A trio of seasoned litigators have teamed up to launch Quillon Law, a specialist commercial disputes-only boutique practice in London. 

The new firm has been founded by former Addleshaw Goddard partner and head of litigation Michael Barnett, who left Addleshaws in July, Mark Gill, who left in 2018, and Mark Hastings, who has joined from another London boutique, Grosvenor Law.

It will focus on partner-led ‘swift and effective’ delivery of legal services in matters related to international commercial and financial markets ‘without the conflicts associated with larger law firms’, according to a statement on Wednesday. 

Quillon Law’s service offering covers commercial and insolvency litigation, banking and financial market disputes, white collar crime and regulatory investigations, commercial fraud and asset tracing and contentious trusts, estates and private wealth disputes. 

The founding partner trio will be supported by a five-strong administrative team and will be based on the perimeter of the Square Mile at 5 Chancery Lane, with ambitions to add more practitioners within their first year of operation. 

Barnett, who spent 15 years as a partner at Addleshaws including seven as head of the firm’s litigation practice, has more than three decades of experience as a litigator, with a leading reputation in the financial markets and complex fraud and international commercial litigation fields. 

Throughout his career, he has worked on several high-profile cases arising out of the 2008 financial crisis, including industry-wide banking scandals, and has won a number of international and domestic cases for clients in the UK High Court, the Court of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice. 

“When crisis strikes and the stakes are high, the immediate threat and accompanying complexities of a major dispute can be challenging for experienced and less experienced clients alike,” Barnett said. “We aim to bring our collective experience to help clients navigate these challenges, providing strategic advice, reassurance and positive action to take control of difficult situations.”

Gill, who began his legal career at legacy Wilde Sapte, now Dentons, joined Addleshaws in 2006 as a partner and head of finance litigation. He represents banking and financial services clients across a wide array of finance litigation matters, including disputes concerning commercial lending and security, payment, fraud and constructive trusts and insolvency, among others. 

Hastings, meanwhile, spent three years as a partner at Mayfair disputes firm Grosvenor Law after moving across from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in 2018. Before that, he spent just over a decade at Addleshaws, including seven years as a partner. He focuses his practice on civil fraud, acting for high-net-worth individuals, major corporates, hedge funds and insolvency practitioners in high-value fraud, asset tracing, contentious trusts, contractual and warranty disputes, among other areas. 

“I am proud to have founded the firm with Michael and Mark; each of us has in common a history of creating high-quality, motivated teams,” Hastings added. 

“Our aims and ambitions for the firm are aligned, in leading from the front, building the teams and tactics designed to succeed in any given case, taking the actions needed to deliver on litigation strategies, and so meet client needs.”