CASE EXPERIENCE

We do not simply advise on freezing orders. We have fought them — in the Court of Appeal, in the Commercial Court and across borders.


The cases below represent a selection of our reported and significant experience in freezing order proceedings.

4VVV Ltd and Others v Spence and Others

[2022] EWCA Civ 500 | [2024] EWHC 2434 (Comm)


Simon Burn Solicitors acted for defendants in long-running Commercial Court fraud litigation brought by 435 claimants arising from a multi-million pound property investment scheme. Worldwide freezing orders in excess of £49.5 million were obtained against our clients at the outset of the proceedings.


The trial of ten lead cases was heard by Mr Justice Foxton in the Commercial Court over ten weeks from April to June 2024. We instructed Matthew Collings KC, Tim Calland and Rowena Page of counsel for the defendants. At the conclusion of a 171-page approved judgment, Mr Justice Foxton said:

I would like to conclude by thanking both legal teams and all counsel for their exemplary presentation of a complex case. All counsel made significant contributions to the oral as well as the written advocacy. Despite the considerable distress which Mr Kewley's and Mr Spence's deceptive business practices have caused to the investors, the case was conducted throughout in a co-operative and professional manner, something which is very much to the credit of all of the lawyers involved."

Mr Justice Foxton, paragraph 660


Mr Justice Foxton also recorded at paragraph 6 that the claimant witnesses' evidence had been tested "in cross-examination which was sensitively conducted by Mr Collings KC and Ms Page in a manner which avoided adding insult to injury, making this one of the many occasions where courtesy and a good strategy aligned in commercial litigation."

Poulton Family Trust — Cayman Islands Grand Court

FSD 121 of 2016 (Cayman Islands Grand Court)


We acted in complex trust litigation in the Cayman Islands Grand Court. Our role included obtaining UK freezing orders in support of the Cayman proceedings and co-ordinating with Cayman Islands counsel throughout.

This matter demonstrates our capability in cross-border freezing order work — an area requiring not only technical expertise in English freezing order law but also the ability to manage multi-jurisdictional proceedings and work effectively with foreign lawyers.

Freezing Orders in Context —

Further Experience

We have experience of litigation serious cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court:

Manolete Partners Plc v Ellis [2020] EWHC 1674 (Ch)


We acted for the respondent in a High Court wrongful trading and preference claim brought by Manolete Partners, instructing Michael Green QC (as he then was) — in what proved to be his final case at the Bar before his elevation to the High Court Bench. The headline wrongful trading claim of over £6.5 million was dismissed in its entirety.

TBD (Owen Holland) Ltd v Simons and Others [2020] EWCA Civ 1182


A Court of Appeal matter involving search order proceedings — closely related to freezing order jurisdiction — in which the Court of Appeal gave important guidance on the proper scope of search and imaging orders and the safeguards required for respondents. This case made a significant change in the law.

MSerafin v Malkiewicz [2020] UKSC 23


We instructed leading counsel in the UK Supreme Court. Simon Burn Solicitors (Cheltenham) instructed Adrienne Page KC of 5RB for the successful party.

A Note on Our Approach

We are a specialist boutique. We do not handle high volumes of routine litigation. We take on complex, high-value matters where our expertise makes a real difference — and we give those matters the senior-level attention they require. When we instruct counsel, we instruct at the level the case demands — including King's Counsel in the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

To discuss your matter, call 01242 228444
or email simon.burn@simonburn.com