Associate
Clare is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team.
Advising on general contractual disputes over the supply of goods or services, commercial disputes between shareholders and directors and financial services disputes, Clare also has particular expertise in helping clients with regulatory road transport issues.
She advises hauliers and businesses who run their own HGV vehicles (as an ancillary part of the business, moving their own products), on matters relating to their operator’s licences and provides representation and advice on public inquiries before the Traffic Commissioner.
Her clients include builders’ merchants, cavity wall companies, lifting equipment hire companies, printers, steel stockholders, high-cost short-term loan lenders and luxury refurbishment companies.
Clare is pragmatic and takes a commercial approach, recognising that whilst some cases are best going to Court she remains a keen advocate of mediation and other forms of ADR as this can often lead to better results for clients.
Recent examples of how Clare has supported clients include:
- advising a national powered access provider and working with them to put systems in place in advance of a Public Inquiry before the Traffic Commissioner. This resulted in the company being allowed to retain its operator’s licence, despite issues that had arisen in the past;
- advising a steel stockholder about an overloaded vehicle, and the work to be done in order to improve the chances of avoiding a possible criminal prosecution and likely subsequent Public Inquiry;
- advising a director and majority shareholder in the defence of a claim against him by a dismissed former director; and
- defending a high-cost short-term lender in a financial services dispute in the High Court, in a claim by over 50 recipients of loans who alleged unfairness in the lending process.