Annual contentious insolvency and restructuring case-law update

Isabel has a broad commercial chancery practice, with particular expertise in the fields of Property, Insolvency and Commercial litigation. She is recognised in the legal directories as a leading junior in all three of these fields. Recent comments include:

• Legal 500, 2025: “She is a formidable advocate who is dedicated to her clients and cases. She is razor-sharp and incredibly user-friendly.”
• Chambers UK, 2025: “Isabel is fantastic in both real estate and insolvency work. She is an outstanding advocate who is extremely persuasive on her feet.”
• Chambers UK, 2025: “Isabel is an excellent, user-friendly, very switched-on barrister.”
• Legal 500, 2024: “A real star performer – a safe pair of hands who understands the wider commercial objectives.”
• Chambers UK, 2023: “She is charismatic and commercially minded.”
• Chambers UK, 2022: “She is totally on it and gets to the heart of the matter quickly. She is a good all-rounder, gets on well with clients and has a commercial approach.”
• Legal 500, 2022: “ She is proactive and to the point. Nothing is too much trouble.”
• Chambers UK, 2021:“A talented junior who will turn her hand to anything.”

Isabel has considerable experience of high profile, complex and long running litigation. Notable recent and ongoing work includes:

• Isabel is currently instructed by the Secretary of State for Business & Trade in relation to director disqualification proceedings against Alexander (Lex) Greensill, former CEO of the Greensill Group (led by David Mohyuddin KC)
• Isabel was instructed by the successful Defendants in South Bank Hotel Management Company Limited v Galliard Hotels & Ors [2024] EWHC 2484 (Ch). The matter concerned allegations of fraud and wrongdoing in relation to a central London property development and culminated in a 3-week trial in 2024 (led by Simon McLoughlin and Nicholas Trompeter KC)
• Isabel acted as sole counsel for a German property investment fund, Patrizia, in parallel proceedings against Liberty Commodities Ltd (part of the GFG Alliance, owned by Sanjeev Gupta). She successfully obtained a declaration that a high value commercial lease had not been forfeited in NPS (40GP) Limited v Liberty Commodities Ltd [2023] EWHC 2137 (Ch). and also successfully obtained carriage of a winding-up petition at a contested multi-party substitution application in Liberty Commodities Ltd v Citibank NA London & Others [2023] EWHC 2020 (Ch).
• For much of 2022 and 2023 Isabel acted for the Secretary of State for Business & Trade in disqualification proceedings against the former directors of Carillion plc (led by Mark Cunningham KC and David Mohyuddin KC). The collapse of the Carillion Group was the largest corporate trading insolvency in UK history and these were the most complex directors disqualification proceedings ever brought by the Insolvency Service. The claim concerned false accounting in relation to five construction contracts and two outsourcing transactions and resulted in the executive directors of Carillion plc undertaking not to act as directors for a combined period of over 30 years. The case was identified as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases for 2023

Between 2017 to 2023 Isabel was appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown. During that period, she represented the Government in a range of company, insolvency and property-related disputes.