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Russell is an experienced commercial litigator of over 15 years' experience, and who splits his time between Ward Hadaway's Newcastle and Leeds offices.

Having trained with the firm and qualified into the commercial litigation team in September 2006, Russell has risen through the ranks and joined the Partnership in May 2015.

Russell has an excellent breadth of experience which has involved dealing with a wide variety of commercial disputes. In particular, he has significant experience of matters of professional negligence against valuers and solicitors, as well as accountants and other professionals. In addition, Russell has extensive experience of employment claims which fall outside of the remit of the tribunals and within the jurisdiction of the courts, specifically with respect to claims for injunctive relief which arise out of matters of breach of confidence and breaches of post-termination restrictive covenants. Russell also deals on a regular basis with defamation/malicious falsehoods claims, complex disputed debts, breach of contract and tort claims, as well as frequently advising clients about how to resolve disputes through ADR.

Experience

Russell’s experience includes:

  • Acting on a number of claims for injunctive relief and/or damages arising out of former employees acting in breach of their post-termination restrictive covenants and/or in breach of confidence. In particular, he has recently acted for a number of energy brokerages in obtaining interim relief and final injunctive relief against former employees who had misused their confidential information and/or breached their non-compete covenants.
  • Acting for a number of lenders, including a national bank, in the pursuit of negligence claims against valuers and solicitors which arise out of their involvement in the lenders’ commercial lending decisions.
  • Acting for a number of private individuals, including a high-profile local entrepeneur, in the pursuit of successful negligence claims against their professional advisers, and including against valuers and solicitors in respect of property transactions and against accountants in respect of accountancy issues and financial services issues.
  • Acting for a hospital in the USA in the successful pursuit of a substantial debt from a UK-based debtor, in circumstances where the defendant was seeking to avoid and dispute payment on various grounds
  • Acting for a public sector client in the successful pursuit to trial of a claim for injunctive relief (including interim relief at the outset) which arose out of a service user’s harassment of and publication of various defamatory remarks about a number of the client’s employees.
  • Acting for a public sector organisation in the successful pursuit of a claim which arise out of a sub-coontractor’s failure to adhere to the terms of a PFI project agreement
  • Acting and negotiating settlements for a number of national manufacturing clients in the defence of claims arising from the late delivery and/or supply of defective products
  • Acting for an international client in the defence of a substantial claim made by a former sales agent pursuant to the Commercial Agency Regulations, and which was settled on favourable terms for the client at a without prejudice meeting.
  • Working as part of a two-person team in the successful defence of a complex, high-value multi-party breach of contract claim where there are issues and allegations of breach of contract, negligence, bailment, conversion, deception and contribution, and which also involved the successful pursuit of a Part 20 claim against a third party.
  • Working as part of a substantial team in obtaining freezing injunctions in a high profile shareholder dispute for a major client which involved allegations of fraud, and also as part of a two-person team for an entrepreneur against a private individual who had misappropriated funds and was at risk of leaving the country.

What people say

  • Russell Ward – very commercial, hardworking and an excellent communicator.

    Legal 500
  • Russell Ward – always willing to go the extra mile for his clients. Technically able but particularly adept at putting the client at ease and understanding their interests.

    Legal 500
  • Russell Ward is particularly effective at developing relationships with clients to ensure mutual trust and understanding. Strong litigator who is willing to put in the extra hours to ensure good results for his clients.

    Legal 500, Client quote
  • Robert Glassford is a very good lawyer, experienced, strong analytically, balanced and measured. Joe Kelley is hardworking, practical and calm. Tim Toomey and Russell Ward have a sound judgment and maintain good relationships with clients. Lucy Cleghorn is practical.

    Legal 500, Client quote
  • He gives us good commercial advice and timely options. Russell is practical, hardworking and very good with clients - he's a good person to have on your side.

    Client quote
  • Clients noted that [Russell] has ‘a very easy manner’

    Client quote, Legal 500

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