Richard Cook

Richard is a highly experienced commercial litigator. He specialises in contractual disputes between businesses whether arising out of commercial contracts for the supply of goods and services or agreements for the sale and purchase of businesses. He has particular expertise in warranty claims arising from such sales.

He also has significant expertise in the area of professional negligence having acted for Claimants in particular for many years in claims against Solicitors, Accountants, Surveyors and other professionals. Recently he has acted in a number of claims for or against Trustees of Pension Schemes and their advisers. His most high profile case was Johnson v Gore Wood & Co, a case which involved two separate hearings before the Court of Appeal and a successful appeal to the House of Lords on the dual issues of striking out for abuse of process and the circumstances in which a shareholder can recover damages where his company may also have suffered damages as a result of the same or similar breach of duty.

His most recent reported cases include Youlton v Charles Russell, a £4m professional negligence claim which involved a 6 day trial in the Chancery Division of the High Court of London. Judgment was delivered in our client’s favour. Judgment was also given in our client’s favour in another substantial High Court claim in the case of Kingsway Hall Hotel Limited v RedSky IT (Hounslow) Limited. That involved a 10 day trial over defective software. He has extensive experience of substantial litigation

Over the years Richard has also advised on Intellectual Property matters, (primarily copyright and trademark infringement and passing off), defamation, construction (particularly adjudications), insolvency (mainly winding up and bankruptcy proceedings but also recoveries on the part of liquidators), partnership disputes and minority shareholder actions.

Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession describes Richard as someone who "remains high on the list of lawyers to whom competitors refer work. He stands out for his performance in the professional negligence sector and has particular knowledge in the fields of partnership and shareholder disputes, IP and pensions-related litigation". He also features in the Legal 500 Legal Experts Guide.

Career