42BR Barristers - Alexander Bailey

Alexander Bailey

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Telephone 020 7831 0222 | Email [email protected]

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Alexander Bailey

Call 2022
Telephone 020 7831 0222 | Email [email protected]

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Alex has a broad Commercial Chancery practice, with a particular focus on commercial disputes, property, company law and insolvency. Alex frequently appears in the County Court and is regularly praised for the speed at which he is able to distil complex legal issues and convoluted fact patterns before then presenting persuasive arguments, both in written and oral form. 

Alex regularly welcomes instructions in Small Claim and Fast Track Trials, alongside also accepting instructions to act in possession hearings, CCMCs, winding up and bankruptcy petitions, and interlocutory hearings. Alex has also conducted trials over several days and is happy to accept Instructions to act in multi-day matters. 

Alongside regularly appearing in court, Alex also maintains a busy paperwork practice, and is frequently instructed to produce formal advices and draft proceedings.  

Before commencing practice at the Bar, Alex undertook the BCL at Christ Church, University of Oxford. Prior to the BCL, Alex obtained his LLB from Keele University, where upon completion, he was awarded the Maxwell Law Prize as the highest ranked student in a cohort of 212.

Career Prior to Law

Prior to changing to a career in law, Alex completed a Level 2 Diploma in Carpentry and Joinery. 
After then spending some time working in the hospitality industry, Alex moved to Australia where he lived for two years. In Australia, Alex continued to work in the hospitality industry whilst also working on a vineyard in Margaret River, where he worked alongside the fifth generation owner to make wine.

Commercial Law

Alex regularly acts in a broad range of Commercial matters, which have included: 

  • Contractual disputes (including misrepresentation, breach of warranty, termination, and damages);
  • Contractual construction and rectification; 
  • Promissory estoppel;
  • Professional Negligence;
  • Partnership Disputes;
  • Guarantees;
  • PPI; and
  • Unincorporated Associations. 

Company Law

Alex accepts Instructions in Company Law matters, and is currently involved in a matter wherein a company must be restored to the register in order to give effect to a transaction. 

Recent Cases

2026 - Alex successfully defended a solicitor in professional negligence proceedings.  

Property Law

Alex is frequently instructed in property litigation, and regularly represents landlords at possession hearings, in addition to drafting proceedings (Particulars of Claim, Defences and Replies). Alex’s work also encompasses:

  • TOLATA and Trusts of the Family Home (for which Alex has recently produced a Podcast for);
  • Matters involving easements and restrictive covenants;
  • Proprietary Estoppel;
  • Forfeiture proceedings;
  • Applications for charging orders; and
  • Rent arrears and disrepair claims, for both landlords and tenants. 

In a recent multi-day Fast Track Possession Trial, Alex was acting for a landlord wherein the other side was a Litigant in Person that was using Artificial Intelligence to produce arguments and respond to communications from their landlord. Having advised that those arguments had no merit, a strike out application was made. After the application was heard (lasting over 5 hours), the Defendant’s Defence was struck out and the landlord was granted possession of the property. 

Recent Cases

  • 2026 - Alex represented the respondent in an application to discharge a final charging order, heard in the High Court. 

Insolvency

Alex accepts instructions to appear in a broad range of insolvency related matters, and has been instructed on bankruptcy and winding up petitions, alongside other more complex insolvency related matters. 

Alex also spent a year as a fulltime Debt Adviser at the Citizens Advice, where he provided free legal advice to individuals experiencing financial issues, with a specific focus on insolvency options. This has given Alex an in-depth view into the issues often faced by both creditors and debtors. 

 

Private Client

Alex has a busy and growing private client practice covering Estate and Trusts matters and has experience working and advising upon issues in a number of areas, including:

  • 1975 Act Claims
  • The construction of specific terms within a Will
  • Issues arising out of and from mirror Wills
  • Applications to remove Executors

Housing Law

Alex accepts instructions to act for landlords (private and social) and tenants in all stages of a broad range of proceedings (including possession, disrepair and anti-social behaviour injunctions) from the initial drafting of pleadings to representation at hearings.

Areas of Expertise


Scholarships and Awards

  • Lord Denning Scholarship
  • Lord Neuberger Prize
  • Advocacy Scholarship (Maximum Award)

BPTC

  • Opinion Writing (Highest Grade in the Region, and Second Highest Nationally out of over 800 students)

Undergraduate Degree

  • The Maxwell Law Prize (as the highest ranked Law Finalist in a cohort of 212)
  • The Michael Whincup Award for the best overall performance in Year 2 Law
  • The MFG Solicitors Prize for the Law Student of the Year at Keele University (given for outstanding academic ability and wider contribution to the Law School)
  • The Vice Chancellors Commendation Award (first Keele undergraduate chosen to be the recipient of this prize, whilst also being the sole undergraduate in 2019 to be given the award. Alexander remains the only Law Student to be awarded this prize, to date)
  • The Pinsent Masons Prize for the best performance in Year 3 Employment Law  
  • The Dugdale Award for the best performance in Year 2 Contract Law
  • The BLM Prize (awarded to the law student with the most improved grades from Year 1 to Year 2)
  • The McMurtrie Prize (as the mature student with the most improved grades from Year 1 to Year 2) 

Module prizes (awarded for attaining the highest grade in each of the following nine subjects):  Contract 1 and 2, Criminal Law 1 and 2, Equity, Law of the European Union 1 and 2, Business Leases, and Employment Law

Alex’s Criminal Law 2 Grade was (and remains as of 2024) the highest awarded in the Faculty’s History

Winner of the Keele University Mooting Competition, and named “Best Advocate” by Lord Hodge who judged the Final, which was held in the Supreme Court


Access to Higher Education Course

  • Student of the Year Prize (Awarded for Academic Excellence, Resilience and Perseverance)

Education

  • BCL, Christ Church, University of Oxford (Courses undertaken: Restitution of Unjust Enrichment, Commercial Remedies, Business Taxation in a Global Economy and International Law of the Sea)
  • Law LLB (Hons) - Keele University (1st, Ranked first in year in a cohort of 212)
  • BPTC (Very Competent)

Interests

Outside of work, Alex’s main interests are travelling ‘off grid’, cycling and undertaking carpentry projects.
 
In addition to living in a remote part of Australia for two years, Alex has made numerous connections in both Vietnam and Thailand and in 2018 he travelled 3500 miles across Vietnam by motorbike.

Related News

Alexander Bailey features in Counsel Magazine

Alexander Bailey features in Counsel Magazine

In this piece, Alex shines a light on the holistic benefits of carpentry — from creativity and problem-solving to the grounding value of working with your hands. 

Published: 12th Jan 2026

Home Truths – Summary of all Grounds for Possession

Home Truths – Summary of all Grounds for Possession

Iris Ferber KC and Alex Bailey provide an all-in-one overview of every single ground for possession, in the new version of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (as it will look after the Renters' Rights Bill becomes law).

Published: 7th Aug 2025

Awards & Recognition











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