Evie Barden

Property

Evie is a highly sought after junior, who is particularly well regarded for her experience in property disputes involving trusts of or relating to land, mortgages or other security interests. She frequently appears in the High Court and County Court and clients describe Evie as “easy to work with, extremely responsive, provides clear, firm advocacy and works well with cases in the courtroom. She really delivers her advice with a high degree of precision." 

She is often instructed by developers and landowners in cases involving developments of land where myriad property law issues crop up such as sale and development agreements, options, easements, restrictive covenants, land registration, and security of tenure in an agricultural, business or residential context.

She has considerable experience in advising on and acting for clients seeking to or responding to urgent injunctions. In the summer of 2024, she was junior counsel (led by Timothy Morshead KC) for the airport operators of Gatwick, Manchester, East Midlands, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, London Luton and London Stansted who all sought and obtained injunctions against to prevent protests from occurring at their sites following the advertisement of “summer campaign” by Just Stop Oil (e.g. Manchester Airport plc v Persons Unknown [2024] EWHC 2247 (KB)). As well as acting as junior counsel, she has considerable experience of advising and appearing in court as sole counsel in the High Court on urgent injunctions.

Evie routinely involves acting on cases involving issues beneficial interests in land, proprietary estoppel and security over land. She was junior counsel for the successful Claimant in the, now leading, constructive trusts and unjust enrichment decision in Fattal v Fattal [2022] EWHC 950 (Ch); junior counsel for HMRC in HMRC v Walsh [2023] EWHC 2213 (Ch), which concerned the interplay between an equitable chargee’s right to sell and Article 8 and A1P1; at trial as sole counsel on mortgage claims involving undue influence, mistake and consumer credit issues.

Her specialist knowledge includes commercial and agricultural landlord and tenant disputes and has considerable experience in cases ranging from 1954 Act proceedings; disputes relating to agricultural land (e.g. Kirby v Electricity North West Ltd [2023] EWHC 75 (TCC),); liabilities under leases, including guarantees; disputes arising from breach of covenants; nuisance claims; and service charge issues.

Evie also has insolvency and company law expertise which makes her uniquely placed to advise and act for clients in circumstances where such issues intersect with property disputes:  in recent years she has advised on a number of cases regarding the impact of the insolvency of developers, particularly for off-plan purchasers and she regularly acts on cases involving dissolved companies, such as in connection with the Scarborough Group litigation against Bank of Scotland, where she (along with James Ayliffe KC) obtained orders appointing receivers over causes of action so that proceedings could be commenced prior to the restoration of the prospective claimants. She also routinely advises administrators and landlords on claims for permission to forfeit in administration and claims to pay rent and other sums as expenses of the administration.

Evie is currently on the Attorney General’s B Panel of counsel.