“Max Hope is outstanding. He is commercial, knowledgeable, and the right level of aggressive with the opponents.” Legal 500, Leading Partner, 2025.

“An exceptional commercial litigator.” Legal 500, Leading Partner, 2025.

A Legal 500 named “Leading Partner”, Max has 20 years’ experience resolving a broad variety of complex corporate, commercial, and personal disputes through litigation, arbitration, and mediation. As a higher courts commercial litigator, business owner, and mediator, Max leverages a broad skillset to ensure powerful and effective resolution to a wide variety of commercial disputes.

Max is regularly instructed as a mediator in the resolution of commercial disputes where clients wish to avoid the costs of protracted litigation.

Before joining Phillips, Max practiced at Linklaters, CMS, and Clyde & Co. Max studied Law at Kings College London (LLB, AKC), and the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. Max also served for a period as an officer in the British Army in Germany and Afghanistan.

The types of legal dispute that Max is instructed on include:

• Breach of contract;
• Professional negligence;
• Shareholder disputes and unfair prejudice;
• Breach of directors’ duties;
• Intellectual property;
• Fraud;
• Insurance coverage disputes;
• Tax
• Regulatory investigations;
• Defamation, libel and slander; and
• Commercial and residential property.

Recent work highlights include:

• Acting for the former Chief Commercial Officer of an international online marketplace in a £17m claim for shares accrued during employment.
• Pursuing a £4m unfair prejudice petition in the High Court on behalf of an exiting CEO of a television shopping channel.
• Appealing a case to the Supreme Court dealing with points of restitution and the law of unjust enrichment.
• Acting as mediator in the break-up of a £100m family company following a dispute between shareholders and directors.
• Defeating a national firm of surveyors in a claim against our client for contractual inducement in a team move to a competitor.