Nathan Goldstein

CIVIL FRAUD

C v C High Court, Mercantile Court Manchester (2014) Acted for the Defendants in an extremely complicated £1m claim by a son against his mother and family accountant for fraud and theft of monies held in an off shore tax haven by his deceased father. Claimant asserted that the monies had been transferred to him and then fraudulently taken from him over 20 years ago.

PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES

C v H: Mercantile Court (2014) Claim concerning a dispute surrounding the breakdown of an agricultural engineering partnership involving complex factual issues.

INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION

Bocal v Union Bank of Nigeria. International Arbitration Centre London (2013) £500million breach of contract claim against the UBN for breach of contract concerning the formation of a new online banking system that was shelved by the bank just before the system was to begin operating commercially.

U Drive (Gibraltar) Ltd Enterprise Insurance PLC High Court (Mercantile Court) 2015 Acted for Claimant in £50m arbitration claim in which Defendants sought to stay proceedings on the basis of “illegality” and absence of valid arbitration clause”.

PROPERTY

Wells v Pilling Parish Council [2008] EWCA 566 (Ch) Rectification of Land Register where adverse possessor had claimed ownership of part of a beach.

Anchor Trust v Majid: Leeds High Court Chancery (2016) An interesting case concerning the application to correct a mistaken entry in the Land Registry where a car park was actually legally owned by two innocent parties who had validly acquired the property.

Smith v Frankland [2015] UKUT 294 (TCC) 29th May 2015. Acted for the Applicant who sought adverse possession of a garage and the land surrounding it. The Lower and Upper Tribunals had to consider the extent and applicability of the “common character of locality” principle.

PROBATE, INHERITANCE & FAMILY PROVISION

Rawstron v Walsh Preston County Court (2012) Acted on behalf of the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, who asserted that he left an oral or nuncupative will, thus seeking to overturn his formal written will.

Re Estate of H: High Court Chancery Division (2015) Claims by estranged wife and infant children for provision out of £2.5 estate. Competing claims by adult children.

PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE

R v Match Solicitors Manchester County Court (2015) Successful and interesting claim against solicitors who acted for a school teacher (former professional rugby player) who had been “sacked” for arranging an overly vigorous rugby rucking exercise. Solicitors had failed to lodge Employment Tribunal within the time limit but solicitors asserted that the claim was bound to fail.

H v J: FSA Ombudsman (2014) Acted in relation to a potential claim for $1million (US) arising out of the failure by a stockbroker to sell shares as instructed when the trigger price for the stock was reached with the share price subsequently collapsing causing an almost total loss of the stock value.

TRUSTS & CHARITIES

Climbers for Cancer (2014) Advised a new cancer charity on the appropriate trust instrument and the trading trust entity with regard to tax efficiency and compliance with charities law.

HOUSING

Etheridge v Shotwick Park Estate: Chester County Court (2002) Acted successfully for the claimant in an interesting disrepair case in which it was argued that bed bugs had infested the tenant’s property, which caused property damage and personal injury. The case turned on whether the bed bugs had originated from African or European Housemartins, as that determined whether the bed bugs had ingressed through the roof or the windows.

COMMERCIAL

Carling v Denman Co-op Bowling Club [2000] NSWSC 352
Appeared successfully at first instance and prepared for appeal (also successful) relating to a claim by player of a “one armed bandit” who won a large sum of money when the machine “malfunctioned” and the club refused to payout. Considerable press coverage.

G v B Ltd: Lancaster County Court 2012
Claim by residents of a mobile home for an injunction and declaration relating to extortionate rise in LPG gas prices by the new park homeowners.

NHBC v Barnes: Preston County Court (2014) Interesting claim by the NHBC for an indemnity for the construction of houses relating to the construction of a single property Scotland enlarging the indemnity to all properties constructed in England. Consideration of Scots contract law.

UNLAWFUL RETENTION OF GOODS

L v C: Lancaster County Court (2011) Successful claim for the return of a classic Mercedes Benz by the “innocent” purchaser from the original owner who had placed the vehicle for sale with a “reputable” dealer who absconded with the money and who had recovered the vehicle whilst the purchaser was working abroad.

E v S Distillers: Advised in relation to a very unusual claim for the return of a large quantity of single malt whisky held in bond by a distillery that had been purchased many years ago by an investor (claimant) from a fraudulent “ancient whisky” company who promised enormous returns but did not pay the for the storage of the whisky that the investor had purchased. The distillery had sold the whisky to pay for the bond charges and the investor was left without his whisky. Claim settled when the distillery offered to replace the lost whisky!

INQUESTS

Inquest of Fae Belle Auld (Newcastle Coroners Court, NSW) 1996
Inquest into the mysterious poisoning death of elderly matriarch where all family members were potential suspects.

REGULATORY & CRIMINAL

R v Renda & Ors [2005] EWCA 2826
Bad character test case involving 6 conjoined appeals. Case concerned the limits of a defence application concerning non-defendants bad character.

DEFRA v CG Neve and Ors: Liverpool Crown Court 2007
Succesfully defended breach of fisheries regulations by major fish supplier. Something of a test case. Curiously the £1m investigation on the Fylde coast resulted in a single prosecution concerning a handful of “illegally” caught sea bass!

R v Hudson, Sharples and others (Preston Crown Court) (2008)
£1.5m multi-handled “damp proof” scam fraud trial lasting 3 months representing the only defendant to be acquitted.

Evans v Gwynedd Council: Carnaerfon Magistrates Court (2013). Acted successfully for small hotel/wedding venue owner who challenged local authority’s licensing restriction preventing them from playing live music at the hotel. Case involved the use of acoustic experts and a consideration of the law of “public nuisance”.