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Civil way: 24 March 2017

24 March 2017
Issue: 7739 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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New challenge for lease costs; Saturday, Bloody Saturday; sniffing out a judicial interview & the magic of land registry address.

ADMIN ATTACK

It’s all very well for a tenant to engage in litigation with their landlord but they could be clobbered for some or all of the landlord’s costs thanks to a lease covenant. The tenant may apply under s 20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 for an order restricting the landlord from adding costs to the service charge. The tenant could be off the hook for their service charge percentage of the whole or part of the costs. In fact, all tenants could escape liability and an individual tenant might even apply under s 20C to be relieved of bearing their proportion of costs incurred in litigation between landlord and a co-tenant.

The tenant in the recent Bretby Hall Management Co Ltd v Pratt [2017] UKUT 0070 (LC)—gloriously involving 90 disputed items including window cleaning and gardening—applied for a s 20C order to the upper tribunal (lands chamber) which had allowed

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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