Stephen Meade

Partner
Commercial Disputes

Stephen leads the Commercial Disputes team. He handles all types of commercial disputes for a variety of clients, including major corporates, corporate trustees and investor groups.

Stephen has significant experience of acting on behalf of major corporates, corporate trustees and SMEs. His recent clients include the British Medical Association, Insure and Go Insurance and Hartley Pensions. He has acted in a number of high profile matters that have attracted a high level of public interest, including a judicial review challenging the decision of the Secretary of State for Health to impose a new contract for junior doctors

With particular expertise in contentious property work, Stephen acts for owners, landlords, tenants and developers.

Stephen also undertakes varied professional negligence work, including claims in the legal, construction and financial sectors.

Excellent litigator, excels at the technical, highly intelligent with a real ability to absorb the complex factual issues that arise in a healthcare setting. He won a landmark case for the BMA in 2015.

 Gareth Williams, Senior Solicitor, British Medical Association

Fraud and Commercial

  • Advising a corporate trustee in successful negotiations to preserve a £10s of millions trust fund and bringing a Part 64 claim for the distribution and winding up of the trust.
  • Acting for a trustee to pursue a £7m breach of trust claim affecting over 300 of its beneficiaries who invested their SIPPs in a fractional ownership property scheme in the Caribbean.
  • Advising Tidal Energy Ltd in their high-profile dispute with the Bank of Scotland after falling foul of fraud when paying an invoice via the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS). We represented them in the Court of Appeal, where permission was granted to appeal to the Supreme Court. Eventually, the case settled before the appeal was heard.
  • Representing 18 investors in pursuit of a £40m deceit claim in the High Court to restore their stake and profit in an LLP
  • Acting for liquidators pursuing a claim against directors for misfeasance and an unlawful distribution relating to an employee benefit trust
  • Assisting a UK university extract itself from a toxic joint venture with a private business partner that involved allegations of dishonesty and fraud in £multi-million claims and cross-claims The university successfully relocated its international business without its previous partner.

Property

  • Running five linked High Court test claims brought by GP practices against NHS Property Services Ltd regarding disputed contractual terms for the payment of property charges
  • Defending a £1m plus terminal dilapidations claim on behalf of a tenant further education College.
  • Advising a national logistics company on its £11m dilapidations claim against a national food retailer
  • Our client is one of the largest privately manged logistics companies within the UK who also has a commercial and residential property development arm.
  • Advising a national logistics company client on its claim against its surveyor, project manager and contract administrator in professional negligence and breach of contract in respect of a £multi-million property development.

Healthcare

  • Bringing a judicial review challenging the decision of the Secretary of State for Health to impose a new contract for junior doctors.
  • Leading a successful judicial review challenging the decision of a NHS Trust to downgrade maternity services.
  • Represented the British Medical Association in its claim to secure c.£300m funding for Clinical Excellence Awards (CEA) for consultants in England from the Department of Health and NHS Employers.
  • Adjudications
  • Judicial review
  • Professional negligence
  • Property and construction litigation
  • Commercial litigation
  • Arbitration

Career

  • Partner, Capital Law Limited (2016 – present)
  • Associate, Capital Law LLP (2013 – 2016)
  • Associate Solicitor, George Green LLP (Feb 2007 – Dec 2012)

Education

  • BPP Law School: Bar Vocational Course (2003 – 2004)
  • The College of Law, Guildford: Postgraduate Diploma in Law (2002 – 2003)
  • University of Exeter: Bachelor of Science (1993 – 1996)

Membership / Trustee Positions

  • The Law Society of England and Wales