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Asela Wijeyaratne

Asela Wijeyaratne

Profile

Asela advises and acts in a broad range of civil and commercial matters with a particular focus on the areas listed below.

Recent and Current Practice

Asela is currently instructed on behalf of bereaved families in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Asela is also currently instructed (with Rupert Butler) by the estate of the late Lord Janner of Braunstone QC in The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Asela recently represented a bereaved family in the inquests arising from the terrorist attack in Sousse, Tunisia in June 2015.

Travel Litigation and Personal Injury

Asela has extensive experience in claims arising out of overseas accidents and illness and is ranked in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as a leading junior in the field of Travel Litigation.

He is regularly instructed in respect of claims under the Package Travel Regulations, including advising as to the applicability of the Regulations, new developments in the market such as dynamic packaging, incidents which occur in the course of excursions and evidence as to standards of care abroad. Asela receives instructions in connection with inquests arising from deaths abroad.

Asela also regularly undertakes cases where issues of jurisdiction and conflict of laws arise and frequently acts in claims pursued in the courts of England and Wales which are determined under foreign law. Asela has considerable expertise in the developing area of claims against EU Member State public liability insurers, foreign motor insurers and against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau for overseas road traffic accidents where drivers are untraced or uninsured.

Asela receives instructions pursuing and defending claims arising out of accidents and illnesses which occur in the course of air travel, in claims arising under the Warsaw Conventions and Montreal Convention. Asela also acts and advises in claims arising from flight delays and cancellations under the Denied Boarding Regulations. Asela has acted in claims arising from accidents and illnesses which occur at sea, including those pursued in the Admiralty Court jurisdiction and is well placed to advise on the procedural and substantive issues which are particular to such claims.

Asela also regularly advises and acts for claimants and insurers in the fields of public, employers’ and motor liability and is ranked in Legal 500 as a leading junior in the field of Personal Injury. He has particular experience in claims giving rise to complex issues of medical causation.

Property (including landlord and tenant)

Asela receives regular instruction in property disputes and particularly in contentious matters arising between landlords and tenants. He appears in the Property Chamber of the First-Tier Tribunal in service charge disputes and Right to Manage claims and advises landlords and tenants on the bringing and defending of applications and on enforcement.

Asela also advises and acts in possession and forfeiture claims, including advising on the entitlement to possession, drafting notices and pleadings and providing representation at hearings. He also has considerable experience in claims arising out of disrepair and dilapidation, both in the High Court and County Courts. Asela also has experience in claims involving easements and covenants, nuisance and trespass, boundary disputes and adverse possession.

Professional negligence and indemnity

Asela acts for both claimants and insurers in claims against professionals. He has experience in claims pursued against constructional professionals, surveyors and valuers, solicitors, barristers, licensed conveyancers and accountants. Asela gained valuable experience whilst on secondment with the London Markets team of a city firm where he assisted with defending high value claims against independent financial advisors and construction professionals, as well as advising insurers on notification and coverage.

Publications

Asela is a contributor to the APIL Guide to Accidents Abroad (Jordans 2013).

Legal Directories

Chambers & Partners 2018

'Asela has extensive knowledge of travel litigation and marine issues. He takes a logical and methodical approach, and has a confidence in court that is effective.'

'He is building a very good reputation among peers. Asela is a versatile commercial-minded advocate. He is both knowledgeable and realistic in his approach, always considering the end result.'

Legal 500 2017

‘A class act, who will be one of the stellar practitioners of the future.’

‘He is extremely approachable and is efficient at turning work around.’

Chambers & Partners, 2017: 

'He has a sensible commercial view, turns papers around quickly and is beyond his years in terms of experience and effectiveness.' 

'He is calm, approachable and provides sound, clear advice.'

'Not only is his written work good, he can also be both mild and aggressive as an advocate.'

Chambers & Partners, 2016:

'He is able to interpret the law easily and quickly, and explains issues in a straightforward manner.'

'He is a forward-thinking barrister who is willing to approach people and good at accommodating the clients' needs.'

Legal 500, 2016 

'He is a skilled and measured advocate.'

Chambers & Partners, 2015

'In court he is calm under pressure and thinks methodically; he's also very persuasive and never misses a thing.'

'Young, dynamic and ambitious.'

Legal 500, 2015

'Very approachable, extremely good with clients and very prompt at turning work around.'

Qualifications

LLM (International Law) (First Class), Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
LLB (First Class), King's College, London