Disputes, Litigation & Mediation

Kerseys’ disputes department also has a growing reputation for finding cost-effective, practical solutions in disputes over building work, whether acting for the building owner or the builder.

Private consumers have a number of key rights against business sellers under various important statutes.

We have acted for hundreds of tenants and mortgagors who have got into difficulty with their rent or mortgage or have other claims.

If you have financial difficulties you may consider the option of bankruptcy. If you want detailed advice on the consequences of bankruptcy, you can make a fixed fee appointment with one of our solicitors.

Unfortunately there are a number of cases where poor or careless advice can have adverse consequences. Professional advisors are expected to exercise care and skill in carrying out their work.

Kerseys have gathered a fast growing reputation for dealing with property dispute work, covering everything from landlord and tenant problems to rights of way disputes.

A small claims case is a defended claim in the county court which is allocated to the small claims track.

Most defended cases which involve a sum of money of £10,000 or less are dealt with as small claims.

There are several grounds upon which Wills can be challenged. The various grounds have their own very specific legal criteria upon which we can advise.

Kerseys’ Dispute Resolution team have many years of solving personal disputes by means of negotiation, mediation, and if necessary litigation.

For business and commercial mediation, disputes or litigious matters, please go to our business page.

We have worked on disputes ranging in value from millions of pounds to a few hundred pounds. We realise that whatever the financial value of a claim, it matters to clients to get a good, cost-effective and timely result.

We understand that legal costs for dispute work are an unexpected expense and we will always do our best to minimise them for you where we can, for instance by agreeing to do stages of work for you — such as advice, drafting of legal papers, or attendance in court — with you dealing with other stages yourself if you wish. Our charges are competitive generally, but equally we say beware of advice that you choose just because it is the cheapest; what is important is the value you will get.

At Kerseys you will be advised by a qualified solicitor who is likely to have seen your problem or a similar one before, and where this is not the case we have access to a large network of specialist barristers.

We will always provide you with an estimate of costs for work we are instructed to do for you. We will always work with you to keep your legal costs down.

In some areas, such as termination of assured shorthold tenancies for landlords, we are able to offer fixed fee for our dispute resolution services (see our Landlord Service page and the associated Guidance Notes) as well as for aspects of debt collection: see Commercial Debt Recovery Service.

To new clients, where possible, we will offer a fixed-fee interview for initial advice up to 45 minutes, usually by way of appointment but also by telephone or video call if it is too far or too difficult for you to come in. Our current fixed-fee interview prices range from £150 to £200 plus vat payable in advance, depending on type of case and complexity.

This does not include any pre-reading of papers. We can quote for reading these, but our advice is in most cases to bring your documents with you or email them to [email protected] and we can discuss them at the interview and then provide an estimate for full reading afterwards if that is required.

In appropriate cases where there are only one or two short background documents we need to read first, we may offer a fixed-fee interview plus a letter to the other party for a fee of £175 plus vat.

If you have a dispute you think may benefit mediation please contact us and we can advise you on how best to proceed including locating a mediator and representing you at the mediation.

Although a mediator can cover any area, it can be helpful if they have previous experience in that field.

• Injunction application against franchisee for breach of contract.
• Court of Appeal case on definition of licence.
• Damages claim against a local authority for abuse in children’s homes, an action which achieved national media coverage.
• Judicial Review action to prevent hospital closure.
• Insurance ombudsman claim against insurance company which refused to pay out on a health policy.
• Emergency eviction of travellers from land contaminated by chemicals.
• Damages claim against a credit company for unlawfully repossessing the client’s vehicle as featured in law reports.
• Acting for the beneficiary of an estate worth in the region of £900,000 in High Court proceedings, successfully defending claