Ruth Bala

Practice Areas

Ruth has built up a specialist practice in financial services, retail banking and regulated lending. She is currently sole counsel for a number of financial advice firms/professionals and discretionary investment managers in Upper Tribunal and High Court proceedings against the FCA, and is junior counsel for Barclays Bank plc in its judicial review of FOS’ decision-making on motor commission. Ruth was lead counsel for the creditor in Kerrigan & 11 ors v Elevate Credit International Limited (t/a Sunny) (in administration) [2020] EWHC 2169 (Comm), the payday lending test case litigation. She also mounted a successful defence of undisclosed PPI commission in the seminal case of Harrison v Black Horse Ltd [2011] Lloyd’s Rep I.R. 455, subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court in Plevin v Paragon Personal Finance Limited [2014] 1 W.L.R. 4222, and appeared in Conlon v Black Horse Ltd [2012] GCCR 11423 (settled three days before the hearing in the Supreme Court).