Johnny Brooke

Johnny advises on corporate disputes, including shareholder and banking disputes, cross-border litigation, and breach of contract claims, acting for clients in disputes over royalties, warranties, loans, partnerships, and corporate acquisitions.

• Acted for a US and a UK company against North Sea oil and gas infrastructure owners in a case regarding breach of an obligation to pay royalties.
• Defended a claim from a UK statutory undertaker against a contractor for breach of easement and consequential loss.
• Acted for a household-name client in a claim against it for breach of copyright.
• Acted against an insurance company to force an insurance company to honour an insurance agreement.
• Acted in the recovery of a disputed loan from one corporate entity to another.
• Advised on breach of a partnership agreement by outgoing partners who were leaving to set up in competition.
• Advised a haulage company with regard to its rights and obligations in connection with fleet finance and breach by the finance company of its own terms.
• Advised a UK-based manufacturer over product liability claims.
• Acted in a breach of warranty claim against a computer software and hardware supplier.
• Acted for and advised vendors of companies on purchasers’ breach of agreements.
• Acted for a yacht sales company in a dispute over ownership of a yacht between two former customers.

Johnny advises on professional negligence claims against architects, surveyors, and solicitors, handling project management failures, design defects, conveyancing errors, and regulatory issues in both domestic and commercial property projects.

• Acted in a £2m professional negligence claim against an architect who had negligently designed a specialist roof to a swimming pool complex.
• Acted in a professional negligence case against an uninsured architect with associated professional and regulatory issues.
• Acted in a £1.5m professional negligence claim against a conveyancing solicitor who had failed to carry out the necessary searches in a domestic property purchase and then missed a limitation date.
• Acted in a claim against a surveyor for losses as a result of negligent project management.

Johnny acts on property disputes, including landlord-tenant issues, boundary and title claims, partnership disagreements, nuisance claims, and commercial/residential management company disputes, often involving complex historical documentation or banking arrangements.

• Acted for a commercial landlord to remove sitting commercial tenants.
• Advised an institutional property client in connection with banking contracts following a bank changing its lending criteria and seeking to assert a breach of conditions by the client.
• Acted for an agricultural client in a major nuisance claim by a neighbour.
• Acted in a partnership dispute over title to a city-centre property and breach of a partnership agreement.
• Acted for a private landowner in a boundary dispute with an adjoining landowner, where the inter-property boundary needed to be identified from historical documents.
• Regularly acting for management companies of commercial property and residential blocks when they are in dispute with tenants or other contracting parties.

Johnny advises on construction disputes, including breaches of contract, warranty claims, and valuation disagreements.

• Acted in a dispute between a main contractor and the employing client where there was disagreement over contract terms, breaches of the same, valuation of works and liquidated and unascertained damages claims.
• Obtained an injunction against an adjacent landowner in order to restrain construction works that threatened installations.
• Acted for a developer in a breach of warranty claim with regard to construction of an apartment block.

Johnny acts on commercial disputes (including international arbitration), covering breaches of agreements, warranty claims, banking and finance issues, fleet finance disputes, and recovery of funds in domestic and cross-border contexts.

• Defended a claim brought by a statutory undertaker against a contractor for breach of easement valued at £1.6 million.
• Acted for a large limited company against a computer software and hardware supplier in a breach of warranty claim.
• Acted for and advised vendors of companies on purchasers’ breach of agreements.
• Advised a haulage company with regard to its rights and obligations in connection with fleet finance and breach by the finance company of its own terms.
• Advised an institutional property client in connection with banking contracts following a bank changing its lending criteria and seeking to assert a breach of conditions by the client.
• Advised on recoverability of funds stranded in Libya as a result of the 2011 revolution.
• Provided advice in connection with litigation, arbitration and debt recovery in Libya.
• Acted in a $40m arbitration in the LCIA, where the case concerned a dispute over the terms of a commercial guarantee.

Johnny advises on GDPR compliance, internal procedures and policy drafting, data breaches and responses, data subject access requests, systems analysis, employee compliance, and surveillance and monitoring for UK and international clients.

• Advised UK companies on the implementation of and compliance with the UK and EU GDPR.
• Advised an international company on implementation of and compliance with the UK and EU GDPR.
• Acting for security industry clients where there have been allegations of data breaches by them.
• Handling Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) where they are used as a litigation tactic.
• Advising on issues relating to reputation management where deep-dive due diligence has been done by specialist companies on behalf of sovereign governments, government departments, and national and international corporations.
• Advised on the legal aspects of surveillance and data capture.

