Christopher Boardman KC
Call: 1995 (England and Wales); 2018 (SVG); 2021 (BVI) | Silk: 2020
King's Counsel
Chris is a leading company and commercial KC, who is known as an astute strategist, strong advocate and valued team player. He has long been sought after as an expert in complex insolvency and fraud disputes, and has an established general commercial and banking litigation practice in silk. Much of his work raises international issues and conflict of law disputes. Chris has extensive experience in multi-national and disciplinary teams, and enjoys working with closely with professional and lay clients to understand their objectives and achieve the best possible outcome. He is called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (BVI and SVG).
Clients interviewed by the legal directories describe Chris as “one of the brightest barristers we have encountered” and “definitely someone you want on your side in a difficult fight” (Chambers UK Bar 2020). He is ranked for his commercial, banking and insolvency practices, and is consistently singled out for the quality of his advocacy and strategic insight, as well as for his approachability and unflappable nature.
Chris is fast establishing himself as a leading barrister for commercial litigation, with a particular specialism in cases involving allegations of fraud and financial wrongdoing. He is frequently instructed in cases involving multiple jurisdictions and complex corporate structures. His experience in company and insolvency disputes makes him exceptionally well-placed to advise on tracing, enforcement and asset recovery issues. He has extensive experience obtaining interim remedies, including freezing and proprietary injunctions, search and disclosure orders, the appointment of interim receivers and, where appropriate, provisional liquidators.
Chris’ recent work includes bringing a £12 million professional negligence claim against a fund manager, defending an accountancy firm against a multi-million claim for negligent misstatement and acting for a former bank employee in a £36 million conspiracy claim.
Chris worked in derivatives before becoming a barrister, so he understands the issues faced by financial institutions and their advisers. Chris acts regularly for banks and borrowers in international finance and secured lending disputes. He has particular expertise in security instruments, including asset mortgages and company charges. He offers wide-ranging experience including of crypto-currencies, international payments, commodities and guarantees.
Recently, Chris has acted for Lloyds Bank in a claim under an asset finance indemnity, for Credit Suisse in a foreign currency mortgage mis-selling claim, and for Brown Shipley and KBL in a £68 million breach of duty and conspiracy claim.
Chris has an established reputation as a leading advocate and adviser in the area of company law. He has appeared in numerous minority shareholder, unfair prejudice and equitable winding-up trials. He is a trusted adviser in cases as diverse as articles of association, meetings, resolutions and shareholder agreements. He offers particular experience in wrongful trading, director misfeasance and unlawful dividend claims.
Recently, Chris defended a £15 million double-derivative action brought by the beneficiary shareholders of an international trust company, acted for nine loan note holders seeking a declaration that a resolution restructuring £40 million of loan notes was valid and defended a £1.5 million claim for breach of fiduciary duty by the administrators of a china and glass trading company.
Chris’ expertise in the field of insolvency law has long been recognised. He is regularly instructed in difficult corporate rescues, wrongful trading and asset recovery cases. His experience extends to all aspects of insolvency from voluntary arrangements to liquidations and bankruptcies. Chris has acted in numerous of high-profile cases both domestically and internationally.
He recently acted for two funds being wound-up in the Isle of Man bringing a £15 million claim against their former manager, made an application for the appointment of administrators over a group of companies engaged in cryptocurrency trading, and represented the liquidators of six companies in a pay day lending group in applications challenging the validity of their appointment.
