Property Damage
Hamish welcomes instructions in property damage matters across a broad spectrum of areas, including fire and flood damage, negligent building work, road traffic accidents, and tree root encroachment.
Hamish’s recent instructions include:
- Drafting particulars of claim for the owners of a bridge which had been completely destroyed by a motorist who had been swept downstream whilst attempting to cross a river.
- Successfully representing at trial a firm of motor mechanics who had allegedly destroyed a car engine due to negligent fitting of a turbocharger.
- Preparing a defence and advice on behalf of a construction company who had allegedly sprayed concrete onto a neighbouring companies’ property causing damage.
- Representing a local council against a claim in contract and tort alleging the council was liable for possessions which had been stolen from the claimant’s car left in the council-run car-park.
- Acting for a contractor in relation to a dispute arising out of the construction of a residential extension.
Whilst on pupillage, Hamish assisted with a number of cases including:
- Advice in relation to a professional negligence claim brought by Network Rail against structural engineers after improvements works allegedly caused a landslip which derailed a train causing substantial damage and serious personal injury. Valued at supra. £10 million.
- Assisting preparations for trial of a claim against a manufacturer of pressure regulating valves which had allegedly malfunctioned causing circa £1m damage in a residential property.
- Preparing a defence and advice in relation to a coverage dispute after an insurer refused to indemnify a partnership for flooding damage caused by an automatic sprinkler system in a factory.
- Written advice in relation to a claim brought by Network Rail against an adjacent property owner after sludge spilled onto the railway causing circa £1m of damage and disruption. Issues included non-delegable duties in the context of an independent contractor defence and potential liability under Rylands v Fletcher.
Selected Cases
View full profile »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)
Articles
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Qualifications
- BPTC (Outstanding), BPP
- GDL (Distinction), City University
- English Language & Literature (First Class), University of Oxford
