Asif Ahmed
Partner
A firm believer that technical excellence is a minimum requirement in lawyers, Asif converted to law after a career in engineering, during which time he worked at world-class manufacturing companies. Prior to joining McCarthy Denning, Asif spent 15 years at a West End law firm and specialises within three core areas: resolving high-value commercial, property, and probate disputes, often involving complex and novel situations; cross border jurisdictions and forums and covering multiple disciplines. Asif regularly acts for clients who find themselves in genuine disagreements but where the commercial relationship between the contracting parties need to be maintained.
What we say about Asif
Asif’s Commercial Litigation practice includes advising on commercial contract and tort cases, company and personal insolvency matters, shareholder and partnership disputes, banking and trust disputes. Asif’s Property Litigation practice includes advising on a wide range of disputes including construction, planning and developments, and nuisance claims. He also advises on contested probate matters involving substantial estates often with assets spread across several jurisdictions, Inheritance Act and Administration of estates claims. As well as acting in cases in the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the UK Supreme Court, Asif advises both domestic and international clients on arbitration proceedings conducted under the major institutional rules such as the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Highlights
Asif has recently acted on disputes in the property, construction, energy (particularly the oil & gas sector), retail, banking and food and beverage sectors and his cases include:
- acting on very high value company and trust disputes involving multiple jurisdictions and forums and concerning a number of discrete trust and company entities.
- advising on founders and participation joint venture agreements.
- advising on contractual dispute arising out of offshore exploration rights in the oil & gas sector.
- advising on company and personal insolvency matters.
- acting on substantial 1954 Act commercial lease disputes including injunctive reliefs.
- advising on injunctive reliefs on development dispute within the context of planning and freeholder/leaseholder issues.
- advising on JCT construction contract and other construction disputes.
- advising on prime location collective enfranchisement matters.
- advising on complex service charge issues including historical charges.
- acting on prime location landlord and tenant issues and disputes concerning easements including between adjoining property owners.
- acting on Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 cases.
- acting on administration of estate contentious probate matters.
- acting for high street retailer in a passing off dispute and obtaining injunctive relief.
- acting for franchisees operating in multiple jurisdictions and litigating in different forums.
- acting for joint venture party in substantial arbitration in the oil & gas sector.
- advising national airlines in pension protection fund related matter.
- advising high net worth clients in banking and disputes concerning financial products and investments.
- representing clients in acrimonious partnership disputes.
- advised Clients on disputes relating to listings on the LSE and AIM, in particular relating to IPO and New and Recent Issue. Recently Asif has advised clients who were undergoing shareholder dispute whilst trading had been suspended on the LSE.
- acting for engineering and architectural consultants involved in development and construction disputes.
- obtaining specific performance of property contracts for sale in very contentious disputes.
- acting for and advising developers in judicial and statutory review challenges to planning consents on high value developments including planning appeals.
- advising Administrators and Liquidators in substantial construction disputes including in distressed developments.
- advising developers and neighbouring proprietors in Right to Light disputes and Party wall disputes, often in the development context.
- representing clients in substantial construction adjudications.
- advising executors and beneficiaries in high value probate disputes.
Significant judgments Asif has been involved in include:
- Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 matter – [2023] 9 WLUK 353; [2024] WTLR 217.
- Olympic Airlines – The Trustees of the Olympic Airlines SA Pension and Life Assurance Scheme (Appellants) v Olympic Airlines SA (Respondent) [2015] UKSC 27.
- Hard Rock Café Limited and Another v HRCKY Limited [2013] JRC 244B.
- Olympic Airlines SA [2013] EWCA Civ 643.
- Olympic Airlines SA [2013] EWCA Civ 218 (25 February 2013).
- Olympic Airlines SA [2012] BCC 841, [2012] BPIR 1163, [2012] IL Pr 35.
- Ellis Building Contractors Ltd v Goldstein [2011] EWHC 269 (TCC).
- Quest Advisors v McFeely [2011] EWCA Civ 1517; [2102] 1 E.G. 54.
- Quest Advisors v McFeely [2009] EWHC 2651 (Ch).
- Thane Investments Ltd & Ors v Tomlinson & Ors [2006] EWHC 1182 (Ch) (26 May 2006).