Liana Turner

Recent instructions include:

• Acting for the claimant in proceedings in the Commercial Court to obtain an urgent ex parte interim anti-suit injunction restraining the prosecution of claims for breach of a property insurance policy worth an alleged £4m+ in the Arbitrazh Court of the City of Moscow (led by Carlo Taczalski).
• Acting for an insurer in a claim concerning an alleged breach of a landlord insurance policy, including making a successful application to set aside default judgment.
• David Wood Baking (UK) Limited v QBE & Ors (Comm): assisting with disclosure on a fire insurance claim worth in excess of £100m.

Recent instructions include:

• Dublin Coach v Dawsongroup & Daimler Buses UK Ltd: acting for Daimler Buses UK Ltd in the successful defence of a product liability claim concerning Mercedes-Benz Tourismo coaches. The claimant discontinued its claim shortly before trial in June 2025, paying the majority of Daimler’s costs (led by Daniel Shapiro KC and Mariusz Rumun).
• Acting for the claimant in proceedings concerning fire damage allegedly caused by two coffee machines (led by Elizabeth Boon).
• Advising on the merits of a claim against an electrician who installed miniature circuit breakers that were later recalled by the manufacturer.
• Advising a leading producer on the prospects of defending personal injury claims arising from the presence of foreign objects in its products.
• Advising on the merits and strategy of a claim concerning an allegedly defective tumble dryer that caused a fire and significant property damage.

Recent instructions include:

• Acting for the claimant in proceedings in the Commercial Court to obtain an urgent ex parte interim anti-suit injunction restraining the prosecution of claims for breach of a property insurance policy worth an alleged £4m+ in the Arbitrazh Court of the City of Moscow (led by Carlo Taczalski).
• Drafting a response to an application in an arbitration claim worth in excess of $25m relating to the collateral management of cocoa and coffee stored at warehouses in Cameroon (as a pupil). The applicant applied for disclosure of the reasons for declinature issued by the respondent’s insurers in response to the respondent’s claim under its professional indemnity policy.
• Defending a builder alleged to have fraudulently obtained materials at a price lower than the market value (as a pupil).

As a judicial assistant in the Supreme Court, Liana worked on several appeals and applications for permission to appeal, including:

• Saxon Woods Investments Limited and Others  v Costa [2026] UKSC 21 – Appeal concerning the nature of directors’ duties under section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006.
• AXA Insurance UK PLC v Commissioners of Inland Revenue [2026] UKSC 24: Appeal concerning the circumstances in which the court should “order otherwise” pursuant to CPR 19.23(1), arising in the context of litigation ongoing since 2003 that had given rise to several significant developments in the law of unjust enrichment.
• Skatteforvaltningen (The Danish Customs and Tax Administration) v MCML Ltd [2026] UKSC 19 – Appeal concerning the scope of issue estoppel in the context of a claim brought in 2018 by SKAT (the Danish tax authority) against 114 defendants alleging that the defendants had either negligently or fraudulently made misrepresentations to SKAT which induced it to give tax refunds to individuals who were not entitled to receive them.
• Skyros Maritime Corporation v Hapag-Lloyd AG – Upcoming appeal concerning damages for late redelivery of a vessel. The appeal will be relevant to the law of damages for breach of contract generally, particularly in the context of sale of goods.
• Felipe Massa and others v Bernard Charles Ecclestone – Upcoming appeal concerning the scope of the tort of unlawful means conspiracy. Mr Massa, the former F1 driver, alleges that the defendants conspired to conceal their knowledge that Nelson Piquet Jr’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was deliberate and to not investigate the crash until it was too late to change the race results. Mr Massa alleges that had the crash been investigated and acted upon in 2008, the Singapore result would have been annulled, and he would have been the F1 World Driver’s Champion for the 2008 season.
• The Czech Republic v Diag Human SE and another No 2 – Upcoming appeal concerning a challenge to an arbitration award under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The appeal will consider the meaning of an “investor” under Article 1(1)(c) of a bilateral investment treaty agreed between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, and the scope of section 30 of the Arbitration Act 1996.

Recent instructions include:

• Liana received instructions during her pupillage to assist with amending a defence on behalf of the insurers of chartered tax advisers in a multi-million pound claim concerning a claimant who had entered into numerous tax mitigation schemes. She was later instructed to assist with disclosure in advance of the mediation (led by Caroline McColgan).
• Advising solicitors in relation to a potential professional negligence claim arising out of the drafting of a declaration of trust concerning the relative ownership and entitlements in a family property.
• Acting for an architect in proceedings concerning the provision of architectural services in relation to a residential building project.

Recent instructions include:

• Advising the claimant in relation to an excavator that became lodged on Mumbles beach. The incident was the subject of a BBC news article:  Mumbles: Digger left on beach swamped by high tide – BBC News
• Drafting particulars of claim on behalf of the operator of a water treatment plant who supplied fresh water to residents in respect of a delivery driver who had discharged sodium hypochlorite into a ferric sulphate tank, causing the production of a highly corrosive gas (as a pupil).
• Settling the defence on behalf of sub-contractors alleged to have caused damage by using a corrosive substance to clean the outside brickwork of a property (as a pupil).

As a judicial assistant, Liana also worked on Rubis Bahamas Ltd v Lillian Antoinette Russell [2025] UKPC 13, an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council concerning an escape of petrol from a filling station into neighbouring residential land. The judgment considers Rylands v Fletcher liability, and its relationship with the torts of private nuisance and negligence.

Liana is regularly instructed to appear in small claims and fast track trials and applications, including matters involving fundamental dishonesty. She also advises on liability and quantum. Recent instructions include:

• Advising and settling a defence in a claim against a regulatory sports body for personal injuries arising out of a cycling accident.
• Advising on the prospects of defending a personal injury claim arising from the unloading of wooden panels, where the delivery was arranged by the first defendant and carried out by the second defendant.

As a judicial assistant in the Supreme Court, Liana worked on the case of CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5, in which the majority of the Supreme Court held that child claimants can recover lost years’ earnings. Liana assisted Lady Rose, who dissented on this appeal.

Before commencing pupillage, Liana worked in the injury department of a leading law firm, where she was involved in a range of high-value and complex personal injury matters, including claims arising from spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and amputations.