David Mohyuddin QC

Call: 1999 | Silk: 2016

Queen's Counsel

David Mohyuddin’s practice in Silk covers general commercial litigation matters, corporate and personal insolvency, company law, fraud and asset recovery, banking and claims brought against professionals.

Described as ‘technically excellent’ he is ‘fantastic to work with’ and ‘very aware of the practical and commercial context of his advice.’ He is popular with clients as he is ‘easy to get on with and takes a very collaborative approach, which is refreshing for a silk.’ He recognises the practical and commercial problems faced by his clients and the need to achieve the speedy and cost-effective resolution of their legal disputes, whether consensually, at trial or by way of interim application. A ‘silk who gets his hands dirty’ and a ‘star performer,’ he is just as comfortable in multi-day trials in complex and high-value claims as he is making urgent applications (whether by way of freezing or other order, having significant experience of making applications without notice and the responsibilities that arise) and advising those already involved in or contemplating becoming involved in litigation.

INSOLVENCY

A ‘renowned insolvency barrister’ who is ‘technically excellent’ with over 20 years’ specialist insolvency experience, David was amongst the first of his generation to be appointed Queen’s Counsel.

In Silk, he has maintained his extensive and highly-regarded practice covering all aspects of insolvency and insolvency-related litigation. David acts for office-holders (including dealing with professional negligence type claims against them) and those subject to and affected by insolvency proceedings in whatever type of regime. He has vast experience of appearing on routine, controversial and urgent applications and of advising on complex and technical matters arising in the conduct of insolvencies. He is popular with his clients, who describe him as ‘extremely user-friendly’ and ‘clever, authoritative and willing to buy into the case and be part of the team.’

Recent examples of David’s work include:

advising defendant directors faced with claims alleging breach of duties and dishonesty
advising administrators with regard to the true construction of documents imposing obligations on the company and with regard to the impact on the distribution of funds to creditors
advising an IVA provider about its standard terms
advising and representing an administrator and those who appointed him in response to a challenge to the validity of his appointment
advising Guernsey liquidators about the true meaning of a document and its impact on the outcome of the liquidation
advising and representing defendants to a liquidator’s claim alleging a £14m fraud including dealing with assertions of de facto and shadow directorships; freezing injunctions, security for costs and committal applications
an administration order application brought by a peer-to-peer lender
defending a £2m claim brought by a liquidator alleging breach of directors’ duties when entering into employee benefit trusts
advising on the true construction of purported fixed charges in the context of a proposed administration of a group of companies
contested recovery actions in both corporate and personal insolvency. For example, David successfully defended a company director accused of wrongful trading where the liquidator sought to recover more than £2m (Nicholson v Fielding, 2017) and represented the trustee in bankruptcy in the only reported case on the recovery of excessive pension contributions in bankruptcy (Stanley v Wilson [2017] BPIR 227);
advising one of the stakeholders in the insolvency of a trading company owned in the Isle of Man with regard to the interface between Isle of Man and English insolvency law;
advising and representing the English administrators of a Cypriot company with regard to the exit route from administration;
advising former fixed charge receivers as to the recovery of their fees.

Having been Junior Counsel to the Crown from 2007 until his appointment to Silk, David has vast experience of work for the Secretary of State and the Official Receiver with particular emphasis on public interest and directors disqualification. He advised and represented the Official Receiver throughout the liquidation of Sahaviriya Steel Industries (UK) Limited, which operated the Redcar Steelworks. That work included making the first application under the then very recently reframed Insolvency Act 1986, section 233 [2015] EWHC 2877 (Ch) and advising on all aspects of the liquidation.

In 2017, David became the General Editor of Schaw Miller and Bailey on Personal Insolvency. He is a regular speaker at R3 seminars.

RECOGNITION

“David is a pleasure to work with. He quickly gets to the heart of complex issues and provides sound and clear strategic advice. He is also a reassuringly thorough and tenacious advocate.” Company and Insolvency, Legal 500 Regional Bar 2021)
“Good communicator; client friendly; practical; gets to the core issues quickly; go-to choice for large cases and has never let me down.” (Commercial Litigation, Legal 500 Regional Bar 2021)
“Very bright and a great team player. He is very personable and gets the right balance between being aggressive but also pragmatic and sensible when needed.” “David is fantastic to work with – on top of being technically excellent he is extremely user-friendly and very quickly builds up a great rapport with clients.” “Technically sound and very aware of the practical and commercial context of his advice.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He produces good skeleton arguments.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He sets a position out very clearly and his advocacy is excellent in court. He is easy to get on with and takes a very collaborative approach, which is refreshing for a silk.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“Technically excellent in his advice while providing a commercial focus.” “My go-to: very considered, calm and easy to work with.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“A relatively young silk who’s highly knowledgeable and a good choice if you need some aggression to be injected into a case.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“David is fantastic to work with – on top of being technically excellent, he is extremely user-friendly and very quickly builds up a great rapport with clients.” “He is extremely personable, bright and gets to the heart of issues very quickly.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He’s very down to earth and happy to take calls at any time.” “He’s very useful as he gets you over any initial hurdles you might have.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He’s extremely bright, but at the same time has the ability to engage with clients.” “He’s absolutely fantastic – he’s a real team player.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is clever, authoritative and willing to buy into the case and be part of the team.” “Extremely precise in court.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is very forensic and analytical in his approach and his arguments are very well put together.” “A very personable type and he is good on his feet.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He’s very well prepared and his papers are immaculate – he thinks outside the box.” “He’s excellent, very proactive, bright, tactical and frankly very cost-effective.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“Decisive and thorough, he displays an intricate knowledge of the law and applies it brilliantly.” “An excellent strategist.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“A renowned insolvency barrister with a strong reputation in the adjacent field of commercial chancery.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He has the gift of being able to condense an argument where others would be overly verbose. His skeleton arguments are always spot-on and to the point and he has a very persuasive advocacy style.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“Proficient senior junior adept in a variety of commercial and insolvency work, including commercial fraud matters. Assists with high-value cases of legal importance, including Court of Appeal briefs.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He has in-depth knowledge. He is also very straightforward and very down-to-earth.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“Really user-friendly. He rolls up his sleeves, gets involved and is prepared to put his neck on the line and back his judgement, which he always comes through on.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is decisive and thorough, he displays intricate legal knowledge and he crafts the perfect legal strategy for the client.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is at the top of our list for instructing.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is always very thorough and well prepared, and he is fantastic on his feet. He is a match for any insolvency barrister on the Northern Circuit.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“He is superb on his feet, very bright and highly recommended for commercial matters.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“A real expert in insolvency matters.” (Chambers and Partners UK)
“A silk who gets his hands dirty.” (The Legal 500)
“A forceful advocate with a great client manner.” (The Legal 500)
“A star performer.” (The Legal 500)
“An extremely capable and forceful advocate.” (The Legal 500)
“Tactically excellent; he is liked and respected by clients.” (The Legal 500)