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Barney Laurence

Commercial Litigation and Disputes Lawyer

+44 (0) 845 257 9449
Contact Barney

Contact Barney

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Barney Laurence is a senior commercial litigator with over 23 years’ experience advising businesses and individuals on high-value and complex disputes. He is particularly noted for his commercially focused, decisive approach and is frequently instructed on a repeat basis by longstanding clients, as well as by clients referred through existing relationships.

Although a broad-based commercial disputes practitioner, Barney has a well-established niche in the recruitment and franchising sectors. His practice includes business protection and injunction work involving restrictive covenants and confidential information, freezing injunctions and associated litigation, franchising disputes, civil fraud and debt-related matters. He is often instructed in matters where clients require early strategic advice and decisive action to protect business-critical interests.

The majority of Barney’s work involves High Court and Commercial Court proceedings, as well as mediation and arbitration. He has significant experience of complex and urgent applications and has acted in a number of high-profile cases at appellate level, including matters before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Barney Laurence has been for the past six years been consistently, highly-rated in the legal directories, including the Legal 500 (where he has been ranked “Next Generation Partner” for the last six years) and Chambers & Partners. Noted most recently as “excellent, extremely professional and able to easily explain complex legal concepts in a straightforward manner.”; “standout Partner with a winning track record”; he “takes the stress off me, allowing me to focus on the rest of my business”.

 

Barney's Experience

  • Countrywide Estate Agents Ltd (t/a John D Wood & Co) v Marchant & others [2025] EWHC 2654 (KB)
    High Court injunction proceedings concerning breaches of post-termination restrictive covenants and misuse of confidential information by former employees and a newly-established competing estate agency. The court upheld the enforceability of the covenants, rejected arguments of unreasonable restraint and financial hardship, and granted interim injunctive relief.
  • Coltech Recruitment Limited & 1st PS Limited v Cera Care Limited [2024] EWHC 466 (KB)
    High Court litigation concerning the proper identity of the contracting recruitment agency in a disputed recruitment services agreement.
  • Winkworth Franchising Limited v Nicholas Goble [2023] EWHC 2883 (Comm)
    High-value Commercial Court dispute involving one of Winkworth’s largest and longest-established franchisees, concerning renewal rights, termination and compliance obligations under a multi-unit franchise agreement covering prestigious London territories.
  • Winkworth Franchising Limited v Calum Mason & Stilum Properties [2020] EWHC 2634 (QB)
    Urgent High Court proceedings to enforce post-termination restrictive covenants arising out of an estate agency franchise agreement, involving complex issues of restraint of trade and injunctive relief.
  • North of England Coachworks Ltd v Khan [2020] EWHC 1972 (QB)
    High Court proceedings pursuing a former in-house accountant accused of defrauding his employer of approximately £1.2 million.
  • PSG Franchising Limited v Lydia Darby Limited & others [2012] EWHC 3707 (QB)
    Successfully acting for the franchisor in enforcing post-termination restrictive covenants against former franchisees who had established a competing business.
  • TRM Copy Centres (UK) Ltd v Lanwall Services Ltd [2009] UKHL 35
    Acting for TRM in landmark litigation concerning unlawful interference with customer contracts and related Consumer Credit Act issues. Following a successful injunction and High Court trial, Barney successfully defended appeals to the Court of Appeal and House of Lords. The case attracted significant sector-wide attention.
  • A v B (anonymised) (LCIA Arbitration)
    Acting for a well-known international luxury cosmetics company in a multi-million-pound LCIA arbitration arising out of an English law distribution agreement covering Hong Kong, Macau and cross-border trade into China.
  • A v B (anonymised) (Commercial Court)
    High-value and complex Commercial Court fraud proceedings against a former managing director of a well-known international cosmetics business.

Barney Laurence’s two main passions are tennis and house/electronic music. He was a professional DJ for over a decade. He also loves keeping fit but, most importantly, being a dad to his two amazing children.

Testimonials

“Barney has been amazing for us … and I couldn’t recommend him enough.

He managed to help us recover a significant amount of unpaid funds from a client which fundamentally saved the business.

He is a brilliant solicitor and some one I would trust implicitly with any issue my firm has in the future.

Thank you for all your help Barney”

“I had the misfortune of having to undertake a High Court action against Business Partners and Shareholders of a Sales Acceleration company I was involved with. At the time I was daunted by the magnitude of the case and what my business partners were trying to do. Barney of Sherrards went out of his way to make me at ease with what was going on and assured me that we were doing the right thing and had nothing to fear (he even brought a sense of humour into the proceedings to break the intensity). His knowledge of Commercial law and Litigation was outstanding and the Barrister he introduced me too who handled our case emulated his professionalism and ethical stance. I would have no qualms in recommending him for his specialities of Law.”

“We have used Barney on numerous occasions and I’m pleased to say have had a successful outcome in all cases. Barney offers practical advice and offers clarity in what can be emotionally charged circumstances. Barney’s considered judgement and expertise has been invaluable over the years and I recommend his services without reservation.”

“I found Barney to be very supportive and knowledgeable in his area of expertise. Barney certainly puts you at ease when you feel your world is tumbling in on you and I would have no reservations in recommending Barney to anyone looking for a litigation lawyer.”

“We rarely have legal disputes but on the few occasions when we have, Barney has delivered successful outcomes in all instances. He’s professional, ethical and effective. His advice is realistic and based on expert knowledge. I have no hesitation recommending him.”

“I found Barney to be professional, insightful and at all times personable in what was a complicated and very difficult matter. He grasped the content and understood the needs of the case and ourselves very quickly.”

“One of my clients introduced me to Barney to help in one of the most complex photocopier lease cons I have come across. At times even I struggled to understand what had happened with over 20 lease contracts. My client searched for a Solicitor that had experience in this field. Barney was identified and very quickly understood the problems. He set about resolving them. His attention to detail is superb but his greatest quality I believe to be his customer skills and communication. He has empathy but he also has purpose. Fabulous results were achieved and I would highly recommend him.”

Barney's Updates

No Terms, No Matter?

October 18, 2024

No Terms, No Matter?

Barney Laurence is a specialist uk litigation solicitor with expertise  in the area of restrictive covenants in employment contracts. It …

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