Over the past 18 months, the team has been busy dealing with not only ongoing work, but issues which have arisen as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Landlords had to cope with a moratorium on commercial repossessions, for instance, while neighbours who have been working from home have taken more notice of the land around them and have realised that their neighbour’s boundary isn’t where they thought it should be.
The CooperBurnett Property Litigation team is headed up by Partner John Spence. A member of the Property Litigation Association, he has 20 years’ experience in all aspects of property disputes, including residential and commercial landlord and tenant work, dilapidations and service change disputes, business and residential possession claims. He also advises on land law disputes, leasehold enfranchisement and right to manage claims. In addition, he has developed a niche involving party wall and right to light cases.
“When I was training, property litigation was the subject I enjoyed the most,” John explains. “I like being there to solve a knotty problem for a client.”
Associate Legal Executive, Lee Quickenden, joined the Property Litigation team in March 2020, just as the country first locked down. Although this was a challenging time, he soon settled into the firm and says he’s enjoyed the mix of both property litigation and contentious probate and trust work that’s come across his desk.
Lee says that he was also drawn to property litigation, as it involves helping people.
“Our clients are always facing a challenge and, particularly when it comes to residential property litigation, there’s a real person there who needs support and it’s so satisfying to help them when they are struggling,” he explains. “In my personal life, I’m a pretty laid back person and I suspect that having the outlet of being able to argue a case on behalf of a client, allows me to be like that.”
As we slowly emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, John and Lee will be giving their thoughts on the way ahead for property litigation in forthcoming blogs.
For any Property Litigation matters, please do contact the team on tel: 01892 515022 or on email: js@cooperburnett.com (for John Spence) or @lkq@cooperburnett.com (for Lee Quickenden).
