Middle East & North Africa

Matthew Ball is a Partner in our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department with over 25 years of experience advising clients in relation to a wide manner of matters in Appeal, High Court and County Court proceedings.

Matthew’s specialisms include:

• Commercial disputes: Including claims for breach of contract, franchise disputes and debt recovery.
• High Net Worth and UHNW client disputes: Representing UHNW/HNW clients (often from overseas) in relation to business matters and family disputes, being instructed directly by family members or through Family Offices and service providers.
• Property, construction and development disputes: Handling issues relating to property, construction and development, as well as professional negligence claims arising from them.  Matthew is recognised in the ‘Top Tier’ of the Legal 500 for his specialism in construction and infrastructure disputes.
• Disputes between Trustees and Beneficiaries: Including on behalf of professional trustee service providers and Family Offices.
• Partnership, Director and Shareholder disputes: Representing individuals and commercial entities in disputes concerning partnership, directorship and shareholding matters.
• Classic Car, Supercar and high value asset disputes:  Matthew is rated by Spear’s 500 as one of the 6 ‘Top Recommended’ Classic car lawyers in the UK.  Further information can be found on the dedicated webpage.

Matthew is frequently instructed by clients from overseas, particularly the Middle East and North Africa, China and Hong Kong.

Matthew is a longstanding member of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and has been a member of the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce (EBCC) for over 20 years.

Outside of his dispute related work, Matthew is often the first point of contact for clients within the Middle East, North Africa and China seeking to establish businesses interests within the UK, or who are looking for advice on immigration and residency related matters.

A client recently said that Matthew:

“demonstrates outstanding active listening skills and exceptional patience in fully understanding clients’ needs. He is particularly adept at translating complex legal concepts into straightforward, understandable language, making legal matters approachable and clear to clients.”.

Whilst Matthew places particular emphasis on dispute prevention, where disputes do arise he seeks to achieve a cost-effective, commercially-minded resolution by various means, including through tactical offers and strategies, Mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Matthew is very approachable and would be happy to discuss your particular needs with you.

Jerome has considerable experience in property law and associated fields. His aim and driving ambition is to support his clients, many of whom he has advised for many years, by representing their best interests with his determination to find practical commercial solutions to their legal problems. Jerome manages all his caseload and does not assign work to junior or assistant solicitors.

He handles residential and commercial transactions for both new developments and built properties. He has long experience in dealing with purchasers, acquisitions, borrowing advising on developments from site acquisition to ultimate sale. His practice includes the acquisition, loans, collateral securities, disposal, and development of investment portfolios, the acquisition of properties and/or companies holding property portfolios and negotiating and handling joint venture agreements and negotiations in relation to S106 Agreements, CIL negotiations and all planning issues. His wide experience enhances his ability to manage all aspects of real estate work and provides his clients with a one stop service. The aim is always to work in line with a client’s timeline requirements from start to end of a transaction whether expedited or not to keep the client regularly informed, being attentive to client requirements in real time.

He has a world-wide client base including the U.K., Africa, the Middle East , Australia and the Far East and the USA. Jerome has associations with a number of overseas law firms.

His representation of such a diverse client base has enabled him to establish strong contacts with relevant professionals including architects, surveyors, contractors’ lawyers and banks in several countries.