Dale Timson

Dale’s property practice covers the full range of real property and landlord and tenant work, from complex multi-track trials to possession, strike out, summary judgment and relief from sanctions hearings. He advises and acts in disputes concerning restrictive covenants, easements (including rights of way and rights of light), boundaries, adverse possession, trespass, nuisance, party walls, unlawful eviction, fraud, harassment and highways, and in both residential and commercial landlord and tenant matters.

He also has a substantial property damage practice, handling complex liability and quantum claims which cut across tort, contract, agency and statute, including the Highways Act 1980, and has particular expertise in claims for uplifts for overheads, often known as thickening claims.

Notable cases

• Al-Chaalan v Abri Group Limited [2026] EWCA Civ 946: Appeared unled before the Court of Appeal in a case involving the court’s powers to set aside a possession order in a case where fraud was alleged. The court provided valuable guidance on contractual service provisions in tenancy agreements, the interaction between such provisions and CPR 6.8, and the approach to applications to set aside possession orders by analogy with CPR 39.3(5).
• National Highways v McMinn [2024]: acting for the defendant’s insurer, obtained permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal on when one company may issue a claim in the name of another. The claimant, who instructed leading counsel, opposed the appeal until the week before the hearing, when it consented to the appeal being allowed.
• Taylor v Savik [2024] EWCC 7, [2024] EW Misc 18 (CC) and [2024] EWCC 10: successfully resisted a trustee in bankruptcy’s claim that a property legally and beneficially owned by his client was in fact held for the bankrupt under a sham arrangement, obtained a stay of the trustee’s claims under sections 339 and 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 at the outset of trial, and secured indemnity costs, pre-judgment interest on costs and a substantial payment on account.
• Marsay v Barclays Bank UK Plc [2023] EWHC 2301 (Comm): struck out a commercial borrower’s claims against the bank. The judgment reviews the duties owed by banks and receivers where a sale at an undervalue is alleged and where goods are left at a repossessed property.
• Hastings Borough Council v Turner [2021] UKUT 258 (LC): acted for the respondent in the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). The decision gives important guidance on the FTT’s approach to rehearing a licence application, the burden of proof, and the weight to be given to the housing authority’s decision.
• Obtained over £150,000 in occupation rent for a claimant at a multi-track trial, defeating a counterclaim alleging a constructive trust.
• Led by James Aldridge KC in possession proceedings concerning arrears of over £23m, settled on favourable terms.
• Successfully opposed a commercial lease renewal for a landlord at a multi-track trial under section 30(1)(g) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
• Acted for the beneficiaries at a multi-track trial on the interpretation of a will concerning the disposal of a property.
• Acted for a tenant in a multi-track claim for unlawful forfeiture. The court allowed the claim, made damning findings against the landlord, and awarded the tenant substantial damages and costs.

Dale acts for individuals and large corporate entities in the Commercial Court and Circuit Commercial Courts across the full range of business disputes, including breach of contract, debt recovery, consumer rights, guarantees and indemnities, letters of credit, sale of goods and transfer of title, supply of services, bailment, force majeure and frustration, and the construction and effect of contractual terms. He is regularly instructed where injunctive relief is sought and is always willing to provide urgent advice and representation.

Notable cases

• Recently instructed (led by Stephen Davies KC), in a claim alleging breach of fiduciary duty and deceit by members of a joint venture, together with professional negligence claims against the client’s former solicitors. Claim settled pre-trial.
• Re IAHP Group Holdings Ltd; Bucknall v Rizvi [2025] EWHC 2069 (Ch): acting for the liquidators, led by Stephen Davies KC, obtained a proprietary injunction and a worldwide freezing order for over £5m before Mellor J.
• Leggett v American International Group UK Ltd [2025] EWHC 278 (Comm): acted for 41 claimants in the latest chapter of the Giambrone litigation arising from the failed Jewel of the Sea development in southern Italy. The case concerned the trial of a preliminary issue on whether AIG, the professional indemnity insurer of Giambrone Law LLP, was liable under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 to indemnify claimants holding a judgment for over £3m.
• Plummer v Friedlander [2023] EWHC 3241 (Ch): obtained a General Civil Restraint Order for the maximum permitted duration of three years. The decision clarifies the matters relevant to whether a Civil Restraint Order should be made.
• Halborg v Apple (UK) Ltd & O2 Holdings Ltd [2022]: the most authoritative judgment on the rights of solicitor’s agents, referred to in Bar Council guidance and reported in Legal Futures, Legal Cheek and Nearly Legal.
• Shahzad v Mazher (Queen’s Proctor Intervening) [2020] EWCA Civ 1740: successfully argued in the Court of Appeal, as sole counsel, that where fraud went only to the court’s jurisdiction to grant a petition, and not its jurisdiction to entertain it, the decrees should not be set aside.
• Following hearings before Sweeting J and Freedman J, set aside an unless order made for non-compliance with disclosure obligations under a worldwide freezing injunction, in a claim worth over £1m concerning loan agreements for a factoring business.
• Succeeded at trial in the Birmingham Circuit Commercial Court in establishing that a contract existed, which was denied, and that the dispute had not been settled, which was the defendant’s alternative case.
• Resisted a summary judgment application brought by a firm of solicitors facing a claim for unpaid insurance premiums.
• Extensively advising a cryptocurrency reward debit card provider on its terms and conditions.