Chris is consistently recommended as a leading insolvency junior and a leading chancery commercial junior by Chambers UK Bar. He is also recommended for commercial litigation, insolvency, and banking and finance by The Legal 500 UK Bar. The directories highlight:
- “Christopher is excellent at strategy and is able to pick out the key issues in a case from the outset. His drafting is excellent and is able to get the right balance in presenting a case. His advocacy is second to none and he has grown into the role of leading counsel seamlessly.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024)
- “Really excels at planning a case and applying lateral thinking to it. He comes up with solutions where others may not find them.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “Christopher assesses the key issues in a case from the outset and then expertly marshals the evidence and manages the expectations of the client. Drafting wise, he’s very good and his skeleton arguments always impress. In court he’s really on top of the case law and has a very good manner before judges. He understands the particular judge he’s in front of and the style of advocacy they like.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “He is a good litigator and very effective on his feet. We use him for our most difficult cases.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “Christopher is an excellent advocate with a commanding presence.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “He is really on top of the case law and also has a very good manner before judges.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “He is excellent for strategy and has excellent judgement as well as being a fantastic advocate who is able to determine the key issues at an early stage.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2024)
- “A clever strategist who is commercially very savvy.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2023)
- “Chris has a very sharp and incisive mind. He also has excellent advocacy skills and is always a bright and reassuring influence.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023)
- “He is very tenacious, practical and has great authority when he is on his feet.”, “A fierce opponent who is well respected and well liked.” and “A tough, robust and experienced litigator.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2022)
- “He is very robust in court, and is very clear in his arguments.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2022)
- “Simply excellent, he really gets his arms around a matter and takes it forward with real passion and vigour.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022)
- “A very strong silk who provides crystal clear advice and is highly commercial.” (Commercial Litigation, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022)
- “Extremely strong silk, excellent to work with, crystal clear advice.” (Banking and Finance, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022)
- “A tenacious litigator who is brilliant in insolvency and shareholder disputes.” “He is exceptional on his feet and very commercial – he sees the bigger picture and is focused on strategy. He is well known and respected by other barristers and judges.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2021)
- “An expert in insolvency – he’s commercially very savvy, a clever strategist and an extremely effective advocate.” “He is exceptional on his feet. He’s practical, commercial and can see the bigger picture.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2021)
- “He is extremely good.” (Commercial Litigation, Legal 500 UK Bar 2021)
- “His experience and knowledge is second-to-none.” (Insolvency and Banking and Finance, Legal 500 UK Bar 2021)
- “A very approachable barrister who always has a clear strategy on cases from the outset.” (Banking and Finance, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020)
- “Aggressive yet cordial on his feet, which gives clients confidence that he is presenting their case in the best way possible.” (Commercial Litigation, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020)
- “A very clever and creative thinker; good on his feet but also user-friendly.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020)
- “He is a confident, aggressive and accomplished advocate with a great mind. He’s definitely someone you want on your side in a difficult fight.” “He is an incredible fighter and is listened to in court.” “He provides sound, commercial advice.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2020)
- “One of the brightest barristers we have encountered.” “He’s a go-to, he’s excellent. He’s great on strategy and a great advocate.” (Commercial Chancery, Chambers UK Bar 2020)
- “He is technically excellent and commercially pragmatic, excellent on his feet and a man you definitely want on your side in a dogfight.” “He has excellent attention to detail and very good advocacy skills. He is comparable with any silk.” “He is very user-friendly and practical but also very bright and well prepared.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2019)
- “A very experienced practitioner and a brilliant cross-examiner.” “He is very personable and an effective cross-examiner.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2019)
- “A very clever and creative thinker.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2019)
- “A self-assured advocate with real courtroom presence.” (Commercial Litigation, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2019)
- “Excellent at assessing the mood of the tribunal and able to adapt himself accordingly.” (Banking and Finance, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2019)
- “Chris is an excellent, hands-on and practical barrister. He balances the technical with the commercial.” “He has a superb courtroom presence, strategic vision and an impressive articulate courtroom style.” “He is confident, aggressive and accomplished advocate who has a great mind, he’s someone you want on your side in a difficult fight.” (Restructuring/Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2018)
- “A very heavyweight litigator, who gets a lot of big work, and he is very widely respected.” “He has a very good eye for crafting the argument that is going to win you the case.” (Chancery: Commercial, Chambers UK Bar 2018)
- “A problem-solver, who is impressive on his feet.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2017)
- “Good tactically and completely unflappable.” (Commercial Litigation, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2017)
- “A problem solver, who is user-friendly and impressive on his feet.” (Banking and Finance, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2017)
- “He’s very on the ball with his advice and is an excellent advocate. He has a calm and convincing manner, even in the trickiest of cases.” (Restructuring/ Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2017)
- “He is someone you want on your side in a difficult fight.” (Restructuring/ Insolvency, Chambers UK Bar 2017)
- “He’s really excellent – a proper advocate who knows his way around the courtroom and is great at trial.” (Chancery: Commercial,Chambers UK Bar 2017)
- “Fantastic – good tactically and completely unflappable.” (Banking and Finance, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2016)
- He is “An outstanding advocate and the right person to have on your side in a difficult fight.” (Insolvency, The Legal 500 UK Bar 2016)
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