EXPERTISE - Bartos Arbitration

Specialist Knowledge

Building on over 25 years’ experience as an advocate in the areas of partnership, property, and commercial law, I was a Scottish Law Commissioner from 2020 to 2025 leading projects on commercial leases.
Since 2009 having arbitrated many contractual disputes and from 2010 to 2020 decided numerous cases coming before the Housing and Property Chamber tribunal. I am a co-author of the leading book on Scottish arbitration.

1A

As Scottish Law Commissioner I led projects on the termination of commercial leases (leading to the Leases (Automatic Continuation etc) (Scotland) Bill) and on the Tenancy of Shops (Scotland) Act.

1B

I have acted in complex disputes involving commercial leases, farming and professional partnerships, access to property and boundaries.

2A

Together with international arbitrator Hew Dundas I have co-authored:

“Dundas and Bartos on the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010” pub. W.Green – (2nd edn, 2014)

The Scottish chapter in “Interim Measures in International Arbitration” (eds Newman/Ong) pub. Juris 2015.

2B

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators since 2007, I was involved in the drafting of the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010. I was a first-tier tribunal judge in the Housing and Property Chamber for 10 years.

3A

I have considerable and varied experience in commercial disputes ranging from supply of goods and services to loans, guarantees and securities and the effect of insolvency. Interpretation of contracts, legislation and other documents is a particular speciality.

3B

My interpretation of a trust deed for creditors (insolvency scheme) was upheld by the UK Supreme Court in Dooneen v. Mond (2018) UKSC 54.

A key advantage of arbitration is having an expert decide the dispute.

That means expertise in :

The subject matter in dispute

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Arbitration procedure and practice

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Commercial Lease & Property
disputes including

Rent reviews of commercial premises e.g. hotel, industrial site (legal aspects)
Irritancy (forfeiture) notices
Notices to quit by landlord or tenant
Shop lease extensions under statute
Dilapidations and breach of tenant’s repairing obligation
Commercial lease assignations (transfers) by one tenant to another
Occupation agreements : lease or licence ?
Access rights pedestrian or vehicular
Water supply rights
Parking rights
Missives of sale or lease

Partnership
disputes over

valuation of partner’s share in firm at dissolution or resignation
partner’s resignation
effect of resignation, expulsion and death
extent of property owned by firm or individual partner
existence of loan by firm to partner
legacies in wills of partners’ shares
allocation of profits of partnership

Where a partner dies there can be a complex interaction between partnership and inheritance law. Detailed knowledge of both is required to reach the correct answer.

Other Commercial
disputes

Supply of offshore containers (international)
Supply of medical equipment
Supply of payroll services
Supply of waste water treatment systems
Supply of renewable heat incentive material
Supply of scaffolding parts
Contract for procuring a development
Effect of guarantees
Share purchase agreement
Insolvency claims
Validity of “severance” and “entire contract” clauses in commercial contracts
Auction sales of cattle

Testimonials

“I would concur with [these] sentiments regarding the way the arbitration has been handled and in my view this has provided an effective way of settling our dispute.”

Comments of the other party

“Many thanks for your prompt and careful attention to matters throughout.”