John de Waal KC

Practice Areas

John de Waal KC specialises in chancery and commercial work with a particular focus on property law and property-related professional negligence. He advises and acts for landlords and tenants in cases involving break clauses, dilapidations, contested assignments, lease renewals and forfeiture. John also advises and acts on agricultural tenancies.

He is regularly instructed in complex property-related litigation in the Chancery Division and the Court of Appeal. In 2015 John 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 has a very busy professional negligence practice acting for both claimants and defendants. He has a particular expertise in property-related professional negligence disputes where the defendants are solicitors or barristers.

Publications

John is the editor of the title “Risk and Negligence in Property Transactions” first published by the Law Society in October 2018 and now in its second edition (2022).