Colin Andress (2002) MA (Oxon) MSc FRAS

Membership Status: Barrister - Full Member

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

Memberships:

 

Feedback

“Colin provided a new insight into the case which helped to win it and dealt with an elderly client and extremely obstructive opponent with great skill and care."”

James Couzens, Partner Parrott & Coales LLP

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

Colin Andress (2002)

phone01823 247 247

andress@clerksroom.com

Qualified in 2002