Kit Sorrell
Partner, Manchester
Practice areas
Kit is personally ranked as a Leader in the Field in both Commercial Litigation and Professional Negligence in Chambers & Partners. He is also recognised in Legal 500’s ‘Hall of Fame’ as a Leading Individual in both Commercial Litigation and Professional Negligence. He is the only lawyer in the entire North West to be ranked by Legal 500’s ‘Hall of Fame’ in the field of Professional Negligence and in Commercial Litigation (elsewhere in the North West).
With over 30 years’ experience, Kit Sorrell is a highly renowned litigation specialist. He acts in complex high value commercial matters such as contract disputes, minority shareholder claims, property disputes and also acts for both high net worth individuals and corporate entities in complex and high value professional negligence claims against, by way of example, tax advisers, solicitors, property professionals and independent financial advisers. Kit is nationally recognised as a Leader in the Field and is recommended in both Chambers UK Guide and Legal 500 where he is described as “highly experienced”, “one of the best commercial litigators in the region” noting in particular his “gravitas, tough negotiation skills and dogged determination”. Kit has developed a particular specialism in commercial construction disputes of all types in his many years of acting for well-known national property developers and is a founding member of the firm’s specialist Construction Disputes Team.
Kit is also widely known for leading the way in Professional Negligence claims against financial and tax advisers in particular claims involving tax avoidance and mitigation schemes. Kit was amongst the very first lawyers to be instructed on the high profile Film Scheme Tax Partnership cases and to issue the first High Court proceedings against advisers who recommended such schemes. Kit has become known as the ‘go-to’ lawyer for well-known sports and media personalities in this field. Kit has been interviewed by the Financial Times on a number of occasions and quoted in numerous articles in the FT, The Mail on Sunday, FT Adviser, Money Marketing and IFA Online.
Notable cases
- Halsall v Champion Consulting Ltd [2017] EWHC 1079 (QB)
Represented the claimants in a £6M claim arising out of tax avoidance schemes. This widely reported case is believed to be one of the first claims of this type to reach the courts. - Acting for a group of high net worth individuals in a £5M claim against an international law practice arising out of negligent conduct of litigation initially brought against their accountants and tax advisers.
- Acting for a client in a seven-figure professional negligence claim against Gibraltar based IFA company arising out of the clients’ investment into a £50M failed investment scheme.
- Acting for minority shareholder in a shareholder dispute in relation to his holding in a highly successful engineering company. Action resolved with an order for the purchase of his shares on very satisfactory terms.
- Acting for a national property/property development company in Judicial Review proceedings challenging enforcement orders made by the Authority which threatened a regeneration scheme the value of which ran to many hundreds of millions of pounds.
- Acting for a sports management company in a dispute over the ‘ownership’ of a very high profile premier league professional footballer.
- Acting for Morris Homes Group, the country’s largest privately owned house builder, in a number of complex seven-figure claims against various property professionals.
Career history
- FS Legal – Partner, 2014 to date
- Pannone LLP – Partner, 2006 – 2014
- Wacks Caller – Partner, 2000 – 2006
- DWF- Partner, 1983 – 2000
What Kit Sorrell’s clients say:
“I have no hesitation in recommending Kit Sorrell as an excellent commercial litigator with considerable experience and expertise and offering sound and effective commercial advice.”
“Julia Norris and Kit Sorrell have developed a real specialisation and considerable expertise in handling high value and complex claims for damages for professional negligence against tax advisers who have mis-sold tax avoidance products. They are proactive, client focussed and very hard working. They are also easy to work with and great at developing a team involving counsel, solicitors and experts. I would thoroughly recommend them for this type of work.”
“FS Legal does an excellent job in handling high quality and high value financial services claims. Kit Sorrell and Julia Norris are highly experienced and adept at dealing with the technical issues whilst always focused on obtaining a commercial settlement for their clients”.
