Bradley John-Davis

Recent examples of Bradley’s own work in the insurance field include:

• Drafting a defence and advising an insurer in respect of a claim brought by a litigant in person alleging a failure to indemnify her for loss of rent from a leasehold apartment. The matter involves complex questions of privity and limitation.
• Drafting a deed of assignment of cause of action for an insurer wishing to take an assignment of an insured’s causes of actions under the Defective Premises Act 1972 and under section 38 of the Building Act 1984.
• Advising a major underwriter of building guarantee policies in respect of subrogated recoveries, including recoveries against associate entities under section 130 and 131 of the Building Safety Act 2022.
• Advising an insurer on coverage under a public, products and pollution liability policy. The claim against the insured involved an intimated class action brought under California law in respect of an allegedly defective cosmetic product.
• Acting for the underwriter of a building guarantee policy, drafting a deed setting out the terms by which a developer agreed to remedy defects and damage discovered in multiple properties in a development of new homes.
• Advising an insurer on coverage under a public and product liability policy in respect of a claim brought against an insured in Quebec and involving allegedly defective plastic wrap.
• Acting for an insurer in a Part 8 claim to recover a vehicle converted by the defendant.
• Drafting a defence and a strike-out application in respect of a residential property coverage dispute brought by a litigant in person.
• Successfully resisting a County Court claim brought against an insurer and involving oral argument around whether the insurer had assumed responsibility and therefore a duty of care for a claimant leaseholder, who was not a party to the contract of insurance. The dispute arose out a water ingress incident at the claimant’s property following damage to the structure of the insured freehold property during Storm Eunice in February 2022.
• Representing a defendant insurer in a judgment enforcement action brought under section 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and in which the identity of defendant’s insured vehicle was disputed.
• Advising an insurer on the merits of an additional claim for indemnity against a co-defendant in a professional negligence claim.
• Advising a claimant on matters of coverage and limitation in respect of a critical illness policy.
• Resisting a strike-out application by a defendant and securing a one-month stay for a claimant in an unidentified driver motor insurance claim.

Additionally, seats with David Myhill and James Sharpe during pupillage gave Bradley a broad introduction to a wide range of insurance work. Examples of his insurance work during pupillage included:

• Drafting a skeleton argument for an application for a stay for arbitration in a business interruption insurance claim (during pupillage).
• Advising on a dispute between an insurer and its broker over failure to place a reinsurance treaty (during pupillage).
• Advice for a developer on the coverage and interpretation of restrictive covenant policy (during pupillage).
• Drafting a position statement for mediation in a case involving a claim against a jewellers’ block policy with elements of insurance fraud (during pupillage).
• Drafting a defence in a cavity wall insulation claim (during pupillage).
• Advising on matters of coverage in respect of an injury sustained by a casual worker assisting a defendant company with renovation work (during pupillage).

Examples of Bradley’s recent work in the construction and engineering fields include:

• Advising a commercial client on the merits of a defence and counterclaim in a proposed claim by a contractor which had installed defective concrete flooring in the client’s industrial premises.
• Acting in the County Court for a contractor in a money claim for invoices unpaid by a defendant litigant in person in respect of refurbishment and extension works.
• Drafting a defence and an application to set aside default judgment and advising in conference in respect of an action brought against an installer of underfloor heating in a newbuild property.
• Advising and acting for a respondent homeowner in an application brought by a contractor to set aside a statutory demand.
• Formerly, Bradley was instructed as junior counsel and on an ongoing basis by the Claimants in Munícipio de Mariana and others v BHP Group (the Fundão Dam disaster litigation) in their class action for damages caused by the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Brazil. The litigation turns in part on complex matters concerning the design, maintenance and safety of a major upstream iron ore tailings dam.
• Advising a construction client in respect of an allegedly “genuine dispute” raised by a company in response to a Statutory Demand and as a defence to a winding-up petition.
• Drafting a defence and advising on strategy in a claim brought against consumers by a defendant main contractor in respect of alleged failure to pay project management fees contractually agreed for the provision of a domestic two-storey extension.
• Acting for a defendant sub-contractor in an application to set aside judgment entered in its absence in a personal injury claim.
• Drafting a defence and advising in a claim brought against a sub-contractor in respect of works undertaken to resurface a pavement on the instructions of a Local Authority. The Claimants alleged that the work in question had raised the level of the pavement surface and caused flooding at their property adjacent to the highway.
• Drafting particulars of claim on behalf of an employer seeking to recover damages of nearly £80,000 from a sub-contractor in a corporate refurbishment project. The sub-contractor was responsible for the installation and subsequent failure of a HVAC system which caused a glycol leak and resulted in considerable property damage.
• Settling a defence in a claim brought by a main contractor against a homeowner in respect of monies due under a contract.

