Daniella was admitted to Practice in Jamaica in 1994 and as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 2002. She graduated from the University of the West Indies where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree and thereafter from the University of Dundee in Scotland having obtained a Bachelor of Laws Degree with Honours. Daniella practices in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, commercial law, banking and finance. In civil and commercial litigation Daniella has experience in various matters involving issues such as negligence including medical, contract and company disputes, property disputes including contested restrictive covenant applications, mortgages, banking, and corporate insolvency and judicial review applications. She appears as Counsel and also as instructing Attorney in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Jamaica and has also appeared in the Privy Council in England. Daniella has appeared in a number of cases such as:
- Bastion Holdings Limited v Jorril Financial Inc. [2007] UK PC 60 in which case the Privy Council had to determine inter alia whether or not the validity and bona fides of an agreement for the sale of shares in a company was properly determined on an application to vary a mareva injunction (“freezing order”) to permit the completion of the agreement for the sale of shares in a company.
- Palmyra Resorts & Spa Limited et al v RBC Royal Bank (Jamaica ) Limited, RBC Royal Bank (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited and NCB Capital Markets Limited [2016] JMSC Civ 113 in which on an application to strike out a claim and for summary judgment the court had to grapple with a number of issues with respect to companies in receivership such as the powers of the directors to conduct litigation of a company where a receiver has been appointed; the duty of a receiver with respect to the carrying out of the business of a company and the debenture holders’ liability for the negligence of the receiver in the receivership in general and in their appointment of the receiver.
- Donovan Foote v Capital & Credit Merchant Bank Limited & The Gleaner Company Limited [2012] JMCA App 14 in which the court addressed the issue of a mortgagee’s exercise of its powers of sale and in what circumstances may this power be restrained by a mortgagor.
- Symbiote Investments Limited v Minister of Science and Technology and Office of Utilities Regulation [2019] JMCA App 8 in which case the Court of Appeal set aside permission to appeal and refused a stay of execution. The matter arose out of the Minister of Science and Technology (“the Minister”), upon the recommendation of the Office of Utilities Regulation, revoking telecommunication licences issued to Symbiote Investments Limited (“Symbiote”). Symbiote sought leave for judicial review to quash this decision which was refused by the Supreme Court on the 7thDecember, 2018. Symbiote therefore applied for permission to appeal and for an injunction or a stay of the implementation of the Minister’s decision.
Over the years Daniella has represented and continues to represent the Regulator of the Telecommunications and Electric Power industries and also a number of the main financial institutions in Jamaica, including building societies and one of the world leading protection organisation for doctors and healthcare professionals with respect to medical claims.
On the commercial side, Daniella prepares and reviews banking and security documentation and other contracts such as Shareholders and Joint Venture Agreements and Sale of Business.
Daniella is the current chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council and is the chairman of the Advertising Committee of the General Legal Council. She is a member of the Jamaican Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales.
Email: dgentles@lival.co