Lee Norman

Partner

About Lee

Lee Norman heads our Litigation team in the Manchester office. Lee is instructed in relation to complex, high value disputes and advisory work across the full range of corporate and commercial litigation.

Lee’s particular specialisms include:

  • Disputes arising out of M&A transactions, private equity deals, shareholdings and partnership

  • Professional negligence claims against solicitors, barristers, accountants and surveyors

  • Emergency disputes (including injunctive relief) against employees, directors and competitors arising from breaches of contracts of employment, breach of fiduciary duties, team moves and theft of confidential information

Lee has been described in The Legal 500 UK as a “simply excellent” lawyer who “commands respect from all who deal with him” and “the man you want on your side in litigation”, while he has elicited particular praise for being commercial and responsive and able to see all available routes to deliver his client’s objectives.

Experience

Corporate Litigation

  • Acting for a private equity house in relation to a multimillion-pound claim for success fees and specific performance of an equity and loan note agreement arising out of a corporate equity sale.
  • Acting for director/shareholders in relation to an £8.5 million claim arising from a commercial property development joint venture agreement, and concerning allegations of deceit, conspiracy and diversion of company assets.

Professional Negligence

  • Acting in relation to a £150 million claim against an offshore law firm arising from breach of fiduciary duties by the trustees of a family trust.
  • Acting for a music production company in relation to a claim for £35 million against its former professional legal advisers arising out of the negligent drafting of a music performance contract.

Business Protection Claims

  • Acting on behalf of a leading UK commercial property consultant business in relation to a claim against five former partners/employees and a competitor property business, involving allegations of unlawful means conspiracy, breach of restrictive covenants, and novel defences relating to entitlement to resign due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Acting for a wealth management company in relation to a series of claims totalling £10 million against six former employees and their new employers, relating to theft of confidential information and breach of restrictive covenants.

Other Examples

  • Acting for an AIM-listed manufacturer in relation to a multimillion-pound claim against its former pension scheme advisers, in relation to a failure to advise on and implement pension scheme equalisation.
  • Acting for a parallel importer in relation to a series of claims, pursued by a US manufacturer of medical devices, relating to alleged trademark infringement and exhaustion of rights.

Credentials

Education
  • College of Law, Chester, L.P.C., 2000
  • Keele University, C.P.E., 1999
  • University of Staffordshire, BA Hons, 1998
Admissions
  • England and Wales, 2002

Recognitions

Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK testimonials include:

  • "Lee is an experienced and highly regarded litigation specialist. He is pragmatic, responsive and knowledgeable".

  • "Lee is able to break down communication into succinct user-friendly language, thereby enabling decisions to be taken in a strategic and meaningful way".

  • “Simply excellent. Great command of a case and has the ability to stand back and see the available routes".

  • “Great lawyer who commands respect from all who deal with him. The man you want on your side in litigation because he has every base completely covered".

  • “Unflappable because he has seen it all and has an ability to see all routes to the clients’ objectives".

  • "An excellent and experienced commercial litigator".

  • "Great client lawyer who does not ‘sugar the pill’ and has a wide experience of all types of disputes that enables him to formulate strategies in the litigation at the outset that are all focused on achieving the client’s objectives".

  • "Recommended for high-stakes corporate and commercial disputes of all kinds".

  • “Very commercial and responsive”.

Expertise

Services
Litigation