header-logo header-logo

17 April 2018
Issue: 7789 / Categories: Legal News , Health & safety
printer mail-detail

Students compensated for poor housing conditions

Postgraduate students at London School of Economics (LSE) have resolved their legal dispute over mouldy, mice-ridden and poorly ventilated halls of residence.

The accommodation, at Sidney Webb House near London’s Borough Market and managed by Unite Housing, cost £9,000 a year. Some of the students fell ill with upper respiratory tract infections and one resident developed a skin infection.

David Greene, Edwin Coe’s senior partner, said: ‘The accommodation was damp, unheated and lacked hot water for extended periods causing students to fall ill.

‘Complaints made by students fell on deaf ears. Eventually students came to us and we worked with them to crowdfund a small amount to pay for experts to examine the mould that was caused by the conditions.

‘We helped the students to engage with the LSE and to pursue their claim. I am pleased that we have been able to resolve the complaints with a small payment by the University but more importantly the University and Unite have issued apologies and undertaken to ensure this doesn’t happen again.’

Issue: 7789 / Categories: Legal News , Health & safety
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

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
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
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’ 
back-to-top-scroll