Joseph Navas

A key case in Joseph’s experience was the setting aside of a judgment which contained various legal oversights and procedural errors that had led to a flawed decision. Joseph assisted the client in avoiding a huge liability and liquidation.

He also re-opened a final appeal on a case of real injustice by explaining to the court that there were exceptional circumstances to re-open the case, despite the Court of Appeal’s earlier ruling of dismissal. Making the application provided the client with a final opportunity to avert eviction from a commercial-residential hybrid premises.

Joseph spent most of 2017 dealing with an ultra-high net-worth contentious probate dispute. Joseph acted for the claimants seeking the removal of the executrix of an estate who had breached self-dealing rules and unfairly benefited to the detriment of the other beneficiaries.

Other cases included various disputes arising from consumer contracts and suing parties over their failure to deliver services as agreed by virtue of their respective contracts.

Joseph began practicing criminal law in 2017 offering advice on driving offences and offences against the person, and beginning work on a commercial theft.

In 2018, Joseph acted in a case of seven-figure commercial theft and fraud by abuse of position. Joseph acted on behalf of the claimant, against its former employee who stole money from the companies by transferring funds to his own bank account and spending it on personal items and holidays. Joseph acted in both the civil and criminal proceedings and the claimant successfully obtained a private prosecution in which the court described the scale of dishonesty by the former employee as “staggering in every respect”.

Joseph also acted in a contentious probate dispute in which he applied to the court to remove a caveat lodged against the estate of the client’s late father, which the court did, allowing the grant of probate to be pronounced and the administration to proceed.

Towards the end of 2018, Joseph acted for a landlord who had been taken advantage of, owning a series of properties in which none of his tenants were paying rent. Joseph promptly obtained possession orders, removing the tenants from the properties and recovering rent arrears with interest.

Whilst practising pensions law, Joseph acted for the trustees of a multi-billion-dollar pension scheme, successfully defending vexatious allegations by beneficiaries of the scheme, and also included investigating and defending allegations of negligence over a period of 20 years of administration.

In a more criminal setting, Joseph provided advice concerning the seizing of pension assets following a criminal conviction, which led to high-profile confiscation proceedings.

Starting at Britton and Time in 2020, Joseph acted for a client in a professional negligence claim brought against the client’s former solicitor, who had failed to fully advise on the options available concerning an application for injunctive relief. Joseph resolved the issue quickly before court proceedings and at minimal cost to the client. The client recovered a large portion of the money paid to the solicitors.

2020 also involved Joseph acting in two bitter divorces involving allegations of financial misconduct, breach of undertakings and multi-jurisdiction assets. Both cases achieved positive results, in one of which Joseph successfully recovered his client’s costs due to the appalling conduct of the other side; something which is rarely done in financial proceedings.

Joseph further developed his criminal practice in 2020 dealing with a series of drug-related and trafficking offences. In 2020, Joseph developed a proven track record and a strong reputation due to the acquittals of all his criminal cases.

Joseph’s work in 2021 included multiple Trust of Land claims, in which he brought and defended claims against individuals relating to alleged interest in residential properties. Acting for the claimants, Joseph successfully obtained orders on all grounds, and cost orders against the defendants on the indemnity basis (i.e. that they needed to pay all his client’s costs, not just what was proportionate).

Acting on a series of adjudications, Joseph successfully defended high-value construction disputes both on points of strict interpretation and by undermining the basis upon which the referral was made. Joseph had a 100% success rate in adjudication disputes in 2021.

In his criminal practice, Joseph successfully helped a client defend a private prosecution brought by an animal charity in respect of a series of charges relating to animal welfare and licencing. He also assisted in the successful defence of various violent crimes.

In 2022, Joseph took on a range of different disputes, starting with the successful defence of a six-figure unfair dismissal case. He also acted in the successful defence of a sexual assault claim in which his client was wrongly accused.

On the other side of litigation, he achieved positive results for two clients on professional negligence claims against former solicitors who had failed to advise properly in the purchase of residential properties.

In August, he negotiated the settlement of a contentious probate dispute, which ended with his client achieving a result over 100x better than the gift she had been left under a will.

Joseph also acted in a high court construction dispute with various elements of insolvency and the personal liability of the company director. He also completed several commercial transactions from share purchase agreements to EMI option schemes.

Joseph started 2023 with the successful resolution of a four-year breach of contract dispute in which the claimants were suing a builder for poor works completed on their property. Joseph’s clients received the full sum claimed plus 100% of their legal costs and interest, with the judge commenting that the case presented was “clear and presented meticulously”.

Joseph acted in a seven-figure intellectual property dispute in the High Court relating to the alleged theft and use of confidential information and defending criminal allegations of possession of a class A substance with intent to supply. Despite the minimum sentence on guilt being a prison sentence, Joseph successfully obtained a suspended sentence and prevented the client from being jailed.

In 2023, Joseph acted in his two most high-profile cases yet, one of which was a law-changing case spanning over 7 years in which the two trial judgments were reported in the media. As a consequence of this case, Joseph is now a leading expert on the right to a fair trial, fraudulent calumny, and undue influence.

The other was a gross-negligence manslaughter case with various allegations including perverting the course of justice and child cruelty, a case which is due to be heard in England’s most famous court, The Old Bailey.

Joseph is currently working on a complex case in the Court of Appeal, which regardless of the outcome, is likely to change the law relating undue influence.

On the civil side, Joseph is working for a claimant relating to a sexual harassment case, the allegation being made against a well-known individual.

Employment work has dramatically picked up in 2024 with individuals deciding not to let various breaches of contract by their employers go unpunished, from unfair dismissal claims to unlawful deduction of wages and discrimination claims.

Joseph is acting for an individual unfairly dismissed after their employer completed an embarrassment of a disciplinary investigation with various regulatory infractions and who, when faced with their own failures, decided to dismiss the employee.

Joseph is also working on several breach of privacy claims arising out of public documents and risk of harm to the claimants, cases which could reach the European Court of Human Rights if not dealt with carefully by the courts of England and Wales.