David is a Partner in Dispute Resolution at Pannone and specialises in commercial and real estate litigation.  

David advises UK and overseas clients on a wide range of commercial and real estate issues.

David's work ranges from advice on avoiding or minimising disputes, providing tactical advice on using litigation to shape commercial negotiations, the use of alternative dispute resolution such as mediation as well as complex and heavyweight litigation and arbitration. 

David's commercial litigation practice includes large scale contractual disputes, IT disputes, partnership disputes and advising on corporate matters arising from share and business sale agreements, particularly warranty claims, claims against directors and making or defending urgent applications for freezing injunctions and search orders.  David has also acted as a supervising solicitor on search orders. 

David's real estate litigation practice includes acting for commercial landlords and tenants on business lease renewals, dilapidations claims, general estate management issues and acting for developers on site clearance projects.  David also acts in nuisance and contaminated land claims. 

David is particularly noted for the robust commercial approach he brings to dispute resolution and his technical expertise in litigation.  He has been praised by his clients for his commercial awareness, his ability to grasp the nub of an issue and his user friendly and collegiate way of working with clients and their other professional advisors.

Best career moment: Whilst I hope my best moment is still to come, the aspect of my work I enjoy the most is working with clients to achieve their commercial goals. That can be through early advice and commercial negotiations or heavyweight litigation.  Either way I get the same sense of satisfaction in helping a client move their business forward.

Notable cases include:

Commercial Litigation

• acting for a multinational services organisation in a multi million pound claim concerning the implementation of a global ERP project
• acting for a multinational chemicals manufacturer in a multi million pound dispute about a supply agreement with a household name retailer
• acting for a major UK bank in a multi party and multi million pound claim by a former customer
• acting for a range of commercial clients including partnerships and owner managed businesses in a variety of commercial and contractual disputes.  This includes taking eight disputes with values between £100,000 to £1.2m to mediation in the last 2 years

Real Estate Litigation

• advising a multi national company on its obligations at the termination of a long lease of extensive port and dockside premises, including acting in proceedings for business lease renewal and a claim for dilapidations
• acting for a statutory water authority in a wide range of real estate disputes and claims
• acting for a leading manufacturer in litigation relating to alleged nuisance and contamination of land
• advising one of the North West’s highest profile commercial landlords on a range of estate management issues including business lease renewals, tenant defaults and insolvency and dilapidations claims.

David qualified in 1999 and became a partner in 2006.