income from the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.
  • Avon Estates Limited v Evans [2013] EWHC 1635 (Ch) – appearing at trial for the defendants in a substantial boundary dispute between two landowners in Warwickshire.
  • Clarence House Limited v National Westminster Bank Plc [2010] 1 WLR 1216 (CA) – appearing for the successful appellant bank in the leading case on the effect of a “virtual assignment” of a lease.
  • Chartbrook Limited v Persimmon Homes Limited [2009] 1 AC 1101 (House of Lords) – appearing for the successful appellants a dispute over the interpretation of the overage provisions in a development agreement. This case was recently voted one of the fifteen most important cases decided in the last 150 years (read more).

Download Property CV

  • Quote symbolJulian is an intelligent and very experienced and thorough KC who is easy to work with, excellent with clients and able to grasp complex issues quickly and efficiently.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolJulian is really accessible and was able to produce information that was palatable and understandable for the client.

    Chambers & Partners 2024

  • Quote symbolHis written work is always comprehensive and well thought through and his advocacy is excellent.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolClients love Julian and his gentle yet forensic and effective cross-examination style. He is excellent on both the legal issues and the complex, factual and technical detail.

    The Legal 500 2023

  • Quote symbolJulian is persuasive and very user friendly. He is all over the details and does not let his opponent get away with anything. He provides clear advice and his clients appreciate his style.

    Chambers & Partners 2023

Property insights & events View all thought leadership View all events

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    Recent Cases

    Judgment handed down in The Tropical Zoo Ltd v The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Hounslow

    Property

    Martin Hutchings KC | Julian Greenhill KC | Daniel Petrides | Ernest Leung
    Thursday 20 June 2024

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    Events / Webinars

    Manchester Property Seminar & Drinks Event 2023

    Wednesday 14th June 2023 | 3.15pm - 6pm, followed by drinks and shuffleboard at Box Deansgate
    The Edwardian Manchester (A Radisson Collection Hotel)

    Free to attend | 1.75 CPD

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    Publications

    Current Issues in Nuisance and Trespass

    Jonathan Seitler KC | Joanne Wicks KC | Julian Greenhill KC | Tiffany Scott KC | Benjamin Faulkner | Jonathan Chew | Daniel Scott | Francesca Mitchell | Daniel Petrides
    March 2022

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    Events / Webinars

    WATCH: Leasehold Guarantees: Achieving the right result

    Tuesday 15 June 2021 | 9.30am - 10.30am
    Online, Zoom

    1.0 CPD

    View more

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Commercial disputes

Julian regularly acts and advises in relation to a wide range of business and commercial disputes. Julian appeared for the successful appellants in the leading case of Chartbrook Limited v Persimmon Homes Limited [2009] 1 AC 1101, on contractual rectification and the correction of mistakes by construction, and voted one of the fifteen most important cases of the last 150 years in a poll conducted by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting to celebrate its 150th Anniversary.

Notable cases include:

