An interesting new guide which assists property litigation practitioners has been published. The practical guide contains matter plans, commentaries and precedents for Acting for the Claimant and Acting for the Defendant. The commentary covers the following topics: Nuisance; Trespass; Boundary issues; Breaches of covenant; Ownership disputes; Going to the tribunal – First-tier and Upper Tribunals; Going to court – Part 7 and Part 8 of the Civil Procedure Rules. New precedents include: Retainer instructions; Letter to local authority reporting statutory nuisance; Letter to defendant before action – Private nuisance; Example content – Particulars of claim – Private nuisance; Example content – Defence – Private nuisance; Letter to process server with instructions to serve interim possession order against unknown occupier; Example content – Particulars of claim – Possession after trespass; Example content – Defence and counterclaim – Trespass; Letters following the boundary disputes protocol; Letters to claimant’s solicitor asserting adverse possession claim and discussing next steps; Scaffolding licence; Deed of release of restrictive covenants. The Freehold Property Disputes guide is a comprehensive and practical resource for practitioners who are advising and representing both claimants and defendants in property disputes.

New precedents have been added to the By Lawyers Family and Debt Recovery publications: The Family Court – Court bundle cover page and spine and Family Court – Court bundle index have been added to the Financial Remedy and Private Child Arrangements guides. The County Court, High Court and Appeal Court – Trial bundle cover page and County Court, High Court and Appeal Court – Trial bundle index have been added to the Debt Recovery guides. The precedents are customised for each court and comply with each court's requirements. The precedents will assist practitioners to create an indexed collection of documents that the parties rely on during the hearing. A properly compiled and indexed court bundle or trial bundle allows solicitors, counsel and the bench to easily navigate the matter.

To assist practitioners working in Debt Recovery – Acting for the claimant, we have published a Debt statement which brings together details of the debt, interest and costs, as well as the payments that have been made towards it. This will be especially useful where payment plans have been agreed with debtors and is designed to work alongside the Invoice, Debt details and Payment tables within LEAP. 1. Insert the debt details in an Invoice table – add another invoice by right clicking on the existing one to record more than one debt amount if required. 2. Insert interest and costs details in the top half of the Debt details table. 3. Insert payment details into a Payments table each time a payment is received – add another payment by right clicking on the existing one. 4. Provided the above information has been entered into LEAP, the Debt statement will be complete. If the information is incorrect, amend the LEAP tables and use the update button in the LEAP ribbon tab to update the document. This document can be produced as many times as necessary to provide successive statements. An accompanying Letter to debtor enclosing debt statement has also been published. Adding these new precedents is part of By Lawyers continuing commitment to enhancing our content and helping our subscribers enjoy practice more.

With every new costs management practice direction comes a new spreadsheet and the 122nd Practice Direction update was no different. According to the revised Practice Direction 3E, Precedent T should be used from the 1st October to advise the court and other parties about variations in the costs budget during claims. Oppressive behaviour is also mentioned in the new practice direction and parties who believe that they are being pressured into spending money unnecessarily can apply to the court for relief. The By Lawyers Debt Recovery publications have been updated accordingly and Precedent T is available in the matter plan. The opportunity was taken to enhance the commentaries with recent case law discussions regarding: Security for costs applications relating to the economic consequences of COVID19. Reasonable adjustments which allowed a vulnerable witness to provide evidence. Choice of expert to provide evidence. The costs consequences of withdrawing a Part 36 Offer. The admissibility of ‘without prejudice’ material in limited circumstances. We invite you to explore the updated Debt Recovery – Acting for Claimant and Debt Recovery – Acting for Defendant publications. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

The Debt Recovery – Acting for the Defendant commentary now includes greater detail on the process for applying to set aside a default judgment order. Example content has also been written for a Draft order – Setting aside default judgment on the basis of a real prospect of defending the claim. This, together with all the other forms needed for this application, are in matter plan folder F. Default judgment and summary judgment. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

By Lawyers are delighted to announce that the Enforcement guide has been published. A whole new commentary with practical advice is available together with precedents and a matter plan. We invite you to explore this new publication and to consider the wealth of assistance the guide offers for lawyers acting in the enforcement of a judgment. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Discussion of trust of land claims has been added to the Financial Remedy guide, enabling family law practitioners to gain an appreciation of the case law and process in this area. Covering an overview of trust law, a number of key cases and practical points to consider when dealing with disputes and making applications to court, this section of the guide will help practitioners when encountering this complex area. More informaiton is also available in the Freehold Property Disputes guide.

A new publication relating to the law and practice of debt recovery matters has been published. This comprehensive and easy to follow publication provides commentary and precedents for the conduct of debt recovery matters, both before and during court proceedings, when acting for a claimant or defendant. It includes: Commentary discussion of: the pre-action protocol and practice direction; alternative dispute resolution and offers to settle; issuing proceedings and responding to them; default and summary judgment; case management, disclosure and trials. Precedents for: conditional fee agreements; letters of demand; particulars of claim; settlement agreements; defence and counterclaims; chronology, case summary and trial bundles. Also letters to clients explain the process and protocols, and standard letters to other parties give practitioners all the focused and practical guidance they need. We invite you to explore our new Debt Recovery publication and consider the wealth of assistance it offers.

Both the Wills and Probate publications have been augmented with a treatise on challenging the validity of a will. This includes an appreciation of The Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 which apply where there is no challenge or question as to the validity of a will. Read more...