Banking & Financial Services

“Serle Court is an 'excellent commercial set' whose members are often instructed on market-leading and complex banking and finance disputes, including many with an international angle.”
Legal 500

Overview Expertise Barristers Latest

Serle Court specialises in high-value, technically complex banking and financial services litigation.

Our work sits at the intersection of banking and commercial litigation – an area in which we are particularly active. Serle Court barristers appear in the UK High Court and in international courts and financial centres, notably the Dubai International Financial Centre Court (DIFC) and jurisdictions across Asia.

Our barristers are regularly instructed – at times on opposing sides – in some of the most significant disputes in this field of the last few decades. These include the RBS Rights Issue Litigation, the Bank Charges Litigation, cases arising from the Lehman Brothers collapse and many misselling claims.

Recent notable cases include Eclipse Investors v HSBC, a high-profile group claim, named in The Lawyers top 20 cases, and PIFSS v Al Rajaan, one of the largest fraud claims to come before the Commercial Court, involving six members of Chambers.

We act for and against banks and financial services institutions, drawing on deep experience across a broad spectrum of banking transactions, financial instruments and dispute types.

Clients value our ability to combine market-leading expertise in banking and financial services with deep knowledge of complementary areas, such as insolvency, trusts, regulatory issues, civil fraud and asset recovery.

This multi-disciplinary strength enables us to seamlessly navigate the most complex disputes with clarity, precision and commercial insight.

Banking & Financial Services Barristers

King's Counsel

Elizabeth Jones KC

Call: 1984
Silk: 2000

Patrick Talbot KC

Call: 1969
Silk: 1990

Kuldip Singh KC

Call: 1975
Silk: 1993

Paul Chaisty KC

Call: 1982
Silk: 2001

Dominic Dowley KC

Call: 1983
Silk: 2002

Lance Ashworth KC

Call: 1987
Silk: 2006

David Casement KC FCIArb

Call: 1992
Silk: 2008

David Blayney KC

Call: 1992
Silk: 2013

Rupert Reed KC

Call: 1996
Silk: 2014

Zoe O’Sullivan KC

Call: 1993
Silk: 2015

Giles Richardson KC

Call: 1997
Silk: 2022

Matthew Morrison KC has a broad commercial chancery practice, with particular expertise in civil fraud, company and partnership disputes, and insolvency litigation.

Described by Chambers UK 2027 as an “outstanding barrister” who is “technically brilliant, fantastic with clients and someone whose cross-examination is exceptional”, Matthew regularly appears in the High Court and Court of Appeal and has acted in proceedings before the Grand Court and Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (BVI), the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, the Isle of Man High Court of Justice and the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts. He also has significant experience assisting advocates before the Royal Courts of Jersey and Guernsey. He is generally admitted to the BVI Bar and is currently admitted ad hoc on a number of matters in the Cayman Islands.

Matthew is an established legal author. He has written widely read PLC practice notes on minority shareholder remedies and edits chapters on directors’ duties and disqualification, and insolvency, in Gore-Browne, Butterworths Corporate Law Service, Tolley’s Company Law Service and Tolley’s Company Law Handbook; and on unfair prejudice, misfeasance and disqualification in the Law of Limited Liability Partnerships (Whittaker and Machell (6th ed.), 2026).

Matthew Morrison KC

Call: 2004
Silk: 2025

Michael Walsh KC

Call: 2006
Silk: 2025

Jonathan Upton KC is recognised for his work in high-value commercial disputes, real estate litigation and asset recovery. His expertise across these interconnected fields makes him “the perfect package for complex and hard-fought” litigation.

His work is both domestic and international, with many cases involving fraud and trusts. Jonathan is regularly instructed in complex, high-value and urgent applications, including freezing injunctions, proprietary injunctions and asset disclosure orders. Commentators note that “he has an unwavering ability to get to the commercial crux of a matter extremely quickly” and that “Jonathan is both technically brilliant and a creative advocate.”

Recent instructions include acting in a substantial Commercial Court group action involving over 200 claimants and allegations of fraud, conspiracy and non est factum; advising on the recovery of debts in the context of the Russian sanctions and OFSI licensing regime; and challenging a Letter of Request issued by the Supreme Court of New York to the Royal Court of Jersey in connection with the Williams F1 Racing Team v Schwarz litigation in the US.

Jonathan is noted for being “incredibly approachable and helpful. You can just pick up the phone and talk to him” and “an absolute pleasure to work with.”

