Property Damage
Robert acts in claims concerning a wide range of damage to property, including damage by fire, water, oil and tree roots.
Selected Cases
- Advising and acting in a mediation for the supplier of a commercial drinks chiller alleged to have caused a fire due to an electrical fault.
- Advising on the incorporation and effect of exclusion/ limitation clauses in a contract for security services following loss and damage caused by theft.
- Acting for a local authority in respect of flooding and water damage allegedly due to a defective drainage pipe.
- Acting for a local authority in a tree roots claim, defending principally on the basis that the damage was not reasonably foreseeable. The claimants discontinued just before trial.
- Acting for an M&E contractor against the supplier/ commissioner of an air-cooled water chiller, in relation to water damage.
- Acting for an occupier of commercial premises in a claim against an M&E maintenance contractor in respect of damage to the premises and neighbouring premises caused by a fuel oil leak.
- Acting for a welder in a claim relating to fire damage.
- Acting in a claim for fire damage to straddle carriers.
- Acting (with Michael Curtis KC) for the installer of a woodburner and flue in a warehouse damaged by fire.
- Acting for the operator of retail premises in a fire claim against the manufacturer and the supplier of a commercial refrigerator.
- Acting for consulting civil and structural engineers in a claim for alleged defects and water damage in a car park.
- Acting for a contractor responsible for the construction of a basement and the installation of a damp proof membrane, in a claim for water damage.
- Acting for an engineering and earthworks contractor facing a claim for alleged vibration damage to a house.
- Acting for insurers of an archive building against the contractor who installed a sprinkler system which failed, causing water damage.
- Acting for a residential owner/ insurer in a tree roots claim.
- Advising insurers on a claim relating to fire damage against the manufacturer of a washing machine, and the electricity company.
- Defeating a claim for fire damage to commercial premises alleged to have been caused by the spontaneous ignition of linseed oil.
- County Motor Works (Chelmsford) Ltd v PBFW Ltd [2014] EWHC 3392 (QB) – Defeating a claim for fire damage to commercial premises alleged to have been caused by the spontaneous ignition of linseed oil.
- Siddiqui v Hillingdon Borough Council [2003] EWHC 726; 89 Con LR 13 – Acting for the homeowner / insurers in respect of property damage allegedly due to tree roots.
News
- Rob Stokell is successful in the Court of Appeal
- Robert Stokell, Anna Laney, Daniel Shaw, and Athena Markides to lecture on advocacy at the University of Cambridge
Qualifications
- Eastham Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
- Sir Thomas More Bursary, Lincoln’s Inn
- Hardwicke Entrance Award, Lincoln’s Inn
- Boulter Exhibition (Law), Christ Church, Oxford University
- MA (Hons), Christ Church, Oxford University
Memberships
- Technology & Construction Bar Association
- Society of Construction Law
- Commercial Bar Association
- Professional Negligence Bar Association
Recommendations
“Robert is good at the details, thoughtful and measured in his advice, and very good on paper.”
Legal 500, 2024
