Watson Pringle was called to the Bar in 2005. He read law at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and completed the Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School.

Watson’s practice covers a broad range of commercial chancery work, as set out below. He is also a contributor to the Law of Freedom of Information, 2nd edition (2009) and has experience in advising on data protection issues. He is on the committee of the Personal Insolvency Litigation Advice and Representation Scheme (PILARS).

Insolvency
On the insolvency side he regularly represents office holders, petitioning creditors and debtors in both the county courts and the High Court. Recent experience includes:

• Acting for the debtor in the trial, on the OR’s application to annul, of his centre of main interests (COMI) for the purposes of the EC Regulation (reported as Official Receiver v Mitterfelner [2009] BPIR 1075);
• Acting for the OR in a claim for a bankruptcy restrictions order;
• Acting in a disputed application to restrain advertisement of a winding-up petition;
• Advising as to the effect of sections 216 and 217 of the Insolvency Act as regards phoenix companies;
• Advising upon and acting in claims to set aside preferences, transactions at an undervalue and transactions defrauding creditors under s.423 of the Insolvency Act;
• Appearing in applications by administrators for administration orders and to extend their period of office.

Property/Trusts
As well as appearing regularly in possession claims and advising on landlord and tenant matters, Watson’s experience in this area includes:

• Advising on and appearing in cases surrounding TOLATA 1996;
• Acting in a family provision claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975;
• Appearing in the Part 8 trial of a claim under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993;
• Appearing in the trial, on a judgment creditor’s application for a charging order, as to the beneficial interests in a matrimonial home and the effect of a sham transaction.

Commercial/Company
Over the past year Watson been involved in several multi-day trials, mostly involving pure contractual disputes. He has also been instructed as a junior in a complex shareholder dispute involving clients based in Japan and Hong Kong, and a minority shareholder action arising out of a pre-pack administration, both of which were litigated in the High Court.