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Painsmith Solicitors Limited trading as Painsmith Solicitors, Director: Marveen Smith. Registered No. 07617210.
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Emma qualified as a solicitor in 2010 after completing her academic training at Bournemouth University and the University of Law, Guildford.
After undertaking her training contract at a large firm on the south coast she began her career with the same firm before accepting a position with PainSmith Solicitors in November 2012.
Emma specialises in all aspects of property litigation and can assist in resolving most disputes, regularly acting for landlords and land owners in connection with dilapidations disputes, forfeiture and possession claims, land registration disputes, building and boundary disputes, and recovery of arrears and other debts.
Emma is also able to draft up to date tenancy documentation, being fully conversant with all relevant requirements and guidance that applies to this heavily regulated and changing area. She has been praised for her ability to quickly understand her clients’ objectives and for offering commercial, pragmatic advice in a straightforward manner.
David Whitney is a solicitor and mediator. Prior to joining PainSmith five years ago he was a Partner in a West London practice. He has practised in the field of landlord and tenant law for about 20 years and has over the last 15 years developed a specialism in long residential leasehold work. His work encompasses dealing with all aspects of landlord and tenant including dilapidations claims, repossessions, enfranchisement, lease extensions, RTM applications and service charge disputes to name a few. In the past 12 months alone David has assisted over 200 hundred flat owners to either purchase their freehold or extend their lease. David understands the, often, competing interests of differing parties and prides himself on giving clients pragmatic and commercial advice. David also sits as a fee-paid Judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on the Southern Region and as a member of its mediation panel.
Laura graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2013 with a degree in Law with Business. This year, Laura also completed the Legal Practice Course.
Prior to joining PainSmith Solicitors, Laura worked for a local council. She has the experience and knowledge to confidently handle her own caseload across a range of property matters and uses her understanding of business to ensure that she produces practical commercial solutions to client’s problems.
Richard came to PainSmith in August 2011 as a Paralegal after graduating with a degree in law from the University of Sheffield. Whilst working for PainSmith he completed the Legal Practice Course at weekends completed a training contract at the firm and has been taken on by the firm as a fully qualified Solicitor. After receiving considerable training provided by PainSmith, Richard joined the legal helpline and has been one of the advisers on the helpline for over four years.
He has over five years of experience in Landlord and Tenant law and his normal work load ranges from case handling of possession matters, deposit disputes, drafting of tenancy agreements, advising on HMO properties and debt and disrepair claims. He is experienced in lengthy and complex litigation and settlement negotiations.
David Whitney is a solicitor and mediator. Prior to joining PainSmith five years ago he was a Partner in a West London practice. He has practised in the field of landlord and tenant law for about 20 years and has over the last 15 years developed a specialism in long residential leasehold work. His work encompasses dealing with all aspects of landlord and tenant including dilapidations claims, repossessions, enfranchisement, lease extensions, RTM applications and service charge disputes to name a few. In the past 12 months alone David has assisted over 200 hundred flat owners to either purchase their freehold or extend their lease. David understands the, often, competing interests of differing parties and prides himself on giving clients pragmatic and commercial advice. David also sits as a fee-paid Judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on the Southern Region and as a member of its mediation panel.
Marveen Smith was one of the founders of PainSmith Solicitors in 2001 and has been the only Principal of PainSmith Solicitors a niche firm who are specialists in property law since 2006. Marveen has a background in accountancy and tax; forging a second career in law by qualifying as a Solicitor before starting her own practice. As well as working in her legal practice daily Marveen is one of the trainers for ARLA and other organisations presenting legal courses throughout the country; giving presentations at regional meetings for ARLA; and at seminars for landlords. Marveen has made regular appearances on Money Box for Radio 4 and Watchdog where she endeavoured to balance the one sided view of letting agents that can be presented by the media, as well as disseminating information to enable landlords to act in a more professional capacity. Marveen was the first person to establish a legal helpline for landlords and agents; and to offer both standard and bespoke documents designed specifically for the lettings industry. Today PainSmith offers a wide choice of legal documents to satisfy the requirements of both relocation companies, letting agents and landlords.
Drafting….
The pitfalls of bad drafting – be warned!
In Perriam Limited v Wayne and Daly, the High Court had to decide whether Wayne and Daly were still liable pursuant to a Deed of Variation (“Deed”) they entered into.
Wayne and Daly were the guarantors under a commercial lease with Perriam. Perriam pursuant to the Deed was attempting to recover for dilapidations, unpaid rent and service charges amongst other things.
The decision with regards to the service charges etc is not relevant for the purposes of this article.
The Deed was executed on the 24th April 2007 and pursuant to clause 4.2 Wayne and Daly agreed that:
Wayne and Daly argued before the High Court that the purpose of clause 4.2 was to release the commercial tenant, Ideas’ (now insolvent) and therefore them, from any continuing obligation in respect of the windows as at the 24th April 2007 and that meant that they were therefore not now liable.
Wayne and Daly further argued that the commercial purpose of the agreement was:
The court was a little derogatory about the drafting of the Deed which included a catalogue of errors such as referring to Wayne and Daly as tenants and failing to draft a Deed which reflected the agreement reached by the parties.
The court therefore had to determine if Wayne and Daly were liable for the dilapidations. Upon listening to the arguments of both sides the court decided that in the absence of a date in clause 4.2 the intention of the parties was for liability to cease immediately upon the Deed being executed. That even on the reading of the wording of the clause this made common sense because there was no reference to a future event in the clause.
The court then went further and held that the wording of clause 4.2 meant that Wayne and Daly were no longer liable in respect of the windows. The basis for this decision was that the Deed failed to address the issue of the condition of the windows and where and when Wayne and Daly’s liability would end. That it strained common sense to pursue a claim for the windows when it was not mentioned in the Deed and in fact made it impossible to pursue due to the lack of a schedule of condition amongst other things.
Clause 4.2 did therefore operate in the courts interpretation as a release to Wayne and Daly, such that after the 24th April 2007, they had no liability for the condition of the windows. The clause therefore provided them with a complete defence to the claim for the costs of the dilapidations’.
When documents like this Deed are put before the courts the commercial reality and the obvious intention of the parties is usually the deciding factor. Therefore if you intended for something to happen then you are advised to ensure that a clause reflecting that intention is in the agreement. Badly drafted documents are common especially in our line of work but its unnecessary when templates can be purchased and advice sought. Cutting corners is simply to risky and potentially expensive.