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13 September 2024
Issue: 8085 / Categories: Legal News , Property , Local authority , Nuisance
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NLJ this week: Is there something living beneath this property?

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Can we ever truly know what lies beneath? The worst fears of property lawyers & their clients can come alive, as Andrew Francis, barrister at Serle Court, writes in this week’s NLJ

‘Alive’ is meant literally in the two cases he examines; one concerns high-voltage electricity cables and the other relates to the monstrously fertile plant, Japanese knotweed.

For the solicitors involved, the discoveries resulted in a professional negligence lawsuit regarding the cables and a private nuisance claim over the knotweed.

Francis looks at the circumstances, legal issues and findings. He writes: ‘Both cases are examples of the need in transactions and in litigation to look at what lies beneath property, both literally and metaphorically.’ 

Issue: 8085 / Categories: Legal News , Property , Local authority , Nuisance
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Jasmine Olomolaiye, Foot Anstey

NLJ Career Profile: Jasmine Olomolaiye, Foot Anstey

Jasmine Olomolaiye, partner at national law firm Foot Anstey, discusses the power of reading and the dizzying heights of her dream career

Freeths—Christopher Stephens

Freeths—Christopher Stephens

Strategic land specialist joins real estate practice as partner

Shakespeare Martineau—Jonathan Pawlowski

Shakespeare Martineau—Jonathan Pawlowski

Construction practice strengthened by partner hire in London

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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