A seat with James Sharpe during pupillage exposed Bradley to a wide range of general commercial work. As part of his LLM, Bradley wrote a dissertation on the Supreme Court’s developing view of contractual construction and so he has a particular interest in matters of interpretation.

Recent examples of Bradley’s own work in the commercial and insolvency fields include:

• Advising a client wishing to enter into a contractual agreement to settle legal proceedings on a question of capacity to contract. One party to the proposed contract, a Russian citizen, had capacity to contract as a matter of English law but lacked capacity as a matter of Russian law because she was, at the time, detained in Moscow pending a criminal trial. Bradley’s advice considered the stance that the Court would adopt in order to determine that party’s capacity in the event that the agreement, which was to be governed by English law, were challenged in an English Court. Bradley also advised on contractual terms which would assist in showing that the agreement was most closely connected with the English jurisdiction.
• Advising the insurer of a major high street brand, now in administration, as to the effect of a side agreement for reimbursement on an employers’ liability policy. In one claim in particular, Bradley successfully resisted an application to add the insurer as the second defendant to a personal injury claim on the grounds that neither the Insolvency and Companies Court nor the administrator of the First Defendant had given permission for a stay imposed by operation of law under schedule 1B of the Insolvency Act 1986 to be lifted.
• Appearing in the County Court on behalf of a solicitor bringing a money claim against a former client in respect of unpaid fees.
• Advising the tenant of a commercial leasehold property on the prospects of success of a claim already pleaded/issued against the leasehold owner and his managing agent. The matter particularly engaged questions of construction of a commercial lease and of privity of contract.
• Reviewing and advising on a winding-up petition brought by a petitioning company which was itself in creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
• Advising a natural person on the potential impact of an adverse judgment in the Dubai Court of First Instance in respect of a failure to discharge a personal guarantee, how any adverse judgment might be enforced in the English jurisdiction, and the effect of bankruptcy.
• Non-contentious advice given on matters of agency and on the proper construction of assignment and sub-contracting clauses in a commercial agreement with a major multinational logistics company.
• Acting for a UAE-based investor, including by advising and by drafting particulars of claim to enforce a Dubai Court of First Instance judgment worth over US$500,000 against an investment company in the High Court.
• Advising and acting for a respondent homeowner in an application brought by a contractor to set aside a statutory demand.
• Advising a construction client in respect of a “genuine dispute” raised by a company in response to a Statutory Demand and as a defence to a winding-up petition.
• Drafting a defence and counterclaim for a large poultry processer in a breach of contract claim brought against it by a former supplier of broilers.
• Advising severally on questions of offer and acceptance and whether binding agreements have been formed between parties.
• When acting on behalf of a salvage dealer in a sale of goods matter, securing strike-out of a claimant’s claim for damages.
• Advising a claimant on the merits of a claim in contract against the installer of a gas boiler, the installation of which was alleged to have caused a water pump to fail.
• Being instructed severally on wind-up petitions listed in the Chancery Division.
• Being instructed on behalf of a Premier League football club to file a bankruptcy petition in respect of one of the club’s debtors.

Examples of his general commercial work during pupillage included:

• Advising on matters of interpretation and the effect of exclusion clauses in respect of a contract for the hire equipment for use in warehousing (during pupillage).
• Drafting a skeleton argument for the respondent to a summary judgment application in a claim involving high-value commercial leases (during pupillage).
• Conducting in-depth research on the effect of shareholder authorisation on a director’s breach of duty in respect of a complex and high-value claim brought by a company against its former directors (during pupillage).

