Tenant break clauses and the rules on vacant possession

Posted by John Chesworth Jun 24th, 2011, in Property

In these tough times for commercial tenants, the right to terminate a lease early by exercising a break clause is extremely valuable if the tenant is wishing to downsize in order to cut costs.

However, it is common for break clauses in commercial leases to be tightly drafted by the landlord’s advisers and they are often conditional upon the tenant having paid all sums due under the lease, there being no subsisting breach of the lease terms, and the tenant giving vacant possession at the break date.

In the case of NYK Logistics (UK) Limited v Ibrend Estates BV, decided last week, the Court of Appeal gave a stark reminder of what is meant by vacant possession. In that case, the tenant, NYK, was carrying out repairs to the property running up to the break date and asked the landlord for confirmation that they could remain in the property for a couple of weeks after the break. (more…)

What is an injunction and who can use them?

Posted by John Chesworth Apr 27th, 2011, in Dispute Resolution

We’ve seen and heard much in recent days about the rising use of injunctions to ‘gag’ the press, but what exactly are they?

Put simply, an injunction is a court order requiring the person, or people, on the receiving end to refrain from doing certain unlawful acts.

An injunction is usually granted after the unlawful act has been committed.  However, where it can be demonstrated an unlawful act is about to be committed, a court can grant an injunction to prevent it from being committed in the first place.

Injunctions are in the news because they are increasingly being used to prevent the publication of news stories relating to the private lives of public figures. However, they have also been used to ‘gag’ the press from reporting adverse stories regarding companies, most notably Trafigura which in 2009 sought to prevent the Guardian publishing details of a report that it had commissioned into a toxic-dumping incident in Ivory Coast.

The first thing a claimant seeking an injunction must persuade the court is that an unlawful act is about to be committed. Looking at celebrities and their private lives, injunctions are sometimes granted if the claimant can argue a story about to be printed is untrue and will cause damage to their reputation, because publication could amount to defamation. (more…)

Will Naomi Campbell case change way civil justice is funded?

Posted by John Chesworth Jan 21st, 2011, in Dispute Resolution, HD comment

It seems court cases involving Naomi Campbell are hitting the headlines a lot these days.

But the legal community has paid closer scrutiny this week to a case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) involving the supermodel which threatens to change radically the way litigation is funded in the UK.

Lawyers representing Mirror Group Newspapers successfully overturned an earlier ruling which had required MGN to pick up the lawyers’ success fee element in Ms Campbell’s £1million ‘no win, no fee’ legal bill.

In the earlier case, The Daily Mirror was ordered to pay £3,500 compensation to Miss Campbell for publishing “offensive and distressing” pictures of her back in 2001. But it also had to pay her costs, which included ‘success fees’ of more than £365,000 agreed by the model with her lawyers.

Success fees became recoverable following the introduction of conditional fee arrangements, commonly known as ‘no win, no fee’ agreements. The rules provide that a successful claimant (more…)

Welcome to our enewsletter, In HD, issue one

Posted by John Chesworth Dec 2nd, 2010, in In HD enewsletter

In HD is the Harrison Drury enewsletter – welcome to our first edition. The aim of our regular bulletin is not to bore you with legal jargon, but to provide some helpful information and advice on business issues, some background information on our services and details of how we have delivered results for clients – which is what we are all about.

While the origins of Harrison Drury date back to 1901 the past three years has seen the firm undergo a huge transformation. Our aim is to be a diverse, high quality provider of legal services to businesses as well as offering a discreet private client service.

As part of our transformation, as many of you already know, we have strengthened the team across all areas and our commercial team is now a genuine full legal service provider to businesses. As such, we have brought to the firm Roger Spence to head up our new employment law division, Owen McKenna as commercial property partner, Andrew Bartlett who heads up our Garstang office, and recently David Filmer, our company and commercial solicitor. They are high quality additions who represent our mission to provide clients with the best lawyers in the region without having to go to the biggest law firms.

Two of our new additions cover important legal issues in this edition. Roger Spence talks about our new HR Compass service while David Filmer looks at what businesses can learn from the recent Liverpool FC takeover battle.

Both issues highlight the need to have the right protection and agreements in place to prevent legal issues becoming disruptive problems for your business. As we are still in the depths of the economic downturn, we have seen gaps in terms and conditions, policies, procedures and agreements get ruthlessly exposed, often to the detriment of our clients’ business and in many cases their personal lives.

So why not take advantage of our free review of employment contracts and handbooks, and terms and conditions. David and his team also offer a free review of shareholder agreements.

I hope you find our bulletin useful and please contact any one of our team if you need any help or information.

Best wishes.

In HD news articles:
Welcome to our enewsletter, In HD, issue one
Remove the burden and risk of employment claims
Case study: contract guards against unfair competition
Don’t let boardroom disputes become a turf war
Delivering results: testimonial

The punitive cost of failing to protect your brand

Posted by John Chesworth Nov 30th, 2010, in Business Protection

The need to protect your assets – especially goodwill – was highlighted when a Preston hair salon had to change its brand after legal action involving another hairdresser with the same name.

The Preston salon, called Bonce, started trading in 2007 – a year before its namesake in Birmingham was launched. However, the Midlands salon had trademarked the name, whereas the Preston hairdresser had no legal protection.

As a result, the Preston salon had to spend £1,000 on new signs and price lists – not to mention concerns that clients may have thought the salon was in the hands of a new owner. (more…)

In HD: November 2010

Posted by John Chesworth Nov 25th, 2010, in eNews Stories

Welcome to In HD, our enewsletter. Please click on any of the links below to view our latest edition.

Welcome to our enewsletter, In HD, issue one

Remove the burden and risk of employment claims

Case study: contract guards against unfair competition

Don’t let boardroom disputes become a turf war

Delivering results: testimonial

Tithebarn – what happens next?

Posted by John Chesworth Nov 23rd, 2010, in HD comment, Property

By John Chesworth, managing partner and head of commercial property, Harrison Drury Solicitors

If the noises are right, planning permission for the Tithebarn scheme will be granted. However, this does not necessarily spell the end for the challenges from neighbouring councils. (more…)

Five reasons you should always have a written lease

Posted by John Chesworth Jun 10th, 2010, in Property

I am currently acting for many landlords who are seeking to deal with tenants who are defaulting on their obligations. What I have found surprising is the number of tenancies that commercial landlords enter into without having a properly drawn up lease. While I fully understand the wish to save money in these tough times, renting out commercial property without a properly drafted lease will end up costing the landlord more in the long run. I have set out below five reasons why you should always have a written lease when renting out commercial property. (more…)

What a relief…

Posted by John Chesworth Oct 12th, 2009, in HD comment

With many businesses struggling at present it is not uncommon for rents to go unpaid giving landlords the right to terminate the lease by re-entry.  Unless there is a cue of tenants waiting to fill the vacant property some landlords take the view that it is better to give the tenant some breathing space and assist their recovery by taking a flexible approach to the recovery of arrears.  At the very least this avoids a potential business rates liability for the landlord. (more…)

Out Foxed

Posted by John Chesworth Jul 27th, 2009, in Property

A national estate agent, Foxtons, has received a severe reprimand in a High Court ruling that gives some welcome good news to residential landlords.   This ruling may effect many buy to let landlords who are considering selling to their existing tenants, or are simply agreeing to continuations of an initial term with the same tenant. (more…)