Jessica Hancock

Jessica is a Principal Associate in our corporate and commercial disputes team based in our Manchester office, but acting across the country.

Jessica deals with a wide range of complex corporate and commercial disputes. She advises on contractual claims (including breach of contract claims), corporate and shareholder disputes (including unfair prejudice petitions and breach of directors duties), fraud claims, restraint of trade matters (including employee restrictive covenants) and property disputes.

Jessica has considerable experience of proceedings in various divisions of the High Court, including the King’s Bench Division, Chancery Division and Business and Property Courts.  She has assisted on a number of injunctions (acting for both applicant and respondent) and has successfully helped to secure interlocutory freezing and proprietary orders.

She also has extensive experience in large, multi-jurisdictional, disclosure exercises and is proficient in the use of e-disclosure platforms, including Relativity.

Jessica has experience of Arbitrations, Adjudications and Judicial Reviews.

Jessica also has expertise in the construction space, and has in recent years been able to put that experience to good use adding to the firms subrogated recovery claims practice. She also has experience advising on a non-contentious basis in regard to JCT Construction contracts, bespoke contracts, consultant appointments and warranties. Of particular note in this sphere are the following:

1. Jessica acted on a subrogated recovery involving and architect and cladding sub-contractor – via adjudication – arising out of one of the first matters settled post Grenfell and which touched on various matters such as the application and interaction of the Defective Premises Act 1927 and the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, on very similar issues to those which were recently considered by the Supreme Court in URS -v- BDW. The matter dealt with many of the core post-Grenfell questions were raised in regard to the materials used in the cladding, cavity barriers and scope of the Architects primary and secondary, co-ordination obligations; and
2. Jessica advised a mechanical and electrical engineering subcontractor as regards alleged defective works in respect of fire stopping, fire walls and the air conditioning system in a care home in Stoke-on-Trent. The proceedings were in the TCC and the matter also clarified the approach to amendments to statements of case where there is a reasonably arguable limitation defences to the entirety of a new cause of action sought to be introduced (DR Jones Yeovil Ltd v Drayton Beaumont Services Ltd [2021] EWHC 1971 (TCC)).