Charles Auld
Call 1980 (Middle Temple)
Qualifications BA (Dunelm)
Professional Membership Member of Chancery Bar Association
Download vCard direct to your email contacts
Areas of Practice
Commercial and Chancery
Charles Auld’s practice comprises both commercial disputes and more traditional chancery matters.
Recent commercial cases have included a dispute over the importation of golf clubs from China, which was successfully concluded in the Court of Appeal (Taiwan Scot v. Masters [2009] All ER(D) 221), and also one relating to the quality of boat trailers.
Charles has a particular interest in aviation related matters (he holds a Private Pilot’s Licence and used to own a small aeroplane) and has dealt with a number of aircraft related matters. For example he has represented an aircraft owner in a dispute with his maintenance provider and he has recently been involved in a dispute between co-owners where the aircraft had been damaged but the insurers had avoided the policy of insurance.
He has conducted cases in the Court of Appeal over whether a contract is void for uncertainty (Scammell v Dicker [2005] 3 All ER 838) relating to the construction of a solicitor’s undertaking (Reddy v Lachlan [2000] Lloyd’s Rep PN 858) and the setting aside of a statutory demand (Platts v Western Trust and Savings [1996] BPIR 339).
He was described in Chambers 2006 as having “great commercial awareness”.
His chancery cases include:
- Disputes over land including traditional boundary disputes, rights of way and other easements (Wheeler v. Saunders [1996] Ch 19). He was recently successful in the Court of Appeal in an action concerning the interaction of boundary agreements and section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 (Melhuish v. Fishburn [2009] All ER(D)23)
- Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act applications
- Landlord and tenant both residential (Springfield Investments v. Bell [1991] 1 EGLR 115 CA) and commercial (Looe Fuels v. Looe Harbour Commissioners [2008] All ER(D) 305 CA)
- Mobile homes (Howard v. Kinvena Homes (1999) 32 HLR 541)
- Partnership disputes
- Probate actions
- Professional negligence usually related to conveyancing and similar land transactions
- Applications before the Adjudicator to H.M. Land Registry
Recent chancery cases have included:
a) intervening in a matrimonial dispute to determine the status of a house provided by one of the parties’ parents;
b) several different cases relating to disputes between potential purchasers and developers of new-build residential properties where the purchasers, because of declining values, wish to be released from their contracts or where the developer wishes to ensure that the purchasers can be obliged to purchase.
Professional Negligence
- Charles’ work includes property related professional negligence cases.
Libel and Slander
- Charles has always had an interest in libel and slander and he continues to give advice on such matters.
Direct Access
Charles is qualified to undertake Direct Access work in appropriate cases, for further information, please visit our Direct Access page.
Recommendations
Chambers UK 2012
- Chancery: The “personable” Charles “maintains an air of calm in the most tense courtroom situations.” His domain is principally land and property law. He appears regularly before the Land Registry and acts in complex inheritance and estoppel matters.
Chambers UK 2011
- Chancery: “he is able to unravel knotty problems and compile clear, concise opinions.” His practice extends across the full spectrum of commercial and traditional chancery matters.
Legal 500 2011
- Charles is a practical lawyer with a gift for settling cases in a constructive manner.
Legal 500 2010
Charles Auld is highly recommended for contentious probate.
