Paul Dipre

Paul is a barrister with a broad, well-established practice spanning family, commercial, property, probate and insolvency work. He is regularly instructed in complex and high-value disputes and is frequently engaged at an early stage to advise on merits, strategy and case management, as well as to draft pleadings. Paul approaches litigation with a clear focus on outcomes and proportionality, seeking negotiated resolution where appropriate while providing robust, tactically astute advocacy where proceedings must be pursued.

In family law, Paul’s expertise includes financial remedies following divorce or dissolution, cohabitation and co-owner disputes under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA), and financial provision for children under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989. He has significant experience acting for high-net-worth clients, particularly where cases involve family businesses, inherited wealth, trusts of land and family trusts, overseas assets (business and property), third-party interests, variation applications, enforcement, and issues arising from non-compliance with disclosure obligations.

Paul also represents clients across all stages of private law children proceedings. He is regularly instructed in disputes concerning children’s living arrangements, contact, and the exercise of parental responsibility, including cases involving intractable disputes, fact-finding hearings, domestic violence and abuse allegations, mental health and substance misuse issues affecting child arrangements, removal from the jurisdiction, wardship, and abduction and other complex international elements.

Paul is bilingual in English and Italian and has a particular interest in cross-border disputes, especially those with an Anglo-Italian dimension.

Alongside his family work, Paul maintains a substantial commercial practice, appearing in the County Court and High Court in contentious, high-value claims for professional and private clients. He is routinely instructed to advise pre-action and during proceedings and is comfortable providing advice in conference or in writing. He is recognised for balancing persuasive negotiation with effective courtroom advocacy, calibrated to the demands of each case.

In property law, Paul advises and appears in a wide range of disputes including constructive and resulting trusts, proprietary estoppel, easements and rights of way, boundary disputes, and adverse possession. He also acts in matters relating to commercial leases, including termination and renewal, break clauses, service charge disputes, rent and rent review, and disrepair/dilapidations claims.

Paul’s wills, probate and inheritance practice includes contentious probate work (including claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975), estate administration disputes (including removal of executors, construction of wills, identification of beneficiaries and asset ascertainment), and trust-related issues, including the construction of trust deeds and the powers and duties of trustees.

In insolvency and bankruptcy, Paul advises and represents debtors, creditors, companies, directors and insolvency practitioners in both contentious and non-contentious matters. His work includes administration orders, applications to set aside statutory demands, applications to restrain winding-up petitions (and advertisement of petitions), and transaction avoidance claims (including transactions defrauding creditors, preferences, and transactions at an undervalue). He regularly appears in insolvency matters in the High Court (Companies Court and Bankruptcy Division) and in County Courts nationwide.

Paul also accepts instructions in credit hire matters where appropriate.

Paul’s publications and professional contributions include acting as Editor of The Bench & The Bar by Marcello Marinari (Rome University Press LUISS, 2013) and authoring an article for the British Italian Law Association (BILA): English Civil Litigation Case Management & Sanctions (June 2014) (http://www.bila.biz/).