Services for you

Our highly respected Dispute Resolution Team is able to deliver easy to understand advice that is focused specifically on individual requirements. We believe that resolving disputes is not necessarily about going to Court and we will work closely with you to find the best solution.

We have advised on and secured successful outcomes in disputes covering a broad spectrum of commercial activity.

We represent clients in the following areas:

• • Whether you are the owner of property that you let out or whether you live in rented property you may need our help in relation to an area of law that struggles to be fair to both sides - everyone who owns a property believes it is reasonable that he should be able to get it back from his tenant when he wants it. On the other hand those who live in rented property feel that they should have security in their home which they may have occupied for a long time.

    The law relating to landlord and tenant is created by statute. It changes from time to time and we pride ourselves on keeping up to date.

    Business tenancies have the same and further different problems - business landlords may wish to recover their own property, may wish to put the rent up etc,.etc.. Similarly business tenants especially in the time of recession may feel that they would be entitled to a reduction in rent, may feel that the landlord is not maintaining the property and yet is charging a service charge. We can advise accurately, effectively and impartially in all of these situations.

    Contact us before trying to sort it out yourself. There are areas in law where you can make matters worse rather then better by doing the wrong thing at an early stage. Time limits are always critical and are often tight.

• • Family considerations often make it difficult to challenge a Will following the loss of a loved one but in many cases there is only six months from the date of the Grant of Probate in which to do so. Consulting with an independent professional specialist often reduces personal animosity between those who benefit by operation of Law and those who think morally they should receive something.

    CHALLENGING A WILL

    It is possible to challenge a Will where: it has not made adequate provision for a close family member or dependent e.g. spouse, unmarried partner or young child. The deceased lacked mental capacity, the deceased was pressurised or subjected to undue influence by those upon whom he or she was dependent.

    We have experience in all sorts of dispute relating to Wills and would be pleased to advise you as to the way forward, whether you have a claim and how we might help without you having to incur large sums in fees.

• • With an individual or a business, financial difficulties are all too common these days. However, there are alternatives to going bankrupt as an individual and there are many ways that a Limited Company can avoid going into liquidation.

    Bankruptcy can compromise your credit rating for the future and make your day to day financial dealings extremely difficult in the short term and we would always recommend that you seek our advice before going down that road.

    We work closely with local insolvency practitioners who offer our clients an initial free consultation on our recommendation and we can advise you on individual voluntary arrangements, how to deal with your creditors if you wish to avoid their petition for your bankruptcy.

    We can advise you in relation to your position as a company director. We can also advise you if you do not admit the debt that is claimed against you.

    Company insolvency - we can advise directors and creditors of companies whether the issue is liquidation, administration or administrative receivership. We can advise whether to go into voluntary arrangements and regarding civil liability of directors, reservation of title and acting on behalf of Law of Property Act Receivers.

• • Strong fences make good neighbours; an old but true saying. Most properties today comprise of registered land. Deeds are less important and the filed plan at the Land Registry is what counts. That is based upon an ordinance survey plan on such a small scale that a line on the plan measures roughly 1 metre on the ground. Nevertheless our experienced litigation department can advise in relation to all sorts of property disputes regarding boundaries, problems with trees and hedges. We can advise with regard to the old deeds and registered land (current deeds and unregistered land), plans, the surrounding circumstances and obtaining witness evidence in the event of a dispute. We have good links with specialist surveyors some of whom work on a national level to avoid or resolve boundary disputes which can be unpleasant - an Englishman’s home is his castle etc. We can advise on party wall rights, problems arising over the building of extensions and our experienced planning department can assist not only in relation to your own planning applications but possible problems caused by those of your neighbours.

    Neighbours themselves, even where the boundaries are clear, can cause problems by their behaviour their activities and possibly even their threats and violence. We have extremely strong experience in obtaining injunctions in such cases-sometimes it is necessary to tread softly but other times it is necessary to act decisively and firmly. We fit the action to the circumstances.