Fiona Todd - Trinity Chambers

Bank Holiday Opening Hours

Chambers will be closed from 5pm on Friday 23 May and will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 27 May.
For urgent enquiries, call 0191 245 0170.

EXPERTISE

Fiona has a busy commercial chancery practice focussed on property, contentious probate, insolvency and commercial disputes. She has particular interests in succession involving international elements, insolvent estates and property insolvency.

With a wealth of experience, Fiona is a skilled advocate who frequently stands as sole counsel in the High Court, County Courts and the First-Tier Tribunal.

Fiona provides pragmatic and strategic legal guidance. Her clientele ranges from banks, professionals and corporations to local authorities and individuals navigating litigation for the first time.

Fiona’s current and recent case load includes:

Acting in a high profile contentious probate claim in the High Court involving issues of domicile, Belgian and Russian laws of succession and validity of a will.
Representing and advising in various neighbour disputes, including a right of way dispute over a former farm property and a boundary dispute which turned on the application of the hedge and ditch presumption.
Representing and advising the former owners of a veterinary practice on a £2m claim relying on various instances of breach of an SPA.
Successfully obtaining summary judgment on behalf of a company which brought a fraud claim against a former employee.
Representing administrators in the context of seeking Berkeley Applegate relief and an extension of the period of administration.

Property

Fiona has experience in a number of areas of in real property including easements, adverse possession, boundary disputes, land registration, nuisance, trusts of land and co-ownership issues, and landlord and tenant work.

Fiona particularly enjoys property insolvency work, including issues of forfeiture and insolvent tenants, and disclaimer.

Examples of her recent work include:

Successfully acting for a service charge company in a complex service charge dispute against a litigant in person in the First-tier Tribunal.
Acting for the Applicant in an on-going adverse possession application in the First-tier Tribunal in circumstances where the Respondent died during the proceedings.
Advising and drafting a defence in a neighbour dispute arising out of flooding and encroachment
Successfully acting for and advising a lender in a possession claim where the Defendants were relying on securitisation as a defence.
Advising a social club in relation to interference with their parking easement by a supermarket.
Successfully representing a property owner in a nuisance claim arising out of Japanese knotweed.

Wills, Trusts & Probate

Fiona has established an impressive probate practice. She is well-versed in Inheritance Act claims, the construction and rectification of wills, the validity of wills, and removal of personal representatives. In addition, she has a particular interest in disputes involving issues of domicile and international succession.

Examples of Fiona’s recent work include:

Acting in the Morina v Scherbakova litigation. This was a trial before Mrs Justice Bacon in the High Court spanning 3 weeks. The dispute concerned the estate, estimated at a value of £100 million, of Vladimir Scherbakov, a Russian businessman who died in Belgium in 2017. The issues included the domicile of the deceased, the applicable laws of succession governing his worldwide moveable estate (Russian, English or Belgium), the validity and revocation of a will dated October 2015 and the suppression of the original copy of that will by the deceased’s ex-wife and adult children.
Representing executors who sought a declaration from the High Court on the construction of a will which left a substantial sum to either a political party or a charity.
Providing an opinion on settlement for the court in connection with an infant approval.
Advising on whether inter vivos gifts made by the deceased were challengeable by reason of lack of capacity or undue influence.

Insolvency

Fiona acts for and against liquidators, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers and administrators in connection with a wide range of insolvency matters. She regularly appears as sole counsel at trials and applications, but equally has a busy paper practice.

Fiona has substantial experience of winding up proceedings, including injunctions to restrain presentation/advertisement of petitions, recission of winding up orders and disputed debts. Her in-depth familiarity with local court practices proves invaluable to her clients, particularly in cases requiring swift action.

In addition, Fiona is well-versed in bankruptcy proceedings, including applications to set aside statutory demands and annulments.

She has experience at appellate level, recently dealing with an appeal against the dismissal of a bankruptcy petition in circumstances where the District Judge had failed to apply the correct test as to whether there was a genuine triable issue of duress.

Fiona also has particular expertise in the insolvent estates of deceased persons.

Examples of her recent work include:

A successful application by an administrative receiver to defer the date of dissolution of a company where the office holder was in negotiations with a Dutch trustee regarding dividends due from a number of SPVs.
Advising Joint Liquidators on the validity of their appointment in light of section 318 of the Companies Act 2006.
Successfully obtaining an order for possession and sale of a bankrupt’s property where the Respondents contended the property was held on trust.
Advising on an alleged set-off said to arise in respect of debts and dealings between the company and a former director.

Commercial

Fiona acts in a broad range of commercial disputes where her pragmatism and commercial approach are particularly valued by her clients. Particular areas of emphasis include contractual disputes of all kinds ranging from building disputes to unjust enrichment claims, sale of goods and consumer credit.

Recent examples of Fiona’s work include:

Obtaining summary judgment against a former employee accused of fraudulently diverting company funds to her own accounts.
Acting for the successful Claimants in a 3 day trial for delivery up of goods under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
Drafting particulars of claim in a dispute arising from the installation of a renewable heating system under the Domestic Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2014.
Advising and successfully representing Defendants in a claim for specific performance of a contract of sale where the Claimant had applied for default judgment and the Defendants made a cross application for relief from sanction.
Drafting proceedings for a local authority seeking an Enforcement Order under the Enterprise Act 2002 in respect of a local hotel.
Advising in a potential claim under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

PUBLICATIONS

Contributor to Bailey and Groves: Corporate Insolvency 2024

MEMBERSHIPS

Chancery Bar Association
Property Bar Association
ConTrA
Women in Property (and mentor under mentorship scheme)

EDUCATION

Law (LLB) Hons, University of Edinburgh: 2007 – 2011 (including Erasmus year at Université de Toulouse)
Graduate Diploma in Law: 2012 – 2013
Bar Professional Training Course (Outstanding): 2013 – 2014