John de Waal KC

Practice Areas

John de Waal KC is a leading commercial property silk specialising in property litigation and property-related professional negligence disputes. He has appeared in all types of court in England and Wales up to the Supreme Court.

John acts for claimants and defendants and his clients are usually developers, owners of commercial property, landowners, managing agents, landlords/tenants, and insurers.

Clients appreciate John’s calm decisiveness, the clarity of his advice and communication and his dedication to each case. John’s experience in real estate disputes allows him to see the commercial objectives of his clients and work towards the outcomes he wants to achieve for them in court or otherwise.

John is regularly instructed in complex litigation in the Business and Property Courts and the Court of Appeal. Amongst his current workload is a case which raises the question of which circumstances are required for a lease to be frustrated, Into Nominee One Ltd v Study Group Ltd, and in the autumn he returns to the Court of Appeal in SGL1 Ltd v FSV Freeholders Ltd (No. 2), an appeal which examines the question of what is a ‘building’ for the purposes of the Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. John also appeared in the Supreme Court in Cavendish v Makdessi [2016] AC 1172, the decision that is now the leading case on the law of penalties.

John is experienced at expert determination and a mediator for property disputes. He is a member of The Property Mediators.