Business Disputes Case Study 7

Bell Lax were instructed by the former proprietors of a convenience store situated on a university campus. Bell Lax’s clients had vacated their commercial premises based on representations from their landlord as to the landlord’s intentions for subsequent use of the premises. Bell Lax’s clients later discovered that their former landlord had not acted in accordance with their stated intentions for use of the premises.

To evaluate the merits of the case, we first had to investigate whether the landlord had misled our clients into waiving their security of tenure. Bell Lax therefore sought voluntary disclosure by the landlord of documents concerning our clients’ former premises. When the landlord refused to disclose the requested documents, Bell Lax made a contested application for pre-action disclosure in the County Court. Bell Lax’s solicitor advocate  succeeded in persuading the court that the landlord should disclose the documents Bell Lax’s clients were seeking. The landlord was also ordered to pay Bell Lax’s client legal costs of the application.