Clare Mackay

Clare Mackay

An experienced commercial disputes lawyer, with particular expertise in urgent injunctions.
Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team
Senior Associate
St.Albans
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EXPERTISE

Previously working for a City of London law firm gave me an excellent foundation in litigation and dispute resolution, something I’m delighted to have built on over the last 12 years of my career.

I bring extensive experience to contract disputes, including construction of terms, allegations of breach and misrepresentation. I also regularly provide companies with commercially astute advice prior to the termination of agreements, so that this step can be taken knowing the implications and the risks.

I also advise individuals, and have particular experience in professional negligence claims, predominantly against solicitors. I also regularly advise on probate and inheritance disputes.

I have a particular interest in education law, where I advise schools and universities on sensitive issues including withdrawals and exclusions of pupils, bullying, discrimination and the recovery of unpaid fees. My education work also includes advice to parents on issues such as appeals against school admissions and pupil exclusions.

I also regularly write articles on a range of matters for the media and the SA Law website – you can read some of them here.

KEY EXPERIENCE

Commercial litigation

  • Extensive experience of litigation in the High Court, County Court and LCIA arbitration, often with an international element
  • Expertise in urgent injunction applications including to protect confidential information, enforce restrictive covenants and to freeze assets
  • Keen advocate of mediation as an effective way to resolve disputes
  • Represented international technology company in multi jurisdiction LCIA arbitration arising out of termination of distribution agreement for repudiatory breach and defending counterclaim based on tort of inducing/procuring breach of contract
  • Acted for City recruitment consultancy in injunction proceedings to restrain breach of restrictive covenants and misuse of confidential information, where the preservation of confidentiality of the data was business critical to the operation of our client
  • Acted for major lighting company in urgent without notice application for a freezing order to preserve assets and related fraud claim against former employee, securing a full recovery of all monies taken
  • Defended claim for payments alleged to be due under a long term contract which involved complex issues of contract interpretation
  • Acted in acrimonious shareholder dispute in the health and wellbeing sector (including claims for unfair prejudice under section 459 Companies Act and for the company to be wound up on the ground that it would be just and equitable to do so)
  • Professional negligence claim against a firm of solicitors arising out of the sale of a business
  • Acted for one of the big name banks in a reported 8 week High Court trial on the issue of whether the bank could appoint a receiver
  • Acted for an international client in a complex agency dispute where funds were misappropriated by the alleged agent
  • Acted for the liquidators of BCCI, obtaining numerous freezing orders and recovering misappropriated funds from several jurisdictions
  • Defended criminal proceedings brought against a national service provider under consumer protection legislation
  • Acted on a reported 4 week High Court trial on a misrepresentation case arising from the sale of antiques valued at £2million.

Contentious probate

  • Regularly advises beneficiaries, personal representatives and disappointed family members on a variety of probate related disputes.
  • Extensive experience of claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 (acting for Claimants, Defendants and Personal Representatives)
  • Challenges to wills based on testamentary capacity; knowledge and approval of will; duress and undue influence; and forged signatures
  • Advice on obtaining information from personal representatives and applications to remove from office.
  • Acted for beneficiary in multi jurisdiction case which involves complex questions on the interpretation of terms of a will
  • Represented respondent in fiercely contested proceedings in the Court of Protection concerning the identity of persons to be appointed as deputy.

Education law

  • School admission appeals for oversubscribed secondary and primary schools, including in year appeals following divorce, house move or issues at previous school
  • School exclusion appeals – both in the state and the independent sector
  • Complaints, particularly in relation to bullying, discrimination and SEN provision
  • Regulatory issues – successfully defended a teacher in professional misconduct proceedings, getting the Teaching Regulatory Agency to withdraw all allegations
  • Successfully defended a university in a 5 day race discrimination claim.

IN GENERAL

  • Qualified in 1998
  • Trained and worked at Pinsent Curtis (now Pinsent Masons) 1996-2001
  • Solicitor at Lawrence Graham (now WLG Gowlings) 2001-2008
  • Joined SA Law in 2008
  • LLB Law degree - University of Birmingham
  • Legal Practice Course - Nottingham Law School
  • Won annual Law Society Award for achieving highest Legal Practice Course score
  • Won Birmingham Law Society Gold Medal for Legal Practice Course results
  • Recognised as a “Rising Star” in the Legal 500 2019/2020; 2020/2021; 2021/2022; and 2022/2023
  • Individually ranked in the Chambers and Partners 2022/2023
  • Was a Governor at Crabtree Infants School in Harpenden for 4 years
  • Trustee and member of the Parochial Church Council, St Helen’s Church (2016 to 2022)
  • Speaks conversational French
  • Member of SA Law's Wellbeing committee
  • Mental Health First Aid Champion
  • Mentor – University of Hertfordshire careers mentoring programme

When not at work, Clare enjoys travelling to new places with her family and being outside surrounded by nature.

