David Sawtell

Areas of Practice

David has a broad common law practice, with particular strengths in personal injury, property (residential, commercial and family), civil and commercial litigation and employment law. He has a particular interest in fraud and allegations of dishonesty; he combines a sharp intellectual interest in the developing law in this area with the tenacity and attention to detail expected from a meticulous advocate.

Personal injury / non-insured loss

David has a broad personal injury practice. He has especial expertise in cases where fraud or dishonest exaggeration has been alleged, including LVI cases, and is regularly instructed in this area. He has published extensively both on issues of personal injury fraud but also on general issues of personal injury liability.

He often instructed in cases with unusual or complicated factual or legal situations, such as personal injury arising from disability discrimination, disrepair, or defective products. He is frequently instructed in relation to difficult credit hire litigation. His knowledge of MIB / RTA insurance issues is particularly well appreciated by his clients. He is also regularly instructed in RTA / slip trip cases and injuries arising from accidents at work.

Property

David has extensive experience of a wide range of disputes involving both residential and commercial property, including landlord and tenant, licences, disrepair, forfeiture, mortgages, and nuisance, and cases involving LPA receivers and their duties / liability. David frequently advises on issues arising out of disrepair and dilapidations. He is instructed on behalf of both landlords and tenants. He is currently involved in litigation about a mortgagee’s ability to rely on its subrogated rights in respect of a redeemed charge, and in respect of alleged sale at undervalue by receivers. He has also been instructed in a number cases involving alleged wrongful distress.

He is also instructed in cases involving social landlords where Article 8 / equal opportunity legislation becomes an issue.

Civil and commercial litigation

David has extensive experience in a wide range of civil areas and has appeared regularly in the High Court and the Company Court as well as in multi track and fast track county court trials. He has experience of drafting and appearing in interim applications for injunctions, freezing orders, search orders, and disclosure, often at short notice.

He is often instructed in civil / commercial disputes (including factoring agreements, bailment, partnership disputes, sale and hire of goods, and conversion / trespass to goods), and bankruptcy / winding up hearings, as well as other company matters. He has recently been instructed in respect of wrongful termination of a contract for services. He is also regularly involved in disputes arising out of indemnities and guarantees.

Matrimonial and family finance

David brings his experience of and exposure to property and commercial law matters to complicated ancillary / financial remedy cases, often where there are issues in relation to companies, ‘hidden assets’ / dissipation or where there is a foreign element. He is regularly instructed in cases involving a number of properties, often held by different corporate structures, in the County Court, the PRFD and the High Court. He is frequently involved in shared ownership / trusts of land cases where his understanding of property and commercial law is a significant advantage for his clients. He is also instructed in Schedule 1 Children Act 1989 cases.

Employment

Regularly appearing in the employment tribunal for both the claimant and the respondent, David has experience across a wide range of the ET's jurisdiction including unfair / wrongful dismissal, discrimination, NMWA and holiday pay claims. He has particular expertise in disability discrimination cases and has successfully represented both claimants and respondents where the duty to make reasonable adjustments is in issue.

Licensing and regulatory

David is regularly instructed in licensing cases in relation to alcohol licensing and gambling. He is also instructed by the UKBA in respect of condemnation and First Tier Tax Tribunal proceedings.

Public access

David is public access accredited and is happy to accept instructions on this basis in appropriate cases.

Recent publications

‘The Devil Is in the Detail: Pleading and Proving Allegations of Fraud’, PI Brief Update Law Journal, 16 February 2013

‘Hold the cynicism’, New Law Journal, 11 January 2013, vol 163 No 7543 (evidential issues in fraudulent claims)

‘An Unexpected Bill to Pay: Non-Party Costs Orders and Claims Management Companies’, PI Brief Update Law Journal, 16 November 2012

‘Whose responsibility is it anyway? Duty to warn non-employees of criminal threats’, PI Brief Update Law Journal, 10 October 2012

‘Three strikes, you’re still in? What Fairclough Homes Ltd v Summers [2012] UKSC 26 tells us about fraud’, PI Brief Update Law Journal, 18 September 2012

‘Lucky strike’, Commercial Litigation Journal (2012) No 44 July/August (Fairclough Homes v Summers [2012] UKSC 26 and striking out for abuse of process)

'Passing the buck', Procurement and Outsourcing Journal (2012) No 6 May / June 2012 (non-delegable duties of care)

'Burden and standard of proof: cash for crash', Personal Injury Law Journal (2012) No 105 May 2012 (burden and standard of proof in fraudulent claims)

'Paying the price for leasehold disputes', Solicitors Journal Vol 156 No 16 (24 April 2012)

'Look before you leap', Commercial Litigation Journal (2011) No 40 November / December 2011 (on the law of the assumption of risk)

'Playing with Fire: meeting suspicious claims head-on', Commercial Litigation Journal (2011) No 38 July / August 2011

'Telling a tall story', Butterworths Civil Costs Newsletter, June 2011, p5 (costs implications of fraudulent claims)

'My big fat fraudulent claim', New Law Journal, 29 April 2011, vol 161 No 7463, pp573-4

Forthcoming article on Wrotham Park damages in the Commercial Litigation Journal

David is a regular contributor to PI Brief Update. He also edits and writes extensively for 4KBW’s Civil and Property newsletters.

Seminars and conferences

David regularly presents seminars and conferences to solicitors and barristers. In December 2011 and in December 2012 he spoke at the CLT conference on fraudulent and fictitious personal injury claims. He also presented LawNet’s personal injury update conference. He will be speaking at CLT’s conference on Damages and other Remedies, as well as at SJ Live in May 2013.

David has prepared and presented seminars on fraudulent claims, the MIB, recovering rent arrears and the new Family Procedure Rules. He is always happy to give SRA accredited talks to solicitors and other professionals.

Education, qualifications and awards

2005 Called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn)

2004-5 Inns of Court School of Law, Bar Vocational Course (very competent)

2003-4 City University, Post-graduate diploma in law (commendation)

2002-3 Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, MPhil in Medieval History (distinguished performance)

1999-02 Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, MA (Hons) in History (Part I: First, Part II: 2:1)

2005: Sunley Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

2004: Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

2002: AHRB scholarship in full for MPhil

2001: Edward Lord North Scholarship (Peterhouse)

Professional Memberships

Personal Injury Bar Association;

APIL;

South-Eastern Circuit

Interests / family

David lives in Surbiton with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two sons. David maintains an interest in rowing, legal history (in particular medieval private law of obligations and real property) and football.