Kate is the head of our real estate disputes team in the Midlands.  She deals with all types of real estate litigation work from the provision of pre-emptive advice and risk analysis through to complex proceedings in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.  Kate acts for institutional landlords, developers, investors and corporate occupiers across the entire property sector. 

Kate has been practising for over 20 years.  She is recognized for her reasoned and proactive approach to dispute resolution.   Her core areas of expertise include lease renewals (contested and uncontested), rent and service charge disputes, rent reviews, dilapidations, contested break options and property insolvency, as well as the provision of strategic land assembly and tenant re-engineering advice.  Kate has recently built a name for herself representing companies in actions to protect their operations from disruption by protest and campaign groups.   

 

Recent experience includes:

- acting for a consortium of investor landlords in a landmark case in the Court of Appeal involving contracting leases out of the security of tenure provisions in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954;

- acting for a plc investor/developer on all elements of site assembly and clearance, including the release of rights to light and other easements in the context of a £4.3bn extension and redevelopment project. 

 

Reported case highlights include: 

- TFS Stores v Designer Retail Outlets (Mansfield) Ltd and others [2021] EWCA Civ 688 (1954 Act)

- Birmingham Development Co Ltd v Tyler [2008] EWCA 859 (nuisance)

Kate moved to Shoosmiths from Eversheds Sutherland where she had been since qualification.