SA Law Commercial Litigation Dispute Resolution pencils
Views & Insights
Scanning the Horizon: Areas Ripe for Dispute in 2023

Clare Mackay and Simon Walsh discuss the areas where disputes are most likely to arise for SMEs in 2023.

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New Litigation Solicitor Joins SA Law’s Growing Commercial Services Team

SA Law is pleased to share the news that we have appointed a new commercial litigation & dispute resolution solicitor to further increase the breadth…

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Legal 500 2022 - rising star
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Fraud Alert - Beware the Bogus Bailiff (Again)

I wrote this article in late 2018 and am revisiting it because the ‘bailiff scam’ is still a problem.An opponent called me this week to find…

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Delays, excuses, and termination of contracts

When suppliers fail to meet their obligations, contract terms hold the key to your options

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Will and probate disputes - FAQs

A helpful guide to common contentious probate will dispute questions.

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Clare managed to give me this great confidence and trust that really brought closure to my case
Chambers & Partners
Legal 500 - Top Tier 2021
SA Law Wills trusts and probate red leaves
Views & Insights
On what grounds can I challenge the validity of a will?

There are a number of arguments that you may be able to run to challenge the validity of a will, which are mainly:The will has not been properly executed…

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"My Favourite career moment is a 3 week trial involving more legal issues than a contract law exam and a total of 8 expert witnesses."
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Making a claim against a will

What if I am left nothing or very little under the will or the intestacy rules?

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"I chose law because of a faulty walkman that put me on a consumer rights warpath!"
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Forged will allegations in a £35m estate

Clare Mackay and Amy Riddick consider the implications of a recent case where the authenticity of a will was questioned

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Mental capacity and COVID-19 vaccinations

What is mental capacity and how does it affect the coronavirus vaccination roll-out?

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30 day challenge in aid of Refuge

Two SA Law teams complete the Junior Lawyer Divisions' 30 day team challenge to walk or run 500 miles to raise funds for Refuge, totalling 1163.19 miles!

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SA Law celebrates outstanding Legal 500 result

SA Law continue to be applauded for commitment, technical abilities and excellence in client care in the 2021 Legal 500.

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Congratulations to SA Law’s newly promoted team members

We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Simon Walsh to Partner, Clare Mackay to Senior Associate and Victoria Thomson to Associate.

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"If I wasn’t a lawyer I’d be a florist"
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The increase in probate disputes

Under what circumstances can families contest a will if they believe they should be entitled to some or more of an estate?

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Mackay: accounting black holes and hands in the till

Ways to take action against a fraudulent director and the legal options from personal claims to s463 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

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Fraud alert - Beware the bogus bailiff

Our In-House legal services team give guidance on how to protect yourself against 'bogus' bailiffs.

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Essay mills row: how to treat a student cheat

SA Law Litigation & Education Solicitor Clare Mackay comments on the plagiarism debate faced by UK universities in The Times.

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Pilot could ease disclosure burden

Clare Mackay, associate at SA Law, comments in The Law Society Gazette on whether the new disclosure rules will impact litigation cases.

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Caught between a "Rock" and a hard place

Clare Mackay, Associate at SA Law, examines a case where the Supreme Court upheld that non-oral modification clauses are effective. She gives her takeaway…

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Contact Clare Mackay

Use this form to contact Clare Mackay directly with details of your enquiry. It costs nothing to make an enquiry and it is entirely confidential.

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Message
Clare Mackay's level of service has been excellent. she is very customer and solution focused. All queries receive quick attention and a fast response, and her communication is excellent.
Legal 500
Commentators highlight Clare Mackay for her precision and efficiency as a litigator. She regularly acts for corporate entities in commercial litigation, and is also described as a "very dependable pair of hands" for work involving individual clients. 
Chambers & Partners
I have been working with Clare Mackay a lot recently on one of our claims and I have to report that we have found her a real pleasure to work with – very responsive, thorough in her advice and extremely pragmatic.
CEO of Charity/Not for Profit Organisation