Bradley has quickly developed an interesting and varied insolvency practice. He regularly advises on prospects and strategy in subrogated recoveries against builders and developers who are either insolvent or which have been struck off the register. He is also regularly instructed by both petitioning and supporting creditors in winding-up petitions heard in the Insolvency & Companies Court.

Examples of specific work in the insolvency field include:

• Advising the insurer of a major high street brand, now in administration, as to the effect of a side agreement for reimbursement on an employers’ liability policy. In one claim in particular, Bradley successfully resisted an application to add the insurer as the second defendant to a personal injury claim on the grounds that neither the Insolvency and Companies Court nor the administrator of the First Defendant had given permission for a stay imposed by operation of law under schedule 1B of the Insolvency Act 1986 to be lifted.
• Reviewing and advising on a winding-up petition brought by a petitioning company which was itself in creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
• Advising a natural person on the potential impact of an adverse judgment in the Dubai Court of First Instance in respect of a failure to discharge a personal guarantee, how any adverse judgment might be enforced in the English jurisdiction, and the effect of bankruptcy.
• Advising a construction client in respect of a “genuine dispute” raised by a company in response to a Statutory Demand and as a defence to a winding-up petition.
• Advising and acting for a respondent homeowner in an application brought by a contractor to set aside a statutory demand.

Bradley is developing a strong drafting and advisory practice in the professional negligence field. The matters he advises on often have a property angle and involve multiple defendants. His recent instructions include:

• Drafting a defence for the insurer of a surveyor alleged to have overvalued a residential property by failing to identify a footpath crossing the land.
• Advising an insurer and its landlord lay clients on the prospects of a recovery claim (including substantial uninsured losses) against a property management company alleged to have failed to notify the landlords that their tenants had abandoned the property. Whilst the property was vacant, a burst pipe caused major water damage.
• Acting for an estate agent and its insurer, advising and drafting a defence in respect of a disrepair claim brought by a litigant in person.
• Settling a defence and advising on prospects in a claim brought by a buy-to-let landlord against her estate agent/property manager.
• Advising a professional risks insurer and drafting a defence in a claim brought against an estate agent and its landlord client concurrently in respect of multiple alleged failures to protect a tenant’s deposit across successive assured shorthold and statutory periodic tenancies.
• Providing liability and quantum advice to an insurer and drafting a letter of response in respect of a professional negligence claim intimated against a solicitor for failing to issue the proposed claimant’s personal injury claim before the expiry of the primary limitation period.
• Settling a defence and advising on strategy in a claim brought by a litigant in person against a surveyor in respect of an alleged breach of contract and/or negligent RICS Home Survey Level 3. The claim engaged questions of the correct measure of loss in claims brought against surveyors.
• Drafting a defence and advising on strategy in contract claim brought against an estate agent by his landlord client.
• Drafting a defence to a claim brought in respect of a negligent conveyance by a partner prior to merger with the defendant successor firm.
• Advising an insurer and its property management client and drafting a defence in a claim brought against a landlord and his property manager in respect of disrepair in a luxury flat in south west London.
• Drafting a defence and advising an insurer on strategy in a claim brought against multiple defendants by a leaseholder against a property management company in negligence and malicious falsehood.
• Drafting a defence and advising an insurer in a claim brought by a landlord against his estate agent over an allegedly mis-sold insurance policy.

During his pupillage seat under the supervision of James Sharpe, Bradley was exposed to a number of aspects of James’s professional negligence practice. Work completed in this area during pupillage included:

• Drafting a defence to a claim brought by the purchasers of a business against an LLP and one of its members in respect of allegations of negligence in failing to detect fraud in the business’s accounts (during pupillage).
• Drafting a defence and advising on limitation in a professional negligence claim brought against a provider of wealth management services (during pupillage).
• Advising on the enforceability of a settlement agreement in the context of a professional negligence claim brought against a firm of solicitors (during pupillage).

