Jessica Lavelle
Portrait of Jessica Lavelle XXIV Old Buildings

Jessica Lavelle

Call: 2019

"“extremely bright” and “very responsive”"

A Client

Jessica is a commercial chancery barrister whose busy practice spans chambers’ core areas, with interests in civil fraud and asset tracing, commercial disputes, trusts litigation, company law, and insolvency law. She is instructed regularly in both domestic and offshore matters.

Jessica has appeared unled in the High Court and appears regularly in the County Courts as well as working as part of a larger team on complex multi-national disputes.  She has been described by instructing solicitors as “extremely bright” and “very responsive”.

Prior to beginning her pupillage, Jessica undertook a six-month secondment to Walkers (Guernsey) and spent the first six months of her practice on secondment to Mishcon de Reya, sitting within the Private Wealth Disputes team.

Jessica was listed as a  Pro Bono Champion for her work with CLIPS (Chancery Litigant in Person Scheme) throughout 2023

Further details of Jessica’s experience are set out below.

Areas of experience

Checked sections will be included in the PDF download.

Select: All | None

  • Art, Cultural Property & Media

    Jessica was recently led by Steven Reed in respect of a claim brought by a well-known international businessman for defamation by a former business partner over social media.

    Jessica has also acted for a film distribution company in a dispute with a producer over the payment of fees owing under a sales agreement.

    During pupillage, Jessica gained experience in:

    • The approval of a settlement agreement in respect of a dispute between a well-known artist represented by a litigation friend and his former gallery.
    • A cross-border dispute as to the validity of sale of a valuable painting by an English gallery
  • Aviation

    Jessica has experience of aviation matters both as sole counsel and as part of a larger team, including:

    • Advising the claimant airline on issues of disclosure and privilege in a multi-million pound claim relating to damage to aircraft (Qatar Airways QCSC v Airbus SAS)
    • Obtaining a garnishee order for the enforcement of judgment in Times Travel UK Ltd & Nottingham Travel UK Ltd v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation
    • Acting on behalf of defendant airlines in EU Regulation 261/2004 claims
  • Civil Fraud, Asset Tracing & Recovery

    Tower Bridge International Services v Viney & Ors: Acts for the second defendant in this substantial fraud claim involving allegations of misappropriation of some £25m.

    Yuntian 10 Leasing Co DAC v Dream Aircraft Ltd & Ors: instructed (with Andrew Holden) on behalf of an airline leasing company seeking to enforce a judgment debt by means of a final charging order over a property held on trust

    Prior to commencing pupillage, Jessica was involved in a substantial committal hearing arising out of a failure to comply with a disclosure order in a tracing claim (Kea Investments Ltd v Watson [2020] EWHC 2599 (Ch)).

  • Commercial Litigation

    Jessica regularly assists with drafting pleadings and evidence in a range of commercial matters. She regularly appears in court in interim applications on commercial disputes and has trial experience in various commercial matters, including:

    • Sole counsel in a trial for breach of contract relating to the provision of civil engineering services
    • Sole counsel in a trial for breach of contract relating to the management of cryptocurrency
  • Company

    Jessica’s commercial and trusts work often involves questions of company law. She has also acted in:

    • Dodson and another v Shield and 7 others: Assisted Steven Reed with preparation for the Court of Appeal in an appeal relating to an unfair prejudice petition where there are allegations of the diversion of a multi-million pound business opportunity into another company.
    • Arkle v Registrar: Appeared for the Claimant in an application for rectification of the register in respect of an incorrectly entered partial satisfaction of a charge.
  • Insolvency

    Jessica accepts instructions across a range of personal and corporate insolvency cases and represents office-holders, directors, individuals and companies. As well as appearing in court, she is often instructed to assist with the drafting of proceedings and evidence.

    Her experience includes:

    • Advising on and appearing in winding-up petitions and connected applications to restrain their presentation and advertisement
    • Aplications with respect to office-holders’ remuneration
    • Berkeley Applegate applications
    • Applications concerning challenges to office-holders’ decisions and/or their removal
    • Applications concerning a range of matters where office-holders seek directions from the court
    • Claims to challenge antecedent transactions
    • Advising on and appearing in bankruptcy petitions
    • Applications to set aside statutory demands
  • International & Offshore
    • Acts (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) for the corporate trustee on a confidential matter involving allegations of improperly retained fees in Guernsey.
    • Acts (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) for members of a high status family in a dispute over the BVI estate of the deceased patriarch.
    • Acts (with Edward Cumming KC) for the Applicant in a dispute relating to the proper interpretation of a will in Guernsey.
    • Acts (with Nicole Langlois) advising a HNW family in respect of a dispute over beneficial ownership of an Isle of Man hybrid company.
    • Advised a Guernsey trustee regarding limitation under English law for potential claims for breach of trust.
    • Acts (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) for the trustees of a substantial Bahamas family trust in a dispute over disclosure.
  • Trusts, Probate & Estates

    Trusts

    • Velutini Perez v Equiom Trust Corp (UK) Ltd [2023] EWHC 615 (Ch); [2023] WTLR 349, [2022] EWHC 2996 (Ch). Claim concerning the revocation of a large trust, and consequent issues of retention and indemnity (while on secondment to Mishcon de Reya).
    • Advising on various applications for the removal of trustees and protectors from family trusts.
    • Advising a professional trustee on the disposal of a trust fund as bona vacantia following the dissolution of the corporate beneficiaries.

     

    Probate & Estates

      Jessica has acted in a variety of contentious probate matters, including:

      • Advising the trustee and administrator ad colligenda bona of a substantial estate where the will did not benefit from an anti-Bartlett clause and the main asset of the estate was a company
      • Acting for both parties in challenges to the validity of wills on the basis of lack of capacity and undue influence
      • Jessica also has experience of applications to appoint personal representatives under CPR 19.12.

Other information

  • Academic and Professional History

    BA, Classics (First Class), Selwyn College, Cambridge

    PGCE, Institute of Education

    GDL and BPTC, City University, London

  • Scholarships and Prizes

    Denning Scholarship – Lincoln’s Inn

    Sing Prize – Selwyn College, Cambridge

    Henry Arthur Thomas Prize – University of Cambridge

  • Professional Memberships

    Call to the Bar of the BVI

    Committe Member of the Chancery Bar Association

    Combar

    Court of Protection Bar Association