
Willem Basson
Job Title: Consultant Solicitor - Commercial Dispute Resolution, Litigation
Willem is a dual-qualified lawyer in South Africa (2007) and England and Wales (2013). For the past nine years, Willem has been based in London, working for a top 50 law firm, where he specialised in commercial dispute resolution, litigation and contentious corporate insolvency matters. Willem’s experience includes representing large corporate entities, SMEs and startup clients in commercial disputes across a wide range of industries, including but not limited to, energy, manufacturing and industrials, retail and logistics and the technology sector.
Additionally, Willem has experience in contentious corporate insolvency matters, as well as international fraud and asset recovery. Notably he acted for the Trustee in Bankruptcy of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and the estate of Bernard L. Madoff in ongoing United States and global claims, including taking evidence from witnesses based in the United Kingdom via letters of request under the Hague Evidence Convention. Willem also has significant experience in arbitration and in resolving disputes through alternative dispute resolution methods, including representing clients at mediation.
Clients value Willem's grounded personality, as well as his practical and commercial approach to resolving issues as painlessly as possible.
Areas of Expertise: General commercial disputes
- Commercial contract disputes
- Advice on termination of contracts
- Warranty disputes
- Deferred consideration disputes
- IT disputes
- Corporate finance fee disputes
- Breach of covenant disputes (SPA, employment, and partnership)
- Director, Partnership and Shareholder disputes
- IT/technology disputes
- Pre-contract risk avoidance advice
- Debt recovery (contested and uncontested)
- ADR, including mediation and arbitration
- Settlement agreements
- Injunctive relief (applying for relief and challenging relief)
Insolvency (Corporate)
- Statutory Demands and Winding up petitions; Disputing statutory demands and winding-up petitions; Setting aside statutory demands
- Defending claims against directors for antecedent transactions
Other areas
- Hague Letters of Request applications in England for obtaining evidence in foreign courts
- Rectification of Companies House Register pursuant the Companies Act 2006
- Company restoration pursuant the Companies Act 2006
- Claims concerning beneficial interest in assets
Recent key clients/cases:
- Representing a U.S. multinational oilfield services company in relation to a breach of contract dispute concerning the manufacturing of products for a deep-water hydrocarbon production facility off the coast of east Africa.
- Successfully defending a claim in the High Court against a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars concerning a complex multi-party breach of contract dispute in relation to the financing of a limited edition DB4 GT.
- Advising a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars in relation to a material breach of contract dispute concerning its procurement of various IT-related services from its IT service provider.
- Representing a large national security company that provides property, site and people protection services at a mediation in relation to a breach of restrictive covenant by its sub-contractor.
- Representing an Infratech start-up company developing a new method of tunnelling in relation to a dispute concerning corporate finance and strategic advisory fees.
- Representing a food product supplier in a multi-party and cross-border supply chain dispute concerning a breach of contract dispute for the sale of goods.
- Acting for a corporate entity seeking to wind up a company providing management services in the boutique London hotel industry.
- Acting for a media communications business in relation to a threatened injunction concerning the alleged breach of a restrictive covenant.
Testimonials
“Thank you for your hard work and good humour throughout this case. From our side, it’s a situation we are either familiar or comfortable with. However, with all your guidance we were able to make out our case to the Court in a concise way and in the end achieved the desired result.”
“The way you compiled and managed our defence was first class and we are hugely grateful for your work to ensure justice prevailed.”
“An excellent result, and clearly the right one. Well done and thanks to the team for their excellent work on this – the case was very very well run.”
Willem is an avid sports fan who loves the outdoors. In his spare time, he enjoys playing cricket (he is the president of the Antelopians CC), playing golf, and exploring the UK countryside on hiking excursions with his wife.
Email: [email protected]
Practices: Debt Recovery, Dispute Resolution, Litigation
