At 2TG our people are hard-working, forward-thinking and approachable. We believe our supportive culture is one of our greatest strengths.
With the set comprising around 60 barristers, we know each other well and work effectively together. We often operate in large teams with clients. Our practice management team is modern and commercial, matching barrister experience thoughtfully to clients’ requirements.
At 2TG our barristers are expert in a broad range of complementary practice areas and we enjoy repeat instructions from a variety of loyal clients.
Practised advocates from the start, all our Silks and the vast majority of our Junior barristers are recognised as leaders in their chosen fields. Many of us are at the forefront of shaping the law in our specialist areas and we pride ourselves in having excellent industry knowledge.
At 2TG our barristers have excellent experience acting across a range of industry sectors and we are able to offer advice in an informed and commercial context.
Our combination of practice area excellence and industry expertise means we possess real insight into the commercial realities facing our clients operating in these areas. Secondment plays an important part of our commitment to developing our skills and understanding.
2TG is home to award-winning accredited mediators, arbitrators, adjudicators and experts with considerable experience of alternative dispute resolution.
Our barristers are also skilled as advocates in different alternative dispute resolution procedures and work strategically with clients to understand their commercial objectives, and then to resolve litigation as cost-effectively and expeditiously as possible.
Work with an international dimension forms a significant part of many barristers’ work at 2TG.
We appear in international courts and arbitral tribunals all over the world, frequently acting on complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. We are particularly well-known for managing cross border litigation on matters of jurisdiction and applicable law and appear regularly in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
At 2TG, in addition to our professional advice, we are recognised for our excellent contribution to education and development. We provide regular high-quality training.
Our reputation among the legal profession and other clients for our first-rate webinars and in-person conferences is very important to us. We also contribute frequently at industry events and as editors of leading texts and authors on topics of legal interest.
Austin Mahler’s practice focuses on commercial litigation and insolvency, specialising in construction, insurance, product liability, and property damage. He also has experience in cross-border arbitration and travel law.
He has been instructed in a range of disputes including the Kenya Emergency Group Litigation and Redbourn Group v Fairgate Group [2018] EWHC 658 (TCC), successfully resisting a claim for the lost chance to earn fees in a development contract (led by Andrew Miller QC). Austin worked with the GLD in SPL v DEFRA, a claim for over £50 million in Francovich damages for denial of payments under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. Since the start of 2019 he has been, instructed in the Dame Linda Dobbs Review into the Lloyds Banking Group. He has a keen interest in repudiatory breach and loss-of-chance issues in construction disputes.
Prior to joining Chambers, Austin read Law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was elected President of the Cambridge Union Society. His LLM dissertation, examining the enforcement of arbitration awards tainted by foreign illegality, was among the top in his year at LSE. While studying international arbitration and public international law, Austin competed in the Jessup International Law Moot and the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Austin has since taught himself New York law and was admitted as a New York State Attorney in the summer of 2019.
Austin regularly appears in the High Court and County Court in all levels of claims and applications, including interim applications before both Masters and Judges. Austin appears in the High Court (Chancery Division) Interim Applications Court acting pro bono as part of the CLIPS scheme. He has been seconded to Pinsent Masons, where he worked with the property damage team. In 2018 he was seconded to Mills & Reeve, where he assisted the commercial team in a number of Norwich Pharmacal applications and freezing injunctions.
Austin acts for both claimants and defendants in contractual and tortious commercial disputes. He has appeared both led and as sole junior in a number of cases involving allegations of repudiatory breach of construction contracts and loss-of-a-chance.
Austin brings a pragmatic and commercial approach to these cases, backed up with exhaustive research. In a quantum trial in the TCC in Redbourn Group v Fairgate Group [2018] EWHC 658, Austin and his leader, Andrew Miller QC, successfully argued that the defendant’s breach of a construction and development contract did not cause the claimant to lose a chance to earn performance fees. He has since assisted in a high-value commercial arbitration arising out of the breakdown of a multinational hydrocarbon joint-venture.
Acting recently on behalf of the claimant following the breakdown of a waste disposal facility construction contract, Austin drafted pleadings and provided advice leading to a swift and generous pre-issue settlement. He has also prepared the successful application for an expedited trial in a case involving alleged breaches of an SPA and funds held in a time-limited escrow account following the sale of a pharmaceutical company: Takeda Pharmaceutical v Fougera Sweden Holding 2 [2017] EWHC 1402 (Ch).
Austin has also been instructed in matters related to enforcement of restrictive covenants and the protection of commercially sensitive data. He accepts instructions in freezing injunctions and non-party disclosure orders.