  • Retained adviser on behalf of two large landowners party to a promotion agreement for the development of a 4,400 home residential town extension development in the Midlands (2022 – continuing).
  • Advising on the meaning, effect and disposal of a multi-party promotion agreement relating to a large development site in the Home Counties (2022).
  • Acting for the owner of a series of poultry farms in a £multi-million four-week arbitration in London against a renewable energy company for defects in the installation and maintenance of a biomass renewable-energy heating systems to heat poultry sheds at the farms (2018 – 2021).
  • Advising a major factory developer in relation to the liability for and quantum of a £7 million balancing payment due under a development funding agreement for the construction of a new manufacturing facility (2020).
  • Zinc Cobham 1 Limited v Adda Hotels [2018] EWHC 1025 (Ch) – high profile £110 million claim seeking specific performance of obligations requiring the Hilton Hotel group to adhere to its own published hotel standards in the operation of a portfolio of hotels.
  • George Soussou v Twyford Abbey Properties Limited (2017) ChD – acting for the defendant, a BVI SPV, in a claim for a share of the proceeds of sale of a large site at Twyford Abbey in NW London brought by an agent and property manager under an informal retainer.
  • Croke v Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (2017) ChD – acting for the bank and receivers in defeating an injunction to restrain sale of two properties worth over £10 million
  • Wordsworth Realty v Branchester International (2015) ChD – freezing order against a BVI-registered company in a dispute over the forfeiture of an exceptionally large deposit on the abortive sale of a commercial property in Sheffield.
  • Blueco Limited v BWAT Retail Nominee (1) Limited [2014] EWCA Civ 154 – appearing for the successful respondents both at trial and on appeal in a dispute over the interpretation of a pre-emptive right to acquire a share in the income from the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.
  • Norcros Estates Limited v Optimisation Developments Limited (2014) (Chancery Division, ongoing) – acting for the claimant in a claim for damages for repudiatory breach of an agreement for the purchase of a retail development site in Stoke-on-Trent.
  • Evolve Capital Plc v Hoskins (2013) – acting for the claimant in a claim to enforce security given for a loan made for the purpose of investment in a share offering.
  • Matchtrack Limited v Lawrence Grant Kirschel (2012) (Chancery Division) – advising and acting for the claimant company in a dispute over the fee payable to an intermediary by a landower.
  • Chartbrook Limited v Persimmon Homes Limited [2009] 1 AC 1101 (House of Lords) – appearing for the successful appellants for a dispute over the interpretation and rectification of the overage provisions in a development agreement.

Download Commercial disputes CV

  • Quote symbolJulian is an intelligent and very experienced and thorough KC who is easy to work with, excellent with clients and able to grasp complex issues quickly and efficiently.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolJulian is really accessible and was able to produce information that was palatable and understandable for the client.

    Chambers & Partners 2024

  • Quote symbolHis written work is always comprehensive and well thought through and his advocacy is excellent.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolClients love Julian and his gentle yet forensic and effective cross-examination style. He is excellent on both the legal issues and the complex, factual and technical detail.

    Chambers & Partners 2023

  • Quote symbolJulian is persuasive and very user friendly. He is all over the details and does not let his opponent get away with anything. He provides clear advice and his clients appreciate his style.

    The Legal 500 2023

Commercial disputes insights & events View all thought leadership View all events

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    Events / Webinars

    Wilberforce Commercial Litigation Conference 2018: From contract to court

    Wednesday 18 April 2018 | 12.30pm - 5.30pm followed by drinks
    The Grange, 10 Godliman St, London EC4V 5AJ

    £120 + VAT | 3.5 CPD

    View more

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Professional liability

Julian has a wide-ranging professional liability practice including acting and advising in relation to claims against solicitors, surveyors, valuers, land agents, financial professionals, and insurance brokers. He has a particular expertise in dealing with professional liability claims arising out of complex property transactions or litigation in which his real property and landlord and tenant expertise enable him to add important knowledge and understanding to the claim against the professional.

Notable cases include:

  • Advising and acting for a leading national Hotel chain in relation to a series of claims against their former solicitors for negligent drafting of the rent escalation provisions in the leases of a portfolio of airport hotels (2019 – 2020).
  • Principality Holdings Limited v [a firm] (2018) ChD Bristol – Acting for the claimant in a dispute over causation and quantum following a negligent failure to advise on the effects of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1995 which resulted in the unintended release of the guarantor of a lease.
  • DDK Estates v Addleshaw Goddard LLP (2017) ChD, Manchester – Acting for the claimant in a claim for professional negligence arising from the drafting of the price provisions in a contract for the sale of development land.
  • PGF II SA v Sanderson Weatherall LLP (2012-14) – Advising and acting for defendant surveyors in a negligence claim arising out of dilapidations litigation concerning a commercial building in the City of London.
  • Advising a school in relation to a potential claim against its insurance broker following a pollution incident at the school’s premises (2013).
  • Cobbetts LLP v Hodge [2010] 1 BCLC 30 (Chancery Division) – Appearing for a firm of solicitors in a claim to recover a secret profit earned by one of their solicitors in breach of fiduciary duty whilst acting on a share sale.
  • Arisdale One Ltd et al v Solectron and Derrick Wade & Waters Ltd (2009) (Chancery Division) – Appearing for the defendant vendors in a claim against them and their selling agent for alleged misrepresentations on the sale of three industrial units.

