Bryan McGuire QC

Bryan is an experienced civil and commercial trial lawyer. In recent times those cases have tended to concern the ambit of duties owed by local authorities. Reported cases include:

• AK v Central & North West London Mental Health NHS Trust and Kensington & Chelsea RLBC on the existence of a duty of care in relation to the provision of aftercare under s117 MHA 1983.
• Maddock v Devon CC (QB 2003) On confidentiality of social services files. Is a local authority entitled or required to tell a university of misgivings it has as to a person’s fitness to become a social worker?
• O’Rourke v Camden (HL 1998) Can a damages claim be brought in connection with the defective performance of a duty owed under the Homelessness legislation?

Other examples of commercial work include:

• Jewson Limited v Boyhan (CA 2003), the first appeal decision on the ambit of the implied term as to satisfactory quality, in the context of a builders merchant selling to a developer.
• Central Midland Estates v Leicester Dyers Limited (Ch. D 2003) on adverse possession and easements of parking;
• X Limited v Nowacki and another T/A Lynton Porcelain (Ch. D 2003) on the equitable duty of confidence in a commercial setting; and

Bryan also appeared for the successful contractor in Ruxley Electronics and Construction Limited v Forsyth (HL 1995) a leading case on the measure of damages in the law of contract.