George Crofton-Martin - Senior Solicitor

Areas of Specialism

Commercial Dispute Resolution, general commercial and contract disputes, competition law and construction. Experience in these fields includes franchise disputes, health and safety and regulatory matters, shareholder, company and partnership disputes, professional negligence and intellectual property.

Career

George joined Furley Page in 2005. He graduated from the University of Kent with a degree in Politics, Government and Law and then completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Law at City University and the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in London, attaining a distinction in each of these.

He provides comprehensive, practical advice in straightforward language. A strong commercial focus, coupled with his pro-active legal approach, means George is able to explore, quickly and cost effectively, the available options to secure the best practical solution without necessarily having recourse to litigation.

George advises across a wide range of commercial disputes in all levels of the English Courts. In Europe he has represented a client at the European Court of First instance in Luxembourg. During the course of his work on Health & Safety and Regulatory matters George has represented a number of clients in both Magistrates’ and Crown Courts; as well as in Public Inquires and at Tribunal.

George is a member of the Furley Page specialist Care Sector Team, dealing with issues specifically arising in the health and social care sector.

Experience

Recent notable cases include:

• Acting for a claimant in a Civil Fraud Claim recovering damages of £170,000
• Successfully appealing a refusal by the Office of Harmonisation in the  Internal markets to register a trade mark to the European Court of First Instance
• Advising a claimant in a professional negligence claim against their former solicitors and securing damages in excess of £ 50,000
• Advising one of four defendants in a multi-party construction dispute and successfully defeating the claim and recovering costs
• Advising a celebrity in ‘passing-off’ proceedings-  the client’s photograph had been used to promote a third party’s services without consent and following the successful suit the picture was removed and costs were recovered
• Advising a client on a prospective  action against two international IT companies for anti-competitive behavior and breaches of competition law
• Successfully defending a corporate client and its managing director in respect of alleged breaches of Health & Safety and Regulatory legislation (which carried possible penalties of 5 years imprisonment and fines of up to £400,000) and recovering costs
• Representing a company in breach Health & Safety Regulations, the mitigation pleas advanced resulted in a fine of £6,000 as compared with possible fines of £75,000

Memberships

Member of Health and Safety Lawyers’ Association.