Expertise

David has acted on numerous high-profile tax cases before the courts and Tax Tribunals. In addition to his vast experience in HMRC litigation, David acts in high profile group actions involving professional negligence and mis-selling and other tax-related commercial litigation.

In addition to David’s substantial tax practice, David has acted in numerous public law cases, many arising from his tax client base. These have included two judicial review challenges which proceeded to the Supreme Court (Prudential and Davies & James / Gaines-Cooper), and one to the Court of Appeal (Shiner). David also acted in the States of Jersey’s judicial review against the UK government, widely covered in the media at the time.

Experience

• Lead the Ingenious Litigation, acting for 360 claimants on claims arising from investments in various tax-efficient investment vehicles focused on films and video games. The case was listed in the Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2018 and 2022.
• Supervising partner for numerous other actions, including the Eclipse litigation and McLean v Thornhill case.
• Running the Prudential privilege litigation from the High Court to Supreme Court
• Acting in the Littlewoods compound interest litigation before the High Court
• Conducting the Stamp Taxes Group Litigation Order for the claimants
• Acting for a number of FTSE100 companies in the FII and dividend Group Litigation Orders
• Acting in the residency judicial review Davies and James/Gaines-Cooper, which also reached the Supreme Court

Recognition

• Chambers says “David is a highly effective litigator who combines in-depth experience of the tax and financial services sectors with first-class litigation skills.”” Sources describe him as “a highly effective litigator who combines in-depth experience of the tax and financial services sectors with first-class litigation skills.”
• The Legal 500 ranks David in Contentious Tax, Professional Negligence (leading individual) and Group actions.  He is described as “very client-friendly, responsive and knowledgeable”.
• David is Top Recommended by the Spear’s guide to the best tax lawyers for his working acting for families, businesses and large corporates.

Career

David joined Stewarts as a partner in 2014 to establish the Tax Litigation and Resolution department having spent 10 years as a tax litigation lawyer at PwC Legal.

Publications and Media

David has been quoted in the Financial Times and The Times in relation to proceedings brought by him acting on behalf of investors against Ingenious Media. He has also written extensively for specialist publications including Tax Journal.