Jonathan Upton KC

Call: 2004
Silk: 2026

James Weale KC has a very busy commercial chancery practice with a focus on domestic and international commercial and trusts disputes.

He is recognised as a leading practitioner in those fields by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Chambers Global, Chambers High Net Worth, and Who’s Who Legal, where they describe him as a “brilliant lawyer” and a “Superstar”. He was Chambers & Partners’ Chancery Junior of the Year in 2023.

He regularly appears (both as sole and junior counsel) in the English High Court and has appeared several times in the Court of Appeal. He also has considerable experience in overseas jurisdictions (including as sole counsel), including Bermuda, the DIFC, the BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Panama.

James Weale KC

Call: 2007
Silk: 2026

Junior Counsel - Over 10 years

Andrew Bruce

Call: 1992

Simon Hattan

Call: 1999

Jennifer Meech

Call: 2008

Zahler Bryan has a broad commercial chancery practice, with a particular emphasis on contentious trusts, civil fraud and financial disputes.

She regularly advises on a wide range of matters, with considerable experience in large-scale commercial and trust disputes spanning an extensive range of jurisdictions.

Zahler also has a particular interest in appellate work and has appeared in the Supreme Court and the Privy Council.

Described as “razor smart and a great asset to any team“, Zahler was awarded ‘Chancery Junior of the Year’ at the Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2023.

Zahler Bryan

Call: 2012

Stephen Doherty

Call: 2013

Oliver Jones is a senior junior with a broad commercial and chancery practice, and particular expertise in private wealth and civil fraud disputes. He is recognised by the directories as a leading junior in these areas.

In addition to his busy practice in England, he regularly works in major offshore jurisdictions, including the Channel Islands, BVI and Bermuda. Ollie was called to the BVI bar in 2019.

In addition to noting his “incredible intellect” and “engaging and persuasive” advocacy, the directories note Ollie’s ability to “roll up his sleeves”, “get on top of huge volumes of work and detail quickly” and build a “great rapport with clients”. In addition to acting unled, Ollie also enjoys working as part of larger teams on large-scale litigation, in which he “consistently delivers impressive results”. Ollie takes pride in his reputation for being “user-friendly” and “great to work with”.

Before coming to the Bar, Ollie spent several years as a management consultant in the financial services, energy, and public sectors. He brings this commercial experience and perspective to bear in his cases.

Oliver Jones

Call: 2014

Junior Counsel - Under 10 years

Sparsh Garg is a chancery and commercial barrister specialising in contentious trusts and estates matters and company disputes. He has acted in complex, high-value trusts and company cases.

Sparsh is recognised in the legal directories for offshore private client and commercial work. He regularly receives instructions in The Bahamas, Gibraltar and Jersey, is called to the BVI Bar, and acts in BVI matters independently and as part of counsel teams.

In England, Sparsh is recognised as a “rising star” and “up and coming” barrister in traditional chancery and private client work. Clients describe him as “intelligent, hard-working, an innovative thinker”, as well as personable and a good team player.

In 2019, Sparsh was seconded to the dispute resolution team of a leading Gibraltar law firm, working on contentious trusts and commercial disputes. He has since continued to develop his offshore practice, acting as sole counsel and alongside other barristers.

His offshore experience includes three Privy Council appeals: Chu v Lau [2020], concerning just and equitable winding-up on grounds of shareholder deadlock; Perry v Lopag [2023], concerning appellate intervention in findings of foreign law; and Dawson-Damer v Grampian Trust Company Ltd, concerning a trustee’s duty of adequate deliberation.

Sparsh Garg

Call: 2017

Andrew Gurr

Call: 2020

Wilson Leung

Call: 2008 (Hong Kong, non-practising) 2022 (England & Wales)

Matthew Innes

Call: 2022

Claudia Barry

Call: 2023

Jon Turnbull

Call: 2023

Isaac Wong

Call: 2023

Related Expertise

Civil Fraud

Serle Court is highly regarded in the field of civil fraud and our barristers have been involved in the most complex, high-profile and high-value civil fraud cases of recent times.

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Commercial Litigation

Serle Court has a market-leading reputation for commercial litigation with members at the forefront of many of the most significant and high-value disputes in recent years both in the UK and internationally.

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Professional Negligence

Our barristers act across the full range of professional negligence disputes in all business sectors, including claims involving solicitors, barristers, auditors, accountants, investors, taxation advisers and auctioneers.

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Regulatory

Serle Court has a well-established practice in regulatory and professional disciplinary matters. We act for regulators as well as institutions and professionals subject to investigation or enforcement proceedings.

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