Barry Samuels
Solicitor / Consultant
Areas: Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Barry has been qualified for 50 years, the longest of any of GSC’s practitioners, applying his extensive skills to commercial litigation (“usually based on contract”), corporate law, torts (often with allegations of fraud or professional negligence) and arbitrations.
He is completely hands on. “I am not a processor. I don’t simply clock up the hours and rely heavily on Counsel. I still like to read everything in depth because I consider it essential to understand the details of the case, to identify the problems (actual and potential) and to find ways to address them. I am truly available 24/7 and my clients know I really care about them and their case.”
Having already retired from the law once, he returned in 2010, joining GSC as a consultant after missing the challenges of dispute resolution. “I like learning. I still have lots to learn and experience. Whenever I finish a case, I always ask what I’ve learned and how can I improve. I’m fascinated by the complexities that cases can throw up. I also enjoy the relationships with clients and colleagues.”
Protecting clients’ interests
Much of Barry’s work reaches him via a battery of top rate barristers who recommend him because “they know I will care about the case, work well the client and charge sensibly.”
The sentiment of this is shared by his clients. “Many of my clients are high profile business people and there’s usually an international element to my cases,” says Barry, who has dealt with a wide variety of high value disputes whilst with GSC. “I tend to act for entrepreneurs,” he adds, “because I like to deal with the people who can give me instructions directly rather than having to report to a committee.”
One of Barry’s clients – an individual of ultra-high net worth – reflected that Barry is not just a ‘yes man’ doing a client’s bidding, but someone who is always looking after his interests.
Recent cases include:
- A shareholders’ dispute involving a deadlock company in which one of the two shareholders sought permission to bring a derivative action
- Successfully resisting with indemnity costs an attempt by a Russian businessman to obtain an anti-suit injunction in England to restrain proceedings in the New York Court. The case also involved Jersey and Ukrainian law element
- A dispute regarding the sale a property owned by an elderly and frail gentleman at a significant undervalue involving breach of the estate agent’s duty and challenges to the bona fides of the purchaser
- An acrimonious family dispute centred in the Courts of Uganda Jersey and the BVI with accusations of breach of freezing orders and allegations of contempt
- Acting for a Georgian oligarch relating to his claim that his business had been unlawfully taken by the Bank of Georgia and described as one of the top cases to come to trial in 2021. The case was based on Georgian law principles.
Away from the office, Barry is happy to wax lyrical about Helen Shapiro (“my heroine”) and the magical and restorative healing power of the magnificent Mugello Valley in Tuscany “with its abundance of amazing red wine and the best olive oil in the world at Villa Campestri.”
Qualifications & Experience
Barry attended Manchester University where he gained a first-class honours degree followed by first class honours in his professional qualification.
He qualified at Nabarro Nathanson in 1971 where he became the youngest solicitor appointed to partnership. He moved to become a partner and subsequently head of department at Manches & Co in 1974, Brecher & Co in 1986 and Kingsley Napley in 1996.
Barry joined GSC in 2010 as a consultant.
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