Expertise

Colin is a commercial litigator specialising in banking and finance litigation. He regularly advises banks, loan funds and other financial institutions on recoveries, enforcement and insolvency.

Prior to joining the firm, Colin gained experience working in the banking sector. He also benefits from having spent six months on secondment to Lloyds Banking Group, where he worked alongside relationship managers in the bank's Business Support Unit providing restructuring and enforcement advice in relation to business lending.

Colin often appears on behalf of clients in the Sheriff Courts and has instructed Counsel in a range of finance litigation cases in the Court of Session and the High Court in London. He has pursued a number of cases on the contractual interpretation of banking documentation and has defended conduct allegations raised against lenders and other financial institutions.

Colin's experience includes:

• Acted for the defender in a multi-million pound claim for payment under the 2002 Form ISDA Master Agreement and Schedule. A three day trial was held in the High Court in London on the contractual interpretation of standard form ISDA documentation as applicable to interest rate swaps. 
• Acted for a loan fund in pursuing repayment in the Court of Session under lending facilities that had been acquired by our client from a large bank. The defender alleged that the bank had unlawfully operated a current account so as to trigger the default under the loan agreement.
• Acted for a bank in pursuing a significant professional negligence claim against surveyors in respect of negligent property valuations. The matter was settled for a substantial sum following mediation in Edinburgh.
• Acted for a lender in a multi-million pound claim in the Court of Session for payment under a number of loan facility agreements. The borrower alleged that the bank had breached the terms of an overarching agreement between the parties and therefore could not seek repayment. The dispute is focussed on the question of what terms are implied into agreements between banks and borrowers as a matter of law.
• Acted for a lender in defending a damages claim raised by borrowers for losses allegedly suffered in the company’s property portfolio as a result of the bank's conduct. The case is cross-border, involving proceedings in both Scotland and England.