Areas of Practise

Administrative Law/Judicial Review

Commercial & Company
Education

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Christopher has been Called to the Bars of England & Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, specialising primarily in public/administrative law, commercial/corporate law, and education law (including professional qualifications and discrimination).  Christopher is licensed to undertake Direct Public Access work.

Christopher has appeared as Junior Counsel in every tier of Court, including several matters before the Supreme Court, and he regularly acts as sole Counsel in the High Court and Court of Appeal.

From July 2017 Christopher has embarked upon the provision of assistance in education/academic appeals, primarily through Alpha Academic Appeals, for students and trainee professionals at various stages of their academic and professional careers.  This is built upon his wealth of experience not just at the Bar but within university institutions.

Due to his practical experience at the Bar in conjunction with lecturing and the development of professional legal training courses, from 2015 Christopher has provided regular CPD courses to members of the profession through MBL (Seminars) Ltd, covering various aspects of civil procedure such as judicial review, procurement law and injunctive law.

Examples of key cases in which Christopher was instructed as sole Counsel are:

• Gallagher v Department of Justice ­– challenge to the legislative regime for the disclosure of criminal record information in employment context due to its infringement of the Right to Privacy;

• HHT Ltd v Secretary of State for Education & ESFA – challenges to the removal of a training organisation from the Government Register and unlawful termination of public contracts;

• ABIS Ltd v Department for Education – challenge to agency investigation and the termination of public contracts;

• Johansson v OIA – challenge to the Ombudsman’s consideration of a complaint against a University;

• Laverty v Police Service & PAT ­– challenge to the use of information unlawfully supplied by the police force of another State in light of the provisions of the Data Protection Act and EU Directives, and the Right to Privacy;

• KWCL v Gable Insurance & Ors (Nos.1 & 2) – cases arising from third-party fraud and the failure of an Insurer based in an EEA State and its Agents to honour the terms of Performance and Guarantee Bonds for significant construction projects;

• Moyola Building Services Ltd v Belfast City Council ­– challenge to procurement procedures for significant renovation works in local hospitals;

• Nicholl (Fuel Oils) Ltd v Crown Commercial Service – challenge to eAuction procurement procedures for selection of government fuel suppliers;

• Nerve Centre v Arts Council – challenge to allotment of public funding for businesses in field of film;

• Verbal Arts Centre v Public Health Authority – challenge to procurement procedures for provision of literature services in prisons;

• Precision Industrial Services Ltd v JTI Gallahers Ltd – commercial dispute arising from the announced closure of various production sites which would result in the early termination of valuable services contracts;

• BKS Properties Ltd v Carlton Properties Ltd ­– commercial dispute concerning commercial leases.