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Stephen Bane was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1999 having obtained a first class honours degree in Business Law. Stephen is a Senior Solicitor in the Commercial Litigation Department dealing with numerous complex commercial, professional negligence, property and other types of business disputes which are described in more detail below.
A. Commercial
- Business Disputes: Representing the former owners of a substantial IFA business sold to a well known and significant multinational group following a series of misrepresentations about the consideration. The clients have effectively lost their entire valuable business for nil consideration. This matter is ongoing.
- Managing a substantial national mortgage lender's disputes with brokers, distributors and strategic partners following determination / exit of contracts post "credit crunch".
- Insurance: Ongoing dispute with substantial insurer in relation to property insurance. The client's losses run into millions of pounds as a consequence of the insurer's wrongful repudiation of an insurance policy. This matter is ongoing.
- Shareholder Disputes: Seeking to claim the client's rightful share of a substantial business enterprise where he had been excluded from the corporate entities by deception contrary to the assurances given by the other parties. This claim includes serious allegations of misconduct against the solicitor and accountant involved. The matter is ongoing.
- Employment: A variety of employment claims from the employer side including a claim against an employee for significant damages through the Employment Tribunals.
- Professional Negligence: Claims against Solicitors and Counsel in respect of the negligent management of litigation and negligent advice. These relate to a variety of underlying cases, including commercial disputes, conveyancing and advice on regulation.
B. Consumer / Retail Financial Services
- Secret Commission cases: Involved with mass litigation arising from “secret” commissions received by mortgage brokerage firms from sub-prime lenders including Rozak –v- Capital Credit (2001) (subsequently debated in the House of Commons) and other cases.
- Consumer complaints: Managing large volumes of consumer complaints and dealing with a variety of arbitration and ombudsman matters from both the consumer and business side.
- Consumer Credit: A series of consumer credit cases in which high value motor cars had been sold with outstanding credit by a subsequently jailed fraudster. Securing the wronged purchasers’ retention of the assets in many cases in claims brought by the finance company.
- Financial services regulation: Addressing and resolving regulatory challenges and enquiries from the Mortgage Code Compliance Board, the Information Commissioner, the Office of Fair Trading, and the Financial Services Authority.
- Trading law offences: Involved with a number of investigations and prosecutions in a trading standards capacity, including, for example:
- Investigating an aggressively defended international trademark infringement case which resulted in the conviction of the company’s directors, one of whom received a custodial sentence.
- A variety of successful prosecutions of clocked and otherwise mis-described motor vehicles including one case where a road transporter was used to seize vehicles off a garage forecourt.
- Advisory work has included:
- Advising on and implementing financial services business systems & controls in particular around data management, outsourcing, branded partnerships, product white labeling, mortgage /insurance sales and advice.
- The redesign/restructuring of a multi-million pound mortgage telemarketing and field sales processes to meet FSA regulatory requirements for mortgages and general insurance.
- Drafting and advising on loan, insurance, mortgage, and brokerage documentation, particularly in relation to unfair terms, Data Protection, Consumer Credit and Financial Services and Market Act compliance.
C. Real property
- Commercial Property: Acting for a tenant in a forfeiture action for non-payment of rent, unauthorised assignment, unauthorised alterations, inter alia and securing settlement in which the forfeiture action was withdrawn, the tenant was permitted to assign and received a series of payments.
- Insolvency, receivers and administrators: Dealing with a number of matters involving LPA Receivers including receivership of a substantial commercial property in the City, in a large portfolio of Buy-to-Let properties and the receivership of development land in the North of England.
- Residential: Representing the tenant in his counterclaim for misrepresentation in an action for forfeiture of a substantial West End Penthouse resulting in rescission of the lease and substantial damages.
- Property/Regulatory: Obtaining possession of a substantial Chelsea flat for an unauthorised mortgage lender; dealing with the mortgagor’s appeal on costs, the construction of the mortgage instrument and the regulatory position of a lender seeking the indulgence of the Court under Section 28 FSMA 2000: Helden –v- Strathmore (2011) CA.
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