Colin Andress (2002)

Colin Andress (2002)

MA (Oxon) MSc FRAS London
Membership Status: Barrister - Full Member Called in 2002 Public Access Accredited BSB Guidance for Public Access
Bar Standards Board - Regulating Barristers
Barristers in England and Wales are regulated by the Bar Standards Board

Profile

General Information

Colin Andress is a civil practitioner, specialising in chancery, property, IP and public law. He practises from 218 Strand in London.

Areas of Practice

Property & Land Use:

All matters relating to disputes concerning real and personal property and land use including:

  • Sale and purchase of land
  • Conveyancing and land registration
  • Overage agreements
  • Mortgages
  • Compulsory purchase 
  • Boundary disputes
  • Adverse possession
  • Covenants, easements, public and private rights of way, commons, village greens and other customary rights
  • Bona vacantia and escheat
  • Planning and highways
  • Construction and engineering
  • Residential, commercial and agricultural landlord and tenant
  • Leasehold enfranchisement
  • Trespass and nuisance
  • Possession claims
  • Access disputes
  • Damage to property
  • Agricultural and environmental law.

Recent experience includes a claim for damage by a low-flying helicopter, advice on drainage rights, planning inquiries into wind farms and a £1.2 billion highways project, and cases on prescriptive rights of way and constructive trusts.

Colin is particularly interested in some of the more academic and historical aspects of English property law: as a pupil, he worked on the leading House of Lord’s case on chancel repairs, Parochial Church Council of Aston Cantlow v Wallbank [2003] 1 AC 546, and while working for the Treasury Solicitor he became an expert on the law of bona vacantia and escheat, particularly as it applies to dissolved companies and failed trusts. He has also drafted a conveyance of an advowson, to advise on whether certain land granted to a borough corporation by a Charter of King John in 1206 is common land or held on a charitable trust, and to advise on the interpretation of nineteenth-century Acts of Parliament concerning the ownership of the bed of the River Thames as between the Crown and the Corporation of the City of London.

Traditional & Commercial Chancery:

Traditional chancery work includes all matters concerning settlements and trusts; trusts of land, constructive trusts, charities, probate, construction and rectification of wills, intestacy, family provision, Court of Protection work and private international law.

Commercial work includes:

  • Banking and financial services
  • Competition law
  • Personal and corporate insolvency
  • Partnership and company law
  • Injunctions and other equitable remedies
  • Fraud, conspiracy, mistake and misrepresentation
  • Tracing and restitution
  • Professional negligence
  • General contract and commercial litigation.

Colin’s experience has included a £50,000,000 claim for misrepresentation, recovery of money embezzled by an employee and claims of constructive trusts over a pension fund. He has regularly been instructed to appear in bankruptcy and corporate insolvency matters in the High Court and County Court.

Intellectual Property, IT & Media Law:

  • Copyright
  • Performance rights
  • Trademarks
  • Passing off
  • Unfair competition
  • Patents, design rights and registered designs
  • Database rights, Internet domain names, computer and Internet law,
  • Defamation, breach of confidence and privacy
  • Data protection and freedom of information.

Colin was a member of the Government Legal Service’s Intellectual Property Working Group for five years, and for three years was the lead lawyer on IP matters in the Treasury Solicitor’s Commercial & Property Litigation Team. His cases have included: patents for computer software and electronic surveillance equipment; infringement of copyright and database right in electronic nautical charts; musical copyright and recording contracts; trademark infringement and domain name abuse; advising on domain name disputes under the Nominet, WIPO and EURid procedures; defamation and harassment of a Revenue officer on a former pop star’s blog; and advice on contracts for a personal appearance by an A-list Hollywood film star.

Public Law & Human Rights:

  • Public and administrative law
  • Civil liberties and human rights including judicial review
  • Public procurement, data protection and freedom of information
  • Actions against the police, inquests and public inquiries and public international law.

As a former government lawyer Colin is well versed in the principles of public law, and his experience includes a judicial review of a sale of land under the Crichel Down Rules, public procurement issues on IT contracts and overseas development projects, and advising on the jurisdiction and powers of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. He has advised government bodies ranging from the Highways Agency to the Ministry of Defence and from the Department for Education to the Prime Minister's Office. He has also acted for Claimants in judicial reviews against bodies ranging from the Independent Police Complaints Commission to the General Medical Council.

Background

After pupillage in chambers in the Temple, he spent six years as an in-house lawyer at the Treasury Solicitor’s Department. In July 2008 he was the first employed barrister to be accepted as a full member of the Chancery Bar Association. He returned to private practice in 2010.