Dale has a busy insolvency practice acting for officeholders, directors, creditors and companies in distress. His corporate work includes misfeasance, fraudulent and wrongful trading, unlawful dividends, applications to extend administrations, and applications restraining the presentation or advertisement of winding up petitions. His personal insolvency work includes bankruptcy, insolvency administration orders of deceased estates, transactions at an undervalue, and the rescission, annulment and setting aside of statutory demands.

Notable cases

• Currently instructed in a number of complex claims, acting both for liquidators and for former directors, concerning alleged breaches of duty, misfeasance, impugned transactions and unlawful dividends.
• Re Alba Insulation [2026] EWHC 832 (Ch): acting for a proving creditor, successfully resisted an application to extend time under rule 14.8 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 to challenge the admission of a proof of debt exceeding £1m.
• Re IAHP Group Holdings Ltd; Bucknall v Rizvi [2025] EWHC 2069 (Ch). The judgment is a useful reminder of the principles governing an insolvency officeholder’s cross-undertaking in damages, and an example of the court accepting a limited undertaking.
• Official Receiver v Sanders & AXA Insurance Plc [2024] EWHC 3591 (Ch): instructed by the Government Legal Department for the Official Receiver, drafted the appeal and appeared before Leech J. The appeal was allowed and the first respondent was refused permission to appeal. The case concerned a stay of bankruptcy and its effect on the automatic discharge period.
• Taylor v Savik [2024] EWCC 7, [2024] EW Misc 18 (CC) and [2024] EWCC 10: The case at [2024] EW Misc 18 (CC) is the first reported decision on the interplay between sections 339 and 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and section 419 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• Re Shahi Tandoori Restaurant [2021] EWHC 337 (Ch): three-day High Court trial acting for a former director in a liquidator’s claim under sections 212 and 234 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Successfully argued that the company’s loss had not been properly quantified and that reliance on an HMRC investigation was insufficient.
• Advised and represented a German bank in applications to annul bankruptcy orders obtained in England and Wales by German nationals engaged in bankruptcy tourism.
• Advising a former director facing a claim alleging wrongful reuse of a company name.
• Advising a former director on restrictions entered against his property following a settlement with the company’s liquidator, including issues of limitation.

Dale acts for lenders and financiers as well as corporate and individual borrowers in disputes involving mortgages, charges, guarantees, facility agreements and LPA receivership.

Notable cases

• Currently acting for mortgagees in a number of complex, high value claims raising issues of assignment, limitation and the enforceability of the mortgages.
• Currently acting for a defendant in a possession claim where the enforceability of the mortgage is challenged under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
• Successfully acted at trial for a long-term savings and retirement business in a possession claim concerning a lifetime mortgage, defended on limitation and on the lender’s ability to evidence the chain of assignments.
• Successfully acted for a bank on appeal against the strike out of a possession claim against an estate, where it was said the claim form had not been properly signed by a legal representative.
• Marsay v Barclays Bank UK Plc [2023] EWHC 2301 (Comm): struck out a commercial borrower’s claims against the bank. The judgment reviews the duties owed by banks and receivers where a sale at an undervalue is alleged and where goods are left at a repossessed property.
• Advising a borrower on whether a significant loan was unenforceable for breach of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
• Advising on the enforceability of a business purposes mortgage secured against residential property.

Dale regularly acts for clients on a Direct Public Access basis, meaning clients may instruct him without a solicitor. He is also authorised to conduct litigation and will accept instructions to do so in suitable cases, where agreed in advance and recorded in the client care letter. The Bar Standards Board’s guide to instructing a barrister under the public access scheme is available here.

Dale is transparent and upfront about costs. Potential clients may contact Dale or his clerks for a quotation, providing sufficient information at the outset, including the names of the parties, so that conflict checks can be carried out.

Most Direct Public Access work is undertaken for a fixed fee agreed in advance, for example a fixed fee for considering the papers and advising in conference or in writing, or for preparing for and attending a hearing. Fixed fees are calculated by reference to Dale’s hourly rate, which is £350 plus VAT per hour (£420 including VAT) as at August 2026. By way of example, work estimated at five hours would be quoted at £1,750 plus VAT (£2,100 including VAT).

Once Dale has seen the relevant papers and understands the case and the services required, the proposed fee will be set out in writing. All fees are subject to VAT where applicable. If the fee is agreed in principle, a client care letter setting out the conditions of the instruction will be provided before any work begins. Timescales depend principally on Dale’s existing professional commitments and will always be agreed in advance and recorded in the client care letter.