Introduction
Charles Towl is undertaking a specialist Business and Property pupillage under the supervision of Gavin McLeod, David Nuttall, and Kirsty White. Charles has been accepting instructions since 1 April 2025 and is quickly building a busy Chancery practice with a focus on Private Client, Property, and Insolvency matters.
Charles’ current and recent matters include:
- Advising on documents and evidence prepared in an anticipated Inheritance Act claim by an estranged adult child.
- Advising on and providing representation at a range of interim applications, including applications for set aside of default judgments, strike out, and transfer to the High Court for enforcement.
- Representing parties at a variety of Small Claims trials regarding commercial, contractual, and property disputes.
Contentious Wills, Trusts, and Probate
Charles has experience in a number of areas of contentious and non-contentious private client practice, including Inheritance Act claims, will validity challenges, proprietary estoppel, and constructive trusts.
Charles’ recent work in this area includes:
- Advising on documents and evidence prepared in an anticipated Inheritance Act claim by an estranged adult child.
- Advising a lay trustee on the nature of a trust for the proceeds of a life insurance policy and on the effect of retirement / removal.
Examples of work undertaken during Charles’ first six include:
- Drafting Part 8 Claims in relation claims under the Inheritance Act, proprietary estoppel, and constructive trust.
- Drafting Particulars of Claim in a will challenge claim brought on the basis of want formal validity, want of knowledge and approval, and undue influence.
- Drafting position statements and assisting at mediations in relation to Inheritance Act, and testamentary proprietary estoppel claims.
Prior to commencing pupillage, Charles worked as a paralegal in Farrer & Co’s Contentious Trusts & Estates team, where he assisted on high-value, cross-border disputes. This included high profile litigation, such as Morina v Scherbakova [2023] EWHC 3253 (Ch), as well as Variation of Trust Act claims, Trustee Retirement Applications, and Inheritance Act claims. As a result, Charles has begun to build considerable knowledge across trusts and estates litigation.
Charles has been published in the Trusts & Trustees journal and has recently begun Trust Issues, a new article series for Chambers looking at common issues in trust litigation. You can find the first article in this series, which provides a comprehensive guide to making Beddoe Applications, here.
Property
During his pupillage, Charles has built experience across a range of property matters, including TOLATA claims, possession claims, boundary disputes, and adverse possession claims.
Charles’ recent work in this area includes:
- Representing a landlord in a complex section 21 possession hearing and at a subsequent application by the tenant to set aside the possession order
- Representing a landlord at a Small Claim trial for damage caused during a tenancy
- Advising on evidence and representing a debtor at an application for an adjournment of a mortgage possession.
Examples of work undertaken during Charles’ first six include:
- Advising on the prospects of obtaining an order for sale under section 14 of TOLATA in respect of a disputed family farm.
- Drafting a Defence and Counterclaim in a boundary dispute and adverse possession claim.
Charles has recently written an article for Chambers’ Lay of the Land series, looking at the Court of Appeal decision in Nazir v Begum [2025] EWCA Civ 587, which considered the relationship between adverse possession and statutory trusts of estate assets. You can find a copy of Charles’ article here.
Insolvency & Restructuring
Charles accepts instructions in all areas of Chambers’ Insolvency & Restructuring practice, including winding up and bankruptcy petitions, statutory demands, as well as associated interim and office-holder applications.
Examples of Charles’ recent work in this area includes:
- Obtaining an order for transfer of proceedings up to the High Court for enforcement in respect of a bankrupt who had engaged in extensive vexatious litigation.
Charles will be delivering a seminar with Marc Brown on the recent Supreme Court decision of Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18 at Chambers’ annual Insolvency & Restructuring Conference on 18 June 2025.
Commercial & Chancery Litigation
Charles has represented clients at Small Claims trials in relation to a variety of contractual and property disputes. Examples of Charles’ current and recent work include:
- Representing a Defendant in respect of an alleged breach of an agency agreement in which the Judge found that no agreement had been reached.
- Representing a Claimant landlord in respect of damage caused during the course of a tenancy.
- Representing a Defendant in respect of unpaid invoices and a counterclaim based on the quality of works completed.
- Advising on and providing representation at a range of interim applications, including applications for set aside of default judgments and strike out.
Examples of work undertaken during Charles’ first six include:
- Preparing an application for an urgent injunction to restrain the further use of confidential information by a former employee.
- Drafting Particulars of Claim in respect of a claim for breach of directors’ duties and wrongful trading.
Qualifications
Bar Practice Course (Outstanding) – University of Law, Birmingham
LLM (Distinction) – University College London
LLB (First Class) – University of Leeds
Scholarships
Lord Denning Scholarship – Lincoln’s Inn
Head of School Module Prizes – University of Leeds
Publications
‘Gone Fishing: Legal Professional Privilege and Data Subject Access Requests in Trust Law (Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 352)’ (Case Note) (2020) 26 Trusts and Trustees 884
‘Donatio Mortis Causa and Suicide – An Anomaly within an Anomaly?’ (2018) 4 The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 367
Appointments and Memberships
Chancery Bar Association (Student Member)
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
