Property litigation

We were instructed by one of our manufacturing clients who had been the subject of a without notice application for an injunction to restrain our client from making a transfer within our client’s group of companies of factory premises.  Our client’s opponents claimed ownership of part of the property that our client proposed to transfer. 

We successfully settled the injunctive proceedings and were instructed to defend the Chancery Division proceedings in which damages were claimed against our client.  The risk to our client of losing the action would have been to have deprived it of part of its factory premises.  Our client therefore would have been unable to trade from these premises.

Had the case gone to trial, there would have been substantial factual issues and together with the number of witnesses for each side, this would have meant considerable expense for our client.  Our client also was concerned with the risk in going to trial.  Despite the background of considerable personal acrimony between the parties, we led extensive negotiations with the other side which culminated in settlement achieved at a meeting between the parties and their solicitors at our offices.