Bradley has considerable experience in property damage claims, including:

• Advising and settling particulars of claim for an insurer in a subrogated recovery action worth over £300,000 arising out of a house fire alleged to have been caused by the defective installation of a solar energy system.
• Drafting particulars of claim and advising an underwriter on the prospects of success in a subrogated recovery against a major developer of new houses in respect of defective tiling in an ensuite bathroom.
• Advising an insurer and its landlord lay clients on the prospects of a recovery claim (including substantial uninsured losses) against a property management company alleged to have failed to notify the landlords that their tenants had abandoned the property. Whilst the property was vacant, a burst pipe caused major water damage.
• Advising the tenant of a commercial leasehold property on the prospects of success of a property damage claim already pleaded/issued against the leasehold owner and his managing agent. The matter particularly engaged questions of construction of a commercial lease and of privity of contract.
• Settling a defence and advising the insurer of a plumber sued concurrently with a developer for a hidden water leak allegedly caused by a failure to tighten pipes and/or flexi hoses properly on installation.
• Advising an insurer on the merits of a proposed subrogated recovery claim in respect of damage caused to an insured inner-London property which was damaged when a tree fell from a position on adjoining land.
• Settling a defence in respect of damage to a vehicle caused by a tent blown off the Defendant’s property during Storm Otto.
• Successfully resisting a County Court claim brought against an insurer and involving oral argument around whether the insurer had assumed responsibility and therefore a duty of care for a claimant leaseholder who was not a party to the contract of insurance. The dispute arose out a water ingress incident at the claimant’s property following damage to the structure of the insured freehold property during Storm Eunice in February 2022.
• Settling a defence on behalf of an insurer in respect of a claim brought by the leasehold owner of an East London apartment against the insured, the freehold owner of the building.
• Advising a Claimant on prospects of success in a complex multi track claim brought in respect of two episodes of subsidence damage alleged to have been caused by tree roots emanating from adjoining land owned by the defendant Local Authority.
• Settling a defence in a claim brought by a Local Authority against a service provider in respect of a flood alleged to have caused circa £100,000 of property damage at a school.
• Drafting a defence in a multi-party claim brought by a ground-floor tenant in commercial premises against the building’s second-floor tenant for property damage caused by a water leak.
• Drafting a reply to defence in a substantial claim brought by a consumer against a gardening company for damage to sheet glass in his patio doors. The matter engaged principles of unfair terms in consumer contracts.
• Drafting particulars of claim in a series of fire and flood damage subrogated recovery actions.
• On behalf of a landlord, settling particulars of claim in respect of property damage resulting from a fire which broke out in an electricity substation located in the basement of a building in Central London.
• Drafting particulars of claim in an action brought by a railway maintenance corporation against a contractor for over £55,000 of damage negligently caused to a gantry crane.
• Defending a Local Authority in a claim involving damage to a headstone at one of its graveyards.

Additionally, during pupillage, Bradley undertook work in the following areas:

• Drafting particulars of claim for a parish council in an action brought against a sole trader alleged to have negligently caused fire damage to the roof of a building (during pupillage).
• Advising on several matters, including on issues of contribution, res judicata, and abuse of process, in a claim involving water damage to a luxury vehicle (during pupillage).
• Drafting a reply to a defendant’s defence in a case involving an allegedly faulty water pump which flooded a luxury Central London property (during pupillage).

During pupillage seats first with David Myhill and later with Helen Pagett and Jack Macaulay, Bradley was exposed to a wide range of clinical negligence and personal injury claims, including claims with an element of fraud and/or fundamental dishonesty. He is now regularly instructed to defend personal injury claims, whether they arise in the context of road traffic accidents, public liability or employer liability. He is also regularly instructed to appear at inquests, often representing local authorities or care homes.

Examples of his work include:

