Sparsh is a chancery and commercial practitioner. He has a varied practice with a particular focus on trusts and estates litigation, company law, insolvency and commercial disputes.
Sparsh is regularly instructed as sole counsel, or as part of a larger counsel team, in both English and international litigation/arbitral proceedings. He has acted or advised in relation to disputes before the English High Court, as well as matters in Gibraltar (where he has been called ad hoc), The Bahamas, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, the DIFC, Guernsey and in LCIA/LMAA arbitrations.
Examples of Sparsh’s recent work include:
- Acting (as sole counsel) for the successful respondent in Tatishev v Zimmerz Management LP [2021] EWHC 2611 (Ch), concerning an application to set aside a statutory demand on the grounds of common mistake and misrepresentation. The case involved a consideration of when a compromise agreement may be set aside for mistake, and when a pre-action letter may amount to an actionable misrepresentation.
- Acting (as sole counsel) for a successful trustee in a claim before the Supreme Court of Gibraltar to vary the terms of the trust, and approve a momentous decision.
- Acting (with David Brownbill KC and Daniel Warents) for the appellants in Perry v Lopag CICA (Civil) Appeal No.16 of 2020 before the Cayman Court of Appeal. The appeal concerned findings of foreign law and rescission for equitable mistake.
- Acting (with Lewis Baglietto KC) for the successful trustee in Church Lane Trustees Limited v Bunyan [2021] GSC 28 before the Supreme Court of Gibraltar. This was a claim for the Court’s approval of the Trustee’s decision to make a final distribution of the Trust’s assets, and the Trustee’s final accounts. The case also involved the Court’s approach to the interpretation of a settlor’s letter of wishes, and the extent to which a trustee may hold a beneficiary responsible for the costs of historic litigation.
- Acting (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) in O Trustee v Q Claim No. BVIHCM 2020/0116 before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court for the successful applicant in her application to be appointed the “next friend” of the trusts’ minor beneficiaries, and to generally represent the minor beneficiaries in matters concerning the trustees’ proposals. The case involved novel issues such as the circumstances in which a Court may recognise a foreign parentage/guardianship order.
- Acting (with Philip Jones KC and Daniel Warents) for the successful appellant before the Privy Council in Chu v Lau [2020] 1 WLR 4656, a leading case on just and equitable winding up orders on appeal from the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.
- Acting (with Tom Montagu-Smith KC) for the respondent in a LCIA arbitration concerning the proper interpretation of a force majeure clause, and rectification of a contract. The arbitral proceedings have involved a consideration of various Middle Eastern banking practices/operations.
Sparsh has also contributed to the latest chapter on “England” of International Trust Laws loose-leaf (with Bajul Shah and Owen Curry). Sparsh also worked in the Brussels office of a major international law firm, and was seconded to the litigation team of a leading international offshore firm where he worked on multiple complex and high-value contentious trusts matters. Further details of Sparsh’s experience are set out below.