Before coming to the Bar, he worked as a supermarket manager after leaving school, before taking A levels at evening classes. He read ‘Greats’ (classics and philosophy) at Oxford as a mature student before taking the Diploma in Law part-time while working as a clerk to the Employment Tribunal and later as a case officer in the UK Central Authority for Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters at the Home Office. His commitment to life-long learning continues as in 2014 he obtained a degree in physics with the Open University, gaining a First, and recently completed a Master's in astrophysics (with Distinction) at the Queen Mary University of London in his (very little) spare time.

Qualifications:

  • Magdalen College, Oxford: BA (Hons) Literae Humaniores 1998, MA 2002
  • The College of Law, London: Postgraduate Diploma in Law 2001
  • Inns of Court School of Law: Bar Vocational Course 2002
  • The Open University: BSc (Hons) Physics 2014 (first class)
  • Queen Mary University of London: MSc Astrophysics 2017 (distinction)

Memberships:

  • Chancery Bar Association
  • Elected member of the General Council of the Bar 2005 - 2020, serving on numerous Bar Council committees, including the Ethics Committee and Legal Services Committee.
  • Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

 

Areas of Law

Colin Andress (2002) is happy to accept instructions as counsel who is:

  • Business & Commercial Law
  • Land & Property
  • Intellectual Property
  • Costs
  • Professional Negligence
  • Construction inc Adjudication
  • Wills & Probate
  • Public & Administrative Law
  • Personal Injury
  • Land & Property
  • Public Access Accredited
  • Business & Commercial Law
  • Credit Hire Specialists
  • Road Traffic
  • Credit Hire (Defendant Insurance Team)
  • Consumer Rights Act
  • Planning and Infrastructure
  • Employment
  • Tax
  • Commercial Arbitration & ADR inc Adjudication
  • Inheritance Act Claims
  • Court of Protection
  • International Law
  • Personal Injury
  • Business & Commercial Law
  • Consumer Rights Act
  • Land & Property
  • Admiralty Law
  • Elder Law

Outside of these key areas of law, Colin Andress (2002) is always willing to consider any enquiry requiring the experience or knowledge needed to help you or your client. Please call Colin direct or the support team on 01823 247 247 if you would like to discuss any aspect of this profile.

Cases and Publications

Reported Cases:

Durowoju v Independent Police Complaints Commission [2013] EWHC 837 (Admin), [2013] All ER (D) 211 (Apr)

Russell v Ager (2016) Lawtel LTLPI 27/5/16 Doc no AM0202913

Fees and Feedback

FEES:

Details regarding our approach to fees can be found at the following link:  http://www.clerksroom.com/content-html?cid=514

SERVICES:

Please see “profile” tab for a description of the legal services provided by this barrister.

We aim to complete and return all paperwork within 14 days (2 weeks) of receipt if no specific deadline is provided. We can work to much faster timescales if requested or we can agree a specific target date for each individual circumstance. We will always advise at the outset if counsel is unable to meet any deadline.

Each barrister has a standard hourly rate for their work. The individual hourly rate can be agreed when instructions are acknowledged if preferred. We welcome early discussion as to the suitability of a specific barrister for a specific case. The right barrister will have the relevant expertise to deal with the case but will not be too junior, or too senior depending on the complexities.

We aim to allocate all cases to the correct level of experience & seniority which we believe will prove most to be the most cost-effective solution for our clients.

If, due to urgency, we allocate paperwork to a more senior member of Clerksroom, we will charge the appropriate hourly rate for the work, not for the barrister. We welcome early discussion to ensure the correct fee is applied to the case at the outset.

REDRESS:

All our barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and hold a current practising certificate, details can be found at the following link Barristers’ Register

Complaints information

If you are not satisfied with the service provided, you can make a complaint to Chambers. Information on the chambers’ complaints procedure is available at the following link: http://www.clerksroom.com/content-html?cid=416

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from my chambers, you can make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. You must contact the Legal Ombudsman either within 6 months following the conclusion of our handling your complaint, within 6 years from the date of the act/omission, or 3 years from the date that you should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint (if the act/omission took place before the 6 October 2010 or was more than six years ago).

The Legal Ombudsman’s details are as follows:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Privacy Notice

1.              This is a privacy notice that describes how, why and for how long I will process or keep your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’).

2.              The GDPR governs how an individual’s personal data is used, and your rights in relation to that data.

3.              I, Colin Andress (2002), have been instructed by you or your litigation friend (usually a parent), through your solicitor or agent, or via the Bar Pro Bono Unit.

4.              It is necessary for me to process your personal data in order for me to provide you with legal services, for example:

·   Advise on the prospects of litigation;

·   Advise on the value of your claim;

·   Representation at a court hearing;

·   Representation at trial;

·   Advise, review or comment on legal issues or evidence.

5.              Processing means anything done to data such as: recording, organising, adapting, altering, copying, consulting, transmitting, combining, erasing or storing it.

