Rachel Lane

During pupillage, Rachel was exposed to and assisted on a wide range of private client matters, including by:

• Assisting Josh Lewison by drafting a mediation position statement in a claim arising out of a disputed posthumous variation to a will.
• Attending a consequentials hearing with Josh Lewison regarding an application to remove the executors of two interrelated estates.
• Shadowing Kate Selway KC in an application for a trial to held on the written evidence which concerned a fraudulently obtained Grant of Probate.
• Drafting a Letter Before Action challenging the validity of a will on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity, want of knowledge and approval, and undue influence.
• Preparing a written response to a summons issued under Rule 44 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, in which it was argued that the caveat procedure had been misused.
• Attending a hearing with Dan Thorpe concerning an application to approve a compromise in a will dispute involving a minor beneficiary.
• Drafting an opinion advising executors on the enforcement of a US judgment against an estate and the distribution of UK-based assets.

Rachel has been exposed to a variety of trust matters, including:

• Shadowing James Morgan KC, Josh Lewison and Marcus Flavin in the Court of Appeal case of FS Capital Limited & Ors v Alan Adams & Ors [2025] EWCA Civ 53, which concerned the sale of assets from Jersey trusts to a private company and raised the question of whether the exercise of a power for an improper purpose is void or merely voidable.
• Drafting an opinion on the rights of an excluded beneficiary to obtain trust documents and the merits of a potential claim for breach of trust.
• Preparing a skeleton argument and attending a hearing with Josh Lewison in an application under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, brought by a minor seeking to vary a will trust for inheritance tax purposes.

Throughout pupillage, Rachel had gained experience across the spectrum of property law, for instance by:

• Drafting Particulars of Claim for possession of residential property situated on farmland, coupled with an injunction to restrain unlawful entry and use, and seeking a declaration as to the dissolution of a farming partnership.
• Preparing a Reply and Defence to a Counterclaim raising issues of proprietary estoppel, common intention constructive trusts and resulting trusts.
• Shadowing Amber Turner in applications for a vesting order under section 44(ii)(c) of the Trustee Act 1925 in respect of a dissolved company’s interest in two leasehold properties, and for a charging order over property following the non-payment of a judgment debt.
• Shadowing Olivia Wilson in a directions hearing concerning a contested commercial lease renewal.

Rachel regularly appears as sole counsel in the High Court representing both creditors and debtors in winding up petitions, and has successfully secured a bankruptcy order in the County Court.

Rachel has a strong grounding in contentious insolvency work, underpinned by experience gained during pupillage on a wide range of restructuring and insolvency matters, including:

• Assisting Adam Deacock in Pagden v Fry [2025] EWHC 2316 (Ch), a two-day preliminary hearing before Mr Justice Thompsell concerning the extent to which liquidators can limit their personal liability for breaches of duty whilst in office.
• Drafting a skeleton argument and shadowing Martin Ouwehand in a contested application to set aside a statutory demand where the debtor’s mental capacity was in issue.
• Preparing a Defence to resist claims under ss.216 and 217 IA 1986 which alleged the use of a prohibited name and sought to impose personal liability on a director for a company’s debts.
• Shadowing Dawn McCambley in resisting an application to set aside default judgment in a money claim concerning issues such as misrepresentation, duress and unjust enrichment, where the applicant was found to have been bankrupt at the relevant time.
• Shadowing Reuben Comiskey in a successful application to suspend the automatic discharge of a bankrupt, which included cross-examination of the debtor on his alleged non-compliance with statutory duties owed to his trustees in bankruptcy.
• Drafting a skeleton argument for joint administrators which sought directions under paragraph 63 of Schedule B1 IA 1986 and leave to declare a first and final dividend under paragraph 65(3).
• Drafting skeleton arguments in support of applications for Administration Orders and attending numerous hearings for the extension of such Orders.
• Preparing an opinion on whether a constructive trust had arisen over funds held by an insolvent company, together with written submissions on the resulting costs position.

Rachel has a range of experience in high-value company and commercial disputes. Her pupillage work included:

• Shadowing Andrew Brown in CNG Ltd v Zog Energy Ltd [2025] EWJC 86 (Ch). The decision marked the first judicial consideration of whether time continues to run for limitation purposes in a modern (post-Enterprise Act 2002) administration.
• Shadowing Andrew Brown in a trial addressing serious breaches of fiduciary duty by directors, arising from the improper investment of pension funds by a corporate pension trustee.
• Drafting a Defence in a complex multi-party dispute alleging fraudulent misrepresentation, deceit and unlawful means conspiracy in the context of a contractual relationship.

Examples of civil fraud matters that Rachel has been involved in during pupillage include:

• Assisting Josh Lewison in a high-profile civil fraud and estates matter, involving the approval of a funding arrangement and resisting a cross-application to remove a personal representative appointed under r. 19.12 of the CPR.

Rachel has been instructed in a variety of professional liability matters across different contexts. Recent experiences include:

• Advising disappointed beneficiaries on the prospects of pursuing a negligence claim against professional will drafters.
• Advising on a potential negligence claim against solicitors arising from their handling of divorce proceedings, and subsequently drafting a Defence challenging their bills on the basis that they did not constitute valid Statute Bills.

During pupillage, Rachel also shadowed Nathan Wells in a high-value White v Jones claim, concerning allegations that negligent advice and will drafting had resulted in a will failing to reflect the deceased’s true testamentary intentions.

Rachel has gained experience in a range of injunction applications, including:

• Shadowing Natalie Pratt in an application for an injunction against persons unknown relating to an encampment outside the offices of the ECHR, which raised sensitive issues given that many of the protestors were believed to be minors.
• Attending a hearing with Jonathan Edwards in which proprietary and freezing injunctions were sought after trustees had failed to account for assets that were the subject of an ongoing claim under the 1975 Act.
• Shadowing Dawn McCambley on the variation of a worldwide freezing order to ensure that the respondent’s joint trustees in bankruptcy could carry out their duties and exercise their statutory powers.

• BVS – Distinction – City, University of London (September 2023 – April 2024)
• BA Law – Double First Class – The University of Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College (October 2019 – June 2022)

• Barstow Scholarship – City, University of London (2024)
• Academic Excellence Scholarship – City, University of London (2023)
• Princess Royal Scholarship – Inner Temple (2023)
• Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Award – Inner Temple (2023)
• Sir William McNair Prize for Law – Gonville and Caius College Cambridge (2020 & 2022)
• Senior Scholarship – Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (2021)
• Winner, Fledglings Quadrant Chambers Moot – The University of Cambridge (2020)
• Winner, Sir William McNair Moot – Gonville and Caius College Cambridge (2020)

• £39 (2023) (Audible, National Theatre London)
• Fiduciary Duties (2022) (Cambridge Per Incuriam)
• Protecting Migrants under Article 8: Destined to Disappoint? (2022) (Pembroke Law Journal)

• Read Rachel’s Privacy Notice, Data Protection Policy and Disposal Policy.