Expertise
Biography
Layla Barke-Jones is a highly experienced Partner in the Dispute Resolution team at Aaron & Partners. She is recognised for her client-focused approach, acting as an experienced litigator and pragmatic problem solver, and also utilises alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation and arbitration.
Background and Expertise
Layla joined Aaron & Partners in 2018, bringing with her a background from an international commercial law firm.
Her expertise spans a wide range of commercial disputes, including breach of contract claims, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, trade remedies, fraud, and professional negligence issues. She advises both businesses and individuals across various industries with particular specialism in warehousing, aviation, manufacturing, property, and transport. She has also served as a trustee and non-executive director within the energy sector.
Specialisms and Personal Achievements
A significant area of her specialization is warehousing and transport law, where she has experience drafting warehousing agreements and resolving disputes between warehouses and their customers through negotiation, mediation, and litigation. She acts for the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) and its members.
Layla has been involved in high-profile cases, notably representing private hire operators in a case concerning statutory interpretation at the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, in the significant D.E.L.T.A Merseyside Ltd and others v Uber Britannia Limited case. She successfully represented Delta Merseyside Ltd in an appeal that clarified that private hire vehicle operators in England and Wales (outside London) are not required to enter into contracts with customers when accepting bookings, impacting VAT liability for passengers.
She is recognised by Legal 500 as a 'Next Generation Partner' and 'Recommended Lawyer'. Clients have described her as "outstanding, very attentive and very experienced" and praised her "knowledge, professionalism and expertise".
Awards and Recognition
LEGAL 500 (TIER 2) - ‘Next Generation Partner’ and a ‘Recommended Lawyer’; “Layla Barke-Jones is outstanding, very attentive and very experienced”.
LEGAL 500 2023 (TIER 1) - ‘Rising Star’ and ‘Recommended Lawyer’ by the Legal 500: in 2023 and 2024. “Layla Bark-Jones is a top solicitor; her knowledge, professionalism and expertise are at another level compared to other firms and solicitors”.
Recent Work Highlights
- Shareholder dispute – Successfully represented the Petitioner in respect of a dispute over family-owned business worth c. £1m in the case of Davies v O’Keefe.
- Transport/Statutory interpretation - Uber v Sefton MBC, representing private hire operators in a case involving whether a passenger must enter a contract with the operator of a private hire taxi which has the potential far reaching consequences for VAT on passengers.
- Propriety Estoppel/ Constructive Trust matter - successfully claiming that property was held on trust for the occupier in a case relating to breach of promise to sell property.
- The Huntsworth Wine Company Ltd v London City Bond Ltd [2022] EWHC 97 (Comm) - case involving a warehouse contract, the limitation of liability and protection against adverse legal costs, High Court upholding the contract terms and the costs protection for the warehouse.
- Mediating a settlement in a family partnership resulting in six figure settlement for the client without the need for legal proceedings.
