Serle Court

Dan was among the very first of his cohort to take silk, at only 15 years' call - an achievement made more remarkable by the fact that Dan practises across a wide range of heavyweight chancery commercial specialisms. His appointment as a KC represented a natural progression from his position as one of the most sought after and highly rated chancery commercial juniors at the Bar (most recently recognised by his 2022 shortlisting by Legal 500 for chancery junior of the year). Dan is recognised by the main directories as a leading practitioner in Civil Fraud, Offshore, Chancery Commercial, Commercial Disputes and Company and Partnership Law.

Dan’s practice centres on three inter-related areas: company law, civil fraud and trust disputes.

In company law, during the past two years Dan has appeared in the Court of Appeal in three appeals concerning unfair prejudice (Zedra, Loveridge (No.1) and Loveridge (No.2)) and as sole advocate in the notorious BIG (regarding the scope and effect of the rule against reflective loss). Dan’s clients succeeded in all four appeals.

In civil fraud, Dan is lead advocate for the claimant in Isbilen, a multi-jurisdictional fraud claim arising from the alleged misappropriation of some £40 million, and (led by David Allison QC) acts for the plaintiffs in Re The Port Fund, in which the general partner of a Caymanian exempted liability partnership is alleged to have conspired with others to cause losses exceeding £100 million to the fund’s limited partners.

Dan’s trust practice has a strong international element: notable recent cases include Re The Brockman Trust – in which (led by John Machell KC) Dan acted for the successful respondent to an appeal concerning a Bermudan trust worth some $8 billion – and Volpi (ongoing proceedings in the Bahamas relating to a group of high value family trusts). Dan is also regularly instructed in domestic trust disputes; he is currently acting for a Jersey trustee in English proceedings, defending a claim for alleged dishonest breaches of trust which is said to be worth £30 million.

In the majority of his cases Dan acts as lead or sole advocate. He is however equally comfortable working under more senior KCs within or outside chambers, as he is currently doing across a range of cases in England and overseas. Dan’s ability and experience as an oral advocate are outstanding, especially given his call: his recent appearances include numerous appeals in the Court of Appeal, lengthy High Court trials and arbitrations involving extensive cross-examination, and heavy interlocutory applications (including in particular applications for search orders, freezing orders and proprietary injunctions). In Chambers & Partners Dan is described as “magnificent in court”, with his advocacy being recognised as "incredibly impressive" and “exceptional”. To similar effect, Legal 500 praises Dan as “a fierce intellect and a brilliant advocate”, whose advocacy is "persuasive and skilful beyond his years".

Across the broad spectrum of his practice, Dan has developed noteworthy expertise in committal proceedings (representing both applicants and respondents). He has acted in many of the leading civil contempt cases over the past decade, including Loveridge (No.2), Isbilen v Turk,  Super-Max v Malhotra, Emmott v Willson, Ablyazov, Berry Piling and Masri.

Qualified 2007, Lincoln’s Inn.

Commercial Bar Association; Chancery Bar Association.

The Perse School Cambridge; Gonville & Cauis College Cambridge BA (Hons) (I) 2004, MA 2008; City University LLB (Hons) (I) 2007.