Redbourn Group v Fairgate Group [2018] EWHC 658
Takeda Pharmaceutical v Fougera Sweden Holding 2 [2017] EWHC 1402 (Ch)
Austin is instructed both for and against insurers in coverage and subrogation related disputes. He is currently instructed in cases relating to avoidance for misrepresentation under the law both before and after the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012. He recently advised BUPA on its right to bring a subrogated claim for the cost of health care for an employee covered by the employer’s group insurance policy. He has also advised a real estate insurer in an indemnity claim involving the question of whether a free-standing seawall fell within ‘buildings’ cover.
Austin is building a practice in disputes involving conflicts of law. He has acted on behalf of both claimants and defendants in travel law cases and has been instructed as sole junior in a claim involving breach of a contract for the international sale of goods.
Austin taught himself New York law and passed the New York State Bar Exam and Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. He has completed his qualifications and is currently awaiting admission to the New York State Bar.
Austin has appeared in the Winding-Up Court and in the county courts in insolvency and debt recovery matters and has advised in a range of related disputes. He has recently advised on a proposed claim against the receivers and liquidators of Anglo Irish Bank following the financial crisis.
Austin regularly appears in a range of trials, interim hearings, and appeals in personal injury cases. He is also often instructed to settle pleadings and advise in conference. He has particular experience in navigating costs in QOCS cases.
He was instructed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to assist with the Kenya Emergency Group Litigation (Kimathi & Others v Foreign & Commonwealth Office), a case involving over 40,000 claimants alleging personal injuries arising out of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya during the 1950s.
Kimathi & Others v Foreign & Commonwealth Office
My contact details:
ICO Reg No: ZA249120
Address: 2 Temple Gardens, London, EC4Y 9AY
Email: clerks@2tg.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7822 1200
The type of personal information I collect
To enable me to provide you with legal advice and representation in courts, tribunals, arbitrations and mediations, I currently collect and process the following personal information:
Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name, date of birth and contact details), bank and financial details, your background and circumstance and education.
Other personal data relevant to, or included in instructions to provide legal services, including data specific to the instructions in question and data included in documents provided to me as part of instructions or otherwise.
Such information may include personal information relating to family members, associates, agents, employees, shareholders or beneficial owners. By providing such personal information to me, you automatically confirm that you are authorised to do so. It is not reasonably practicable for me to provide the information set out in this Privacy Notice to those individuals. Accordingly, where appropriate, you are responsible for providing this information to any such individuals.
Where necessary, I may also need to process Special Category data about you including
How I get the personal information and why I have it
Most of the personal information that I process is provided to me directly by you or via the professional you have instructed such as a solicitor or consultant or other professional adviser who instructs me on your behalf to provide legal services.
I use the information that you have given me in order to
I may share this information with
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis I rely on for processing this information is
How I store your personal information
Your information is securely stored in Chambers or at my home. I use reasonable technical and organisational security measures such as password protection and encryption of computer generated data and keeping paper data secure to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or destroyed, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way.
In this connection, Chambers, as data processor, acting on my behalf, will only process your personal data on my instructions and is subject to a duty of confidentiality.
The data will be held in line with any regulatory obligations and generally be kept for 6 years but may be 12 years, or longer where, for example, the case includes information relating to a minor, from the date of completion of instructions. At this point any further retention will be reviewed and the data will be marked for deletion or marked for retention for a further period.
All data will be securely deleted or securely shredded after this time without reference to you. I will store some of your information which I need to carry out conflict checks for the rest of my career. However, this is likely to be limited only to your name and contact details and the name of the case. It will not include any information that is “sensitive information” for GDPR purposes.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Transfer of your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
This privacy notice is of general application and as such it is not possible to state whether it will be necessary to transfer your information out of the EEA. If I do transfer your personal data I will use safeguards to ensure the data is fully protected as required by the UK Data Protection Regulations.
Changes to my Privacy Policy
From time to time, I may need to make chances to my privacy policy. If so, the changes will appear on my entry on the 2TG website.
Marketing
As above, I may share your personal data with Chambers who may in turn use that data to notify you by email, or post about an invitation to seminars and similar events. You may opt out of receiving any such marketing communications at any time by using the “unsubscribe” link in any emails. In relation to how Chambers uses such data, please see Chambers’ privacy policy. Other than sharing personal data with Chambers as described above, I will not share your information with any other third party for marketing purposes.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about my use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to me or to my Senior Clerk, Lee Tyler at 2 Temple Gardens, London, EC4Y 9AY or clerks@2tg.co.uk. You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
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