Clear Law

We are a litigation practice with substantial experience of dealing with contested litigation, including housing disrepair, financial mis-selling and undisclosed commissions.

We have over 20 years of experience in bringing housing disrepair claims and work hard to assist clients through this difficult time.

We have had substantial success in areas of financial mis-selling in particular involving secret commissions successfully acting for more than 6,000 clients (both individual and commercial) in our sister company Clear Commercial. The most successful group action saw a return of £21m.

We have been involved in a number of projects where a firm has either chosen to exit the market or has been forced to exit the market through intervention. In some cases, firms have undergone a managed closure of a part or whole of their practice. In those cases the transition for clients is smooth as they are well informed and an introduction to the new firm takes place over a period of time, allowing clients to adjust to the idea that their firm is no longer able to act for them.

In other circumstances, such as insolvency, there can be a feeling of disruption and abandonment.

Where your case has been subject to an intervention, it is held by an independent solicitor which in this instance is Stephensons. We cannot assist you with your matter until you have provided Stephenson’s with authority to transfer your file of papers to us.

This is an essential first step and at the end of this process you will be provided with advice about how your claim can proceed.

Our experts

Darren Gray

A "diligent and effective" solicitor in Commercial and Banking litigation.

Darren has 15 years’ experience in the following specific areas of litigation:

  • Group Actions (both bringing and defending – mainly against financial institutions)
  • Supervision of search orders
  • Civil fraud, freezing orders and asset recovery
  • Employment related commercial disputes, eg springboard injunctions
  • Construction disputes
  • Breach of contract
  • Breach of directors’ duties, shareholder and partnership disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Judicial review
  • Insurance disputes (both for and against insurers)
  • Sports Law
  • Catastrophic injury
  • Banking and Group Litigation

He has successfully pursued a Group Action and established a compensation scheme with a lender. In excess of 6,000 cases were pursued through the scheme and in excess of £21m was recovered. Darren has also successfully pursued and is pursuing several other Group Actions against lenders arising from allegations of fraud, a breach of fiduciary duty and a breach of the “unfair relationship” provisions of the Consumer Credit Act.

Darren is a member of the Commercial Litigation Association and the Annecto Group and has been recommended in the Legal 500 as 'diligent and effective'.

Mike Ventella

Mike has a long and successful track record of assisting clients with Housing Disrepair clients. He holds 8 years experience running cases from the outset to trial. In addition Mike has experience in defending possession proceedings and committal proceedings in Housing disrepair matters and regularly attends court. Prior to this he managed personal injury teams and have 20 years plus experience in high value personal injury and credit hire claims.

Mike leads a dedicated of housing disrepair specialists who can assist with all manners of claims. Often assisting with the arrangement of repair work to be completed.

Matthew Corbett

Matthew is Managing Partner of the firm. Since being admitted as a solicitor in 2002, Matthew has gained vast experience is a range of civil litigation resulting in him taking the decision to start his own firm in 2004. From the beginning he has been integral in overseeing the growth and success of the firm in both the consumer and commercial departments.

Andrew Kwan

Andrew manages the Legal department, contributing to the overall growth and development of the practice, whilst maintaining Clear Law's ethical client and staff focussed approach.

Putting people first is one of Clear Law's core values. This means working to obtain plain English approval, being committed to quality, reassuring our clients when they need help, being accessible and client focussed, training and developing our staff, maintaining our Lexcel, IIP, Apil and Law Society accreditations, and becoming ever more environmentally and corporately responsible.