Our expert team regularly defend public interest winding up petitions and can help get them dismissed from court. If a company has been wound up in the public interest, our team can help defend any director disqualification proceedings which will inevitably follow. Let our team help you avoid the worst consequences of a public interest petition.
As with all winding up petitions (including those presented by the Secretary of State as being in the public interest), the court is required to carry out a balancing exercise, considering the reasons as to why the company should be wound up against the reasons as to why the company should not be subject to a winding up order.
- with public interest winding up petitions, the court will consider the evidence put forward on behalf of the Secretary of State and compare it against the evidence submitted by other parties, including evidence on behalf of the company.
- often the evidence put forward by the Secretary of State will run to many hundreds, if not thousands of pages and will be very detailed.
- however, just because the Secretary of State is more experienced in these types of matters does not mean that the court will automatically attach more weight to their evidence.
The court also has to identify those aspects of the public interest which would be promoted by the making of a winding up order of the company. Therefore, the Secretary of State should, in their submissions, give reasons as to what aspects of public interest are affected by the activities of the company and why it is necessary for the company to be subject to a winding up order.
From the above, you will note that the burden of proof lies with the Secretary of State to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that it is just and equitable for the company to be subject to a winding up order. As such, the Secretary of State must put forward substantial reasons to justify the court into making a winding up order.
Francis Wilks & Jones is the county’s leading firm of public interest winding up petition solicitors. We are experts in what we do. If the Secretary of State has presented a public interest winding up petition against your company, we are there to help you. Contact us now – don’t delay.
If there was ever a star rating for law firms, Francis Wilks & Jones would score five stars plus. Professional and pro-active, they were able to understand my problem quickly, provide expert advice, outline a solution and put it into place with a successful outcome. I should have gone to them sooner
A client we successfully defended in director disqualification and insolvency related proceedings
