Hamish Fraser

Commercial

Hamish welcomes instructions across a broad range of commercial disputes, including sale of goods and supply of services, breach of contract, misrepresentation, bailment, commercial fraud, insolvency, and financial services. Examples of his recent work include:

• Finsbury Food Group PLC v. Axis Corporate Capital UK Ltd [2023] (awaiting judgment): Representing a group of insurers who underwrote a buyer-side W&I Policy in respect of the acquisition of a company by a publicly listed company. The buyer claimed £4m under the policy alleging that the seller had breached a number of warranties under the share purchase agreement meaning the company was less valuable than it had understood (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Representing a firm of insurance brokers in regard to a £4m claim by the insured company alleging it had suffered losses which were not covered by its insurance policy due to the defendant’s negligence in failing to arrange an appropriate scope of cover and/or failing to disclose material facts such that the insurer avoided the policy for non-disclosure and misrepresentation (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Representing a firm of solicitors retained in relation to the acquisition of £6.5m of commercial debt. It was alleged that the solicitors had negligently failed to advise about certain title issues which rendered some of the debt valueless (led by Daniel Shapiro KC).
• Advising on potential causes of actions in company, contract and tort law directly against the directors of a well-known construction firm which had unexpectedly entered into liquidation after its directors had made misleading market statements.
• Advising and drafting particulars of claim to enforce a without prejudice settlement agreement made in relation to a defamation claim.
• Advisory work pertaining to the presentation of a winding up petition by a creditor to a construction firm.
• Representing a fertility clinic against a contractual claim brought by a staffing agency alleging they had employed a nurse directly in order to avoid fees.
• Representing a holiday park company in an insolvency dispute resisting an application by creditors to place the company into administration.
• Successfully representing a firm of estate agents against a contractual claim that they had failed to repay a commitment fee to a prospective tenant.
• Successfully striking out a claim brought against an insurance company for a failure to provide cover to a taxi driver which he alleged had caused him £100k of losses.

During pupillage, examples of Hamish’s work included:

• Drafting a skeleton argument and assisting preparations for the Court of Appeal proceedings in Spire Healthcare Ltd v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 17. The matter concerned the interpretation of aggregation clauses in insurance contracts and arose from multiple claims brought against a private hospital by patients injured by the disgraced breast surgeon, Ian Paterson.
• Advice in relation to an alleged breach of a share purchase agreement in relation to a private equity backed acquisition of a pharmaceutical company. Valued at supra £10 million.
• Preparing defence and advice in a sale of goods dispute concerning allegedly defective steel rolls which were manufactured in Germany. Involved difficult jurisdictional issues.
• Advice in relation to an £2m sale of goods claim by the purchasers of allegedly defective articulated trailer movers after an operator was killed by a crushing injury.
• Preparing advice on the contractual interpretation of a major infrastructure contract awarded by the City of Westminster council in relation to a dispute over the value of work completed.
• Drafting defence in a contractual claim relating to the installation of a security system which allegedly failed during a heist, allowing circa £1m of stock to be stolen.
• Prepared written points of claim on behalf of a Lloyd’s syndicate for an arbitration against a managing agent for breach of the binding authority agreement.

Selected Cases

Awards

• Buchanan Prize for outstanding performance on the BPTC (Lincoln’s Inn, 2020)
• Advocacy Scholarship (BPP, 2019)
• Tancred Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn, 2019)
• Winner, the Crowther Shield for public speaking (Lincoln’s Inn, 2019)
• Winner, the Crown Office Mooting Competition (2018)
• The Janet Quigley Prize for Middle English studies (Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 2016)

News

• Crown Office Chambers welcomes three new tenants

Qualifications

• BPTC (Outstanding), BPP
• GDL (Distinction), City University
• English Language & Literature (First Class), University of Oxford