Download Professional liability CV

  • Quote symbolJulian is an intelligent and very experienced and thorough KC who is easy to work with, excellent with clients and able to grasp complex issues quickly and efficiently.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolJulian is really accessible and was able to produce information that was palatable and understandable for the client.

    Chambers & Partners 2024

  • Quote symbolHis written work is always comprehensive and well thought through and his advocacy is excellent.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolClients love Julian and his gentle yet forensic and effective cross-examination style. He is excellent on both the legal issues and the complex, factual and technical detail.

    The Legal 500 2023

  • Quote symbolJulian is persuasive and very user friendly. He is all over the details and does not let his opponent get away with anything. He provides clear advice and his clients appreciate his style.

    Chambers & Partners 2023

Professional liability insights & events View all thought leadership View all events

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    Events / Webinars

    Professional Liability Conference: Unravelling the Causation Knot

    Wednesday 31 January 2018 | 8:30am -1.10pm followed by lunch and refreshments
    The Brewery, 52 Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4SD

    £75 + VAT | 3.5 CPD

    View more

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Domestic arbitration

Julian regularly acts in arbitrations and other forms of non-litigious dispute resolution both in the property and commercial fields. In addition Julian has experience of acting both as a ‘legal assessor’ and as an expert, determining disputes at the request of parties.

Notable cases (anonymised to preserve confidentiality) include:

  • Acting for the owner of a series of poultry farms in a high value four-week arbitration heard in London against an energy company for defects in the installation and maintenance of a large number of renewable-energy heating systems (2021).
  • Acting in an arbitration under LCIA Rules between a national utility company and its counterparty under a £ multibillion sale and leaseback arrangement of the utility company’s entire property portfolio (2015).
  • Acting for and advising a major utility company in relation to an arbitration under LCIA Rules concerning the financial treatment of certain properties following a sale and leaseback of the company’s real estate (2013).
  • Acting as legal assessor in advising an expert in relation to a rent review arbitration on a tied public house in London (2013).
  • Acting in an arbitration for a firm of medical practitioners in a dispute over the expulsion of a partner from the firm (2012).
  • Acting in a rent review arbitration in relation to a large retail unit in West Sussex (2012).
  • Acting as an expert in order to determine whether certain documents should be disclosed by one party to the other, in relation to a dispute over the making of malicious allegations against a company (2011).
  • Acting as an expert in order to determine whether certain deductions were rightly made in the apportionment of rent following the sale of a shopping centre (2011).
  • Acting in a rent review arbitration in relation to a large hotel in central London (2009).
  • Acting in an arbitration under ICC Rules in Toronto, Canada concerning a dispute over the licence for the principal patents covering the manufacture and use of polynucleotide arrays, the enabling technology in genetic analysis (2004).

Download Domestic arbitration CV

  • Quote symbolJulian is an intelligent and very experienced and thorough KC who is easy to work with, excellent with clients and able to grasp complex issues quickly and efficiently.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolJulian is really accessible and was able to produce information that was palatable and understandable for the client.

    Chambers & Partners 2024

  • Quote symbolHis written work is always comprehensive and well thought through and his advocacy is excellent.

    The Legal 500 2024

  • Quote symbolClients love Julian and his gentle yet forensic and effective cross-examination style. He is excellent on both the legal issues and the complex, factual and technical detail.

    The Legal 500 2023

  • Quote symbolJulian is persuasive and very user friendly. He is all over the details and does not let his opponent get away with anything. He provides clear advice and his clients appreciate his style.

    Chambers & Partners 2023

Julian's Details

BSB/VAT information

Registered name: Mr Julian Rutherford Greenhill
VAT number: 735931125

Privacy Notice pdf

Qualifications and Appointments

  • MA (Cantab), Double First in History, Matthew Wren Scholar of Peterhouse
  • Dip Law (City)

Memberships

  • Chancery Bar Association
  • Property Bar Association
  • COMBAR

Publications

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