Mr Justice Mostyn, in a judgment given shortly before his retirement, looked at the issue of costs in James v Seymour [2023] EWHC 844 (Fam). Read more...

The new Personal Injury publication comprises a practical and useful commentary with precedents taking the practitioner through the stages involved in advising a client in a claim for personal injuries sustained due to accidents at work or on public land. Read more...

The Scale-up Visa is for talented individuals who have the skills needed to enable the UK economy to grow. Both sponsored and unsponsored applications can be made but the unsponsored route is only available to applicants after they have had sponsored permission for a while. Read more...

Our recent spring clean of the Private child arrangements guide has seen additions to the commentary including case law, guidance around spotting and responding to parental alienation, and applying for barring orders under s 91(14) of the Children Act 1989.

Following a recent in-depth author review, commentary on Legal Aid tendering, cybercrime prevention and business continuity planning have been enriched. Read more...

The Private Child Arrangements guide has been extensively reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentaries and precedents are in line with current law and practice. Read more...

The recent decision to change the name of this folder to General Deeds, Agreements, Statements, Declarations, Consents & Execution Clauses grants the opportunity to highlight its usefulness once again. Read more...

The By Lawyers Trusts guide has been reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentaries and precedents are in line with current law and practice. Read more...

Two new precedents have been added to the Sale and Purchase of Land guides: a Deed of covenant and a Deed of rectification. The commentaries have also been significantly enhanced. Read more...

The By Lawyers Sale of Land and Purchase of Land guides have been reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentaries and precedents are in line with current law and practice. The extensive review takes a practical approach, drawing on our considerable experience to cover all aspects of procedure with a focus on practical tips that will help practitioners confidently run a sale matter to completion. Commentary has been included covering the village green cases of Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City Council & Ors (2005) and others [2006] UKHL 25 and TW Logistics Ltd v Essex County Council & Anor [2021] UKSC 4, the recent adverse possession case of Amirtharaja & Anor v White & Ano [2021] EWHC 330 (Ch) and the recent vacant possession case of Capitol Park Leeds Plc v Global Radio Services Ltd [2020] EWHC 2750 (Ch). Commentary regarding conditional auctions, sometimes called the ‘modern method’, has been included and the section regarding high rise cladding has been expanded to include the guidance from the Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors. Guidance on the requirements for a septic tank permit has also been included. A new precedent letter has been included in the Sale of Land guide for use when requesting a contribution from the Land Registry for indemnity insurance to cover a defect in the title which they have created. We invite you to explore this updated publication and to consider the wealth of assistance the updated Sale of Land and Purchase of Land guides offer. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

We are pleased to announce a new Short residential tenancy disputes guide, with detailed commentary including rent arrears, noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour and deposit disputes. Repossession proceedings are stepped through in detail when acting for the landlord and acting for the tenant. Tribunal and court proceedings are discussed, as well as the current impact of COVID-19. The comprehensive matter plan is divided into two folders; Acting for the landlord and Acting for the tenant. Precedents that practitioners will find useful include: Letters and notices to tenants in breach of their tenancy agreements; Letters and enclosures for a rent repayment plan; Letters and enclosures relating to the use of a deposit protection dispute resolution scheme; A library of carefully drafted common possession notices under both s 8 and s 21 of the Housing Act 1988; A full suite of litigation letters and documents, and example content for claim forms and defences. This Short residential tenancy disputes guide is an invaluable resource for practitioners who regularly conduct landlord and tenant matters, as well as those with limited experience or those supervising junior lawyers. We invite you to explore the new guide. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Following a request from a user, a new clause, Immediate post death interest in property, has been added to the Wills matter plan, in the Library of clauses contained in the C. The Will folder. The new clause allows for the grant of an immediate post death interest in a property to a partner, whether they are unmarried, married, in a civil partnership. An option for the interest to revert to children on either the death of the partner or their marriage or cohabitation has also been included. Comments and feedback are always welcomed, particularly if other clauses would be useful.

In accordance with the recent approval of a new Practice Direction 57AC promoting and enforcing best practice during the preparation of witness statements, the general precedent Witness Statement – Civil matters has been amended to include the new required wording. This can be found in the C. Blank Deeds, Agreements, Statements, Declarations, Consents & Execution Clauses folder which is on every matter plan. The wording is required in all witness statements which are signed on or after 6 April 2021 and are for trials in the Business and Property Courts. We are including the changes now so that practitioners are able to plan ahead and prepare their witnesses accordingly. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

As practitioners are no doubt aware, the government has recently promised to finally reform the way that leasehold works, and to address the issues with commonhold. This has prompted By Lawyers to include three new precedents in the Enfranchisement guide: Memorandum of Association – Commonhold limited company Articles of Association – Commonhold limited company Community statement – Commonhold limited company Wholesale reformation of the property ownership system is long overdue and it is hoped that amendments to the legislation will reassure lenders and developers, persuading them to leave the cosy confines of leasehold and finally embrace the brave new world of the commonhold system, 20 years after it was created. When the new rules are announced, we will, of course, review and amend our materials to ensure that users have access to the most up-to-date information. In the meantime, we will be keeping a close eye on the most positive news item of 2021 so far.

To enhance our Practice Management guide, a precedent Referral Fee Agreement has been added helping firms to comply with regulator requirements around transparency and due diligence when accepting introductions from third parties.