England - London • Real estate
2

Property litigation

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

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Working across the whole spectrum of property litigation, the ‘strong and well-resourced’ practice at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP features particular expertise in rights of light and leasehold enfranchisement matters. The team also contains experts in London Urban Estates and the telecoms sector, particularly the Electronic Communications Code. 'Outstanding lawyer' Emma Humphreys has a particular focus on break rights, insolvency matters and rent arrears. 'Superbly gifted practitioner' James Souter leads the firm’s enfranchisement group and has a notable specialism in development-related work. David Haines leads the team, splitting his time between London and Guildford.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘A very strong and well-resourced team across different regions who work well collectively.’

  • ‘James Souter is commercially savvy and on top of recent trends.'

  • 'Georgina Muskett is hardworking, diligent and extremely committed, with a keen eye for detail.’

  • ‘Emma Humphreys makes the practice unique. She is an outstanding lawyer. The team is well organised with matters resourced effectively across the London and Cheltenham offices. Always well appraised of developments and trends within the market.’

  • ‘Emma Humphreys is an outstanding lawyer. She is commercial in her approach, with an excellent understanding of our business and the issues we face.’

  • 'Georgina Muskett is extremely able. She single-handedly dragged a case that we were working on together back from oblivion - when our expert witness could no longer give evidence. Her management was very, very impressive, and we subsequently won the case. I could not speak more highly of her.’

  • ‘Absolutely top expertise in rights to light. They combine hard work and imagination.'

  • ‘James Souter knows more about rights to light than anyone - a superbly gifted practitioner with enormous flair and imagination.’

Key clients

  • Church Commissioners for England
  • Howard de Walden Estates Limited
  • Ballymore Group
  • Stonegate Pub Company Limited
  • abrdn
  • London & Cambridge Properties
  • Derwent London Plc
  • Eton College
  • Actis LLP
  • Pivotal Homes
  • Workspace Group
  • London Hotels Collection
  • RCL Cruises
  • Bellway Homes Ltd
  • Berkeley Group
  • Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd
  • Manhattan Loft Corporation
  • The Merchant Taylors’ Company
  • Hollybrook Limited

Work highlights

  • Advising Ballymore on a variety of commercial lease and telecoms disputes and successfully recovering possession of a commercial unit from squatters.
  • Acting on behalf of the Church Commissioners in an unusual application to determine the apportionment of garden rates under an Estate Management Scheme.
  • Acting on behalf of the Church Commissioners to recover possession of a commercial unit after the dissolution of the tenant company and unlawful occupation by one of its former directors, including setting aside an injunction.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Emma Humphreys
Hall of fameCharles Russell Speechlys LLP
Emma advises on the full range of contentious property issues, including insolvency matters, arrears, break rights, dilapidations and 1954 Act renewals. Emma also deals with contractual and development disputes, specialising in rights of light, restrictive covenants and Electronic Communications Code issues, including the removal of telecoms masts. Her work is advisory – to avoid and/or settle disputes - as well as involving the conduct of litigation.Emma lectures widely on property litigation issues and writes for various publications, including the Estates Gazette and the Property Law Journal. Emma also summarises cases dealing with easements and restrictive covenants for the Property Law UK website. Emma is an honorary member of Arbrix and a member of the RICS Telecommunication Forum. She is also former Chair of the Training and Education Committee of The Property Litigation Association and has sat as a member of the Steering Group of the RICS Dilapidations Forum and the South East Committee of Women in Property.Experience: acted on behalf of Arqiva Limited in claims against three mobile network operators, including Everything Everywhere and Orange; instructed by two investors who bought shares in a company designed to purchase the Pinnacle site in London and who sought the return of their investment or an account of any profit (the case, Abbar v SEDCO Real Estate Ltd & Ors [2013] EWHC 1414 (Ch), included the challenge of reviewing 12,000 documents in a matter of weeks); acted on behalf of Osborne (Bournemouth) Limited in relation to its claim issued against Bournemouth Borough Council in connection with the termination of a development agreement; achieved success for a landlord client in opposing the grant of a renewal lease to Santander, on the basis of a proposed redevelopment (both at first instance and on appeal (Santander UK plc v LCP Estates Limited [2018] EWHC 2193 (Ch)), it was confirmed that the test under “ground (f)” of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 had been satisfied by our client’s plans and the building lease granted to Metrobank).
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
James Souter
Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
James specialises in all disputes relating to the use and occupation of land. He also has a significant advisory practice aimed at dispute avoidance. He has a wide-ranging client base which includes developers, investors, corporate, leisure and retail occupiers, and high-net-worth individuals. He has considerable experience acting for clients in the higher courts and specialist property tribunals. James is recognised as an expert in the field of leasehold enfranchisement, which has been developed through acting for one of the largest London estates as well as other landlords and a wide variety of tenants. He also has a strong practice advising developers in relation to rights to light and other neighbourly matters. Experience: advised Derwent London on a large central London development site, including devising and implementing a vacant possession strategy and mitigating a significant rights to light risk; acted for Scottish Widows on a multimillion-pound damages claim by a tenant of a trading estate on the outskirts of London – the tenant succeeded in the High Court but the decision was subsequently reversed by the Court of Appeal; acted for the Howard de Walden Estate on a wide variety of ground-breaking claims which have helped to clarify the law in relation to the enfranchisement of flats; advised the Direct Line Group in relation to the successful exercise of a complex conditional break clause in the lease of a large office building in Bristol.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

David Haines

Other key lawyers

Emma Humphreys, James Souter, Georgina Muskett, Lauren Fraser

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