Johnny advises on employment disputes, including TUPE and restrictive covenant claims, Employment Tribunal cases, internal disciplinary matters, contract and policy drafting, and negotiating termination of employment for senior staff across multiple sectors.

• Acted for a successor company following corporate insolvency where the workforce asserted a breach of the TUPE Regulations (up to the Court of Appeal – reported case).
• Negotiated the termination of a senior director’s contract of employment from a large family office.
• Advised the CEO of a premiership rugby club on negotiating the terms of his severance.
• Advised companies with regard to termination of contracts of employment of staff for a variety of reasons.
• Acted for a senior police officer in a significant disciplinary case.
• Acted for a new employer where a significant case is being asserted against it under the TUPE Regulations (as far as the Court of Appeal).
• Acted for a new firm of solicitors with regard to an asserted breach of restrictive covenant by their former employers (another firm of solicitors).
• Acted in a range of Employment Tribunal cases following dismissals of all sorts, discrimination and whistleblowing claims.

Johnny advises Middle East clients on inward investment, corporate governance, deregistration of multinationals, contracts, employment and local legal compliance, litigation, and risk management.

• Advised on all aspects of foreign direct investment into Libya, including agency and distribution, shareholder agreements, incorporation, procurement, and employment.
• Advised on Libyan aviation law, including regulatory matters, air traffic control, infrastructure, and international operations.
• Advised both limited companies and individuals as both principal and agent in connection with agency agreements for the supply and distribution of goods across the EU including Italy, France, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
• Advised companies, directors, and shareholders in connection with the rights and obligations of directors and shareholders and the management of companies, including drafting shareholder agreements and supporting documents and drafting memoranda and articles of association.
• Advised companies in connection with supply contracts in connection with supply of IT equipment (both hardware and software), the financing of vehicles, invoice discounting in connection with facilities available for working capital, and employment-related matters.
• Advised directors in connection with the requirements for corporate governance, for insuring themselves, and their obligations and duties with regard to both them and the company.

Johnny advises on Libyan labour law, employment contracts, workforce restructuring, dismissals, internal policies, employee benefits, Labour Court claims, and compliance for local and international companies, embassies, and joint ventures.

• Advised a start-up Libyan airline on employment contracts for senior staff.
• Advised a European government embassy in Libya on employment consequences of a breach of security by staff.
• Advised a European flag carrier airline on dismissal of its entire local workforce on termination of its operations in Libya.
• Advised international oil exploration companies on dismissals of employees, and handling Labour Court claims in Libya.
• Advised international oil exploration companies on handling serious complaints by employees.
• Advised a Libyan government-owned company on restructuring its workforce, including terms of employment and overhauling internal policies and procedures.
• Advised Libyan/foreign joint venture companies and newly registered organisations in Libya on all aspects of Libyan labour law, including drafting contracts of employment and employee benefits.
• Advised Libyan joint venture companies on all aspects of hiring and also dismissals of local and foreign employees.
• Advised international defence contractors on aspects of Libyan labour law that specifically affect their ability to operate in the country.

Johnny specialises in private client disputes, encompassing probate and inheritance disputes and white collar crime, with extensive experience in both high-value and complex litigation.

• Regularly acting for guarantors of commercial secured debts who assert lack of knowledge (“bank actions”) when the guarantees have been called in (one reported case).
• Resolved a dispute between former cohabitees over financial arrangements and a dispute over title to real property.
• Acted for a widow of her deceased husband making a claim under the  Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 in a probate dispute.
• Acted for one side of a family in a breach of trust dispute where there was a disagreement over title to land and a requirement for equitable accounting.
• Advised on cases where undue influence of a testator by attorneys and family members is asserted.
• Advising on equitable accounting and recovery of money on termination of cohabitation.

Johnny has acted in reported cases covering employment and civil law disputes.

• Amicus and others v Ferotec Realty Ltd & Dynamex Friction Ltd [2009] ICR 511 (for successful employer)
• Giles v Rhind & Rhind [2008] EWCA Civ 118 (for Mrs Rhind)

Member of the Employment Lawyers Association