6.              The processing for the purposes listed above will take place in accordance with either Article 6(1)(a) GDPR or Article 6(1)(b) GDPR, depending on how you instructed me.

7.              If you have instructed me on a direct access basis, or engaged a solicitor (or legal agent), to assist you in bringing or defending a claim then the processing is necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). To give effect to that contract (i.e. to bring a claim) it is necessary for me to process your personal data for litigation purposes.

8.              If I am assisting you on a pro bono basis, it will be necessary for me to seek your consent to be able to represent you (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). In this scenario, you will be sent a consent form.

Recipients of your data

9.              I may also be required to share your data with others, depending on the nature of your case. This may include:

(i)                  Courts and other tribunals to whom documents are presented;

(ii)                Your solicitors, or agent representing you, through whom I have been instructed;

(iii)               Potential witnesses, experts and other persons involved in the case;

(iv)               Solicitors, barristers, or other legal representatives;

(v)                Ombudsman and regulatory authorities;

(vi)               Education and examining bodies; and

(vii)             Current, past or prospective employers.

Special Categories of Data

10.          In some cases I will have been given your personal data that is within the ‘special categories’ of data described in GDPR Article 9(1). For example, personal data that reveals your race, ethnicity, sexual preferences, political or religious beliefs, trade union membership or health. There are also restrictions for processing information regarding criminal convictions.

11.          This type of personal data will only be processed where it is necessary in order to represent you in your legal claim, or advise on the prospects of a legal claim.

Retention

12.          I will retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary, and where it is possible, I will anonymise your data.

13.          How long your personal data is kept will depend on a number of factors. The retention period will be reviewed when the service I am providing you with is complete. However in general, I am obliged by the Bar Code of Conduct to retain records of my cases, and by HM Revenue and Customs to retain records for 6 years.

14.          Once your case has concluded and fees have been paid, I shall retain only the personal data necessary for the following purposes:

(i)                  The legal and professional obligation to retain information relating to my cases;

(ii)                To check for any potential conflict of interests that may arise in the future when I am instructed on other cases;

(iii)               For use in the defence of potential complaints, legal proceedings or fee disputes;

(iv)               To refer back to in future cases which raise similar legal, factual, or procedural issues.

15.          The processing for the purposes listed in paragraph 14 (ii), (iii), and (iv) above, will take place in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. That is, for the purposes of legitimate interests that are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms.

16.          The processing for the purposes listed in paragraph 14(i) above, will take place in accordance with Article 6(1)(c) GDPR. That is, the processing is necessary for me to comply with a legal obligation. 

Your Rights

17.          Where processing of your personal data was based on your consent (see paragraphs 6 and 8) you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

18.          Withdrawal of your consent to process such data will most likely mean that I am no longer able to provide you with the legal services you seek.

19.          You may request confirmation that your personal data is being processed by me and details about the personal data, the source, the processing, the purposes of the processing, the recipients and the retention period.

20.          You may request a copy of your personal data that is being processed by me. You may also request rectification (i.e. correction) where there are inaccuracies in the personal data.

21.          You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time, to processing of your personal data in paragraph 14 of this privacy notice. Should you object, the processing will only continue where there are compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your fundamental rights, freedoms and interests. 

22.          Where the processing or retention of your data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, it will not be possible to object. 

23.          You have the right to request that your personal data is erased where any of the following apply:

(i)                  The personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;

(ii)                You withdraw your consent where the basis of processing was based on consent and where there is no other ground for the processing;

(iii)               Where your fundamental rights, freedoms and interests override the legitimate interests of processing in paragraph 14;

(iv)               The personal data has been unlawfully processed; or

(v)                The personal data have to be erased to comply with a legal obligation.

24.          You have the right to request that your personal data is restricted from processing, so that it is simply stored, for the following reasons: as an alternative to deletion; so that it can be corrected; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; to verify if a legitimate ground exists (paragraph 14).

25.          Where it is necessary to correct your personal data, or you have requested the restriction or erasure of your personal data, I shall endeavour to contact the recipients of the personal data, unless this involves disproportionate effort. 

Security

26.          I take appropriate physical and technical procedures to safeguard your personal data to prevent it from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way. The I.T. systems used by Clerksroom are ISO27001 compliant.

Complaints or Queries

27.          If you have any questions regarding this privacy notice, or how I use your personal data please email me: [email protected], or my clerks: mail@clerksroom telephone 01823 247 247.

28.          I shall aim to respond as soon as possible, and within 30 days.

29.          You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe I have not handled your request in an appropriate manner. For information on contacting the ICO please go to: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Testimonials

Testimonials

Can't find what you are looking for or prefer to talk?

Barristers: 01823 247 247 Mediators: 01823 704 099