James has experience of dealing with a range of property disputes, from landlord and tenant (commercial or residential) to proprietary estoppel and trust disputes (including express and constructive trusts), adverse possession claims, boundary disputes and easement / right of way disputes. James also has significant experience of property disputes in the context of contentious probate.
Recent Cases
- Acting for a defendant at a trial in the High Court arising out of a dispute over liability in respect of a retaining wall collapse, and whether that collapse was caused by building works or by inherent defects, water discharge or plant growth.
- Advising a major brewery as to its position in respect of an historic guarantee of an authorised guarantee agreement relied upon by a current landlord in respect of a nightclub which had defaulted on its rent during the pandemic but which apparently remains operating.
- Acting at trial for the successful claimants in relation to a claim for declarations as to the locations of two boundaries and successfully defending a counterclaim in nuisance in which it was alleged that the discharge of rainwater from their property to the defendants’ lower property caused dampness in the lower property. The trial was heard over 6 days and involved two sets of experts on each side.
- Acting for the successful claimants at trial in respect of a boundary dispute and dispute about the discharge of water from neighbouring higher property onto a lower property.
- Acting for the successful defendants at trial in respect of a claim and counterclaim arising out of defects in a London house divided into flats where the dispute related to the historical removal of chimney breasts, the case involving disputed expert advice on both sides.
- Appearing successfully at a strike-out application and subsequent trial in a claim brought by a landowner against owners of neighbouring property for declarations that the claimant’s property has space to park vehicles, the judge ruling at the strike-out application that it was sufficient for the purposes of seeking a declaration that the neighbouring land-owner only had an easement over the land in respect of which a declaration was sought, rather than ownership of it.
- Acting for the defendant in a claim brought by a former co-habitant of a valuable inherited property in London on the basis of an alleged but disputed oral agreement said to give rise to a constructive trust, and a counter-claim brought in respect of the alleged misappropriation of the defendant’s money by the claimant over the course of a number of years.
- Appearing successfully in a trial of a harassment claim for diminution in value of property arising out of an historic but resolved boundary dispute.
- Acting for the claimant in a claim to forfeit mixed residential and commercial property for non-payment of rent.
- Advising a party to a boundary dispute involving adverse possession of a strip of land at the end of a garden in London that had recently been purchased by a neighbouring landowner from a developer.
- Acting for the claimant in the trial of a successful claim for monies owed for building works arising out of the refurbishment of a vineyard and visitor centre in Devon, and defending an unsuccessful counterclaim arising out of allegedly defective works.
- Acting for the claimants (franchisor and franchisee) in a claim against their landlord of commercial hospitality premises arising out of persistent water leakage into and a partial collapse of those premises.
- Acting for claimants in a claim for specific performance of a settlement agreement arising out of an intimated claim under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 for a new tenancy of commercial premises.
Reported Cases
- Akram v Academy Doors and Windows Ltd. [2023] EWHC 1653 (KB) – Apeared for the successful respondent in an appeal against a first instance decision that an individual rather than a company was the contracting party in a domestic refurbishment contract which the judge at first instance had found had been breached, and various other matters relating to the contract.
- Gell v 32 St. John’s Road (Eastbourne) Management Co. Ltd. [2021] EWCA Civ. 789, [2021] 1 W. L. R. 6094, [2022] H. L. R. 5. [2021] L. & T. R. 26 – Acted pro bono for the appellant in an appeal of a decision made by a circuit judge itself made on appeal. The Court of Appeal, noting that it was surprising that, in the 35 years since the passage of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the point had not been determined, ruled that the question of the reasonableness of service charges could only be determined by the court if and insofar as this was raised by the defendant in a statement of case, and thus that the defendant is not entitled to ask the court to adjudicate on this issue after his defence has been struck out (as in this case) or after default judgment has been entered.