• Drafting an amended defence on behalf of a crane operator and its insurer in a matter involving personal injury sustained by a self-employed labourer while working on a building site.
• Advising an insurer on the prospects of its insured, a major developer of new homes, successfully defending a personal injury claim brought by the employee of a sub-contractor for injuries sustained on site.
• Advising the insurer of a major high street brand, now in administration, as to the effect of a side agreement for reimbursement on an employers’ liability policy. In one claim in particular, Bradley successfully resisted an application to add the insurer as the second defendant to a personal injury claim on the grounds that neither the Insolvency and Companies Court nor the administrator of the First Defendant had given permission for a stay imposed by operation of law under schedule 1B of the Insolvency Act 1986 to be lifted.
• Advising an insurer and its lay client, the operator of an open water swimming lake, on the prospects of successfully defending a claim brought by a client alleging to have slipped on entry to the water, sustaining injury.
• Drafting a defence and counter-schedule in a claim brought against the operator of a civic amenity site by a user of the site who allegedly tripped on a step, sustaining injury.
• Successfully defending a County Court action brought by a claimant who slipped on a wet floor in a leisure centre.
• Drafting a defence on behalf of an employer in a claim brought by a former employee in respect of an alleged hand injury sustained whilst working in the employer’s warehouse.
• Successfully defending a personal injury claim brought by the former employee of a plumbing supplies company who alleged that he had been injured when loading a boiler into a van.
• Representing a care home at an inquest into the death of an elderly resident who choked on food.
• Instructed severally by a County Council to attend inquests into the deaths of elderly residents in care homes.
• Settling a defence and contribution notice in a multi-party claim in respect of an incident in which an agency worker was injured on the premises of an employer when he was struck by a vehicle driven by an uninsured driver.
• Successfully arguing that a stayed claim brought under the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents should be transferred to Part 7 and its stay lifted on account of the claim’s value, delay, and prejudice to the Defendant.
• Representing a defendant sub-contractor in an application to set aside judgment entered in its absence in respect of a personal injury claim.
• Advising an insurer and its cosmetic surgeon client in respect of a claim brought by a former patient alleging personal injury.
• Instructed by NHS Resolution to draft a defence to a claim brought in respect of a total hip replacement which the Claimant alleged was not indicated and incorrectly consented.
• Drafting a defence in a claim relating to a trip and fall on a private right of way which had been wrongly brought under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (during pupillage).
• Advising an insurer on a claim brought against a construction company by a claimant purporting to suffer from HAVS, including on matters of fundamental dishonesty (during pupillage).
• Drafting a counter-schedule and giving advice on settlement parameters in case involving a delayed breast cancer diagnosis with complex issues of causation (during pupillage).
• Advising on matters of coverage in respect of an injury sustained by a casual worker assisting a defendant company with renovation work (during pupillage).
• Advising on questions of dishonest exaggeration of quantum in respect of a workplace injury claim (during pupillage).
• Drafting a without-prejudice counter-schedule for the settlement of a complex claim brought under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (during pupillage).
• Advising on the likelihood of success of a claim brought against a major retailer by a former employee for injuries sustained whilst working in its warehouse (during pupillage).
• Advising on quantum and settlement parameters in a complex clinical negligence claim involving questions as to the correct method for valuing the claimant’s business (during pupillage).

Bradley has a keen interest in the conflict of laws and in questions of jurisdiction. Examples of his recent work in these areas include:

• Advising a client wishing to enter into a contractual agreement to settle legal proceedings on a question of capacity to contract. One party to the proposed contract, a Russian citizen, had capacity to contract as a matter of English law but lacked capacity as a matter of Russian law because she was, at the time, detained in Moscow pending a criminal trial. Bradley’s advice considered the stance that the English Courts would adopt in order to determine that party’s capacity in the event that the agreement, which was to be governed by English law, were challenged in an English Court. Bradley also advised on contractual terms which would assist in showing that the agreement was most closely connected with the English jurisdiction.
• Acting for a UAE-based investor, including by advising and by drafting particulars of claim to enforce a Dubai Court of First Instance judgment worth over US$500,000 against an investment company in the High Court.
• Advising a natural person on the potential impact of an adverse judgment in the Dubai Court of First Instance in respect of a failure to discharge a personal guarantee, how any adverse judgment might be enforced in the English jurisdiction, and the effect of bankruptcy.

Having worked in the travel industry for over 15 years and across five continents prior to becoming a barrister, Bradley is ideally positioned to accept instructions in travel litigation, overseas accidents and jurisdictional issues. His hands-on operational experience includes risk assessments (including of accommodation and of high-risk activities), drafting of safety policies, training of tour guides and suppliers, and emergency responses to serious or fatal accidents overseas.

Over the course of Bradley’s 15-year international career in the travel and tourism industry, he gained exposure to a broad range of commercial and regulatory issues and disputes, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. As a result, he is well positioned to advise all types of stakeholder on practical, common-sense approaches to commercial and regulatory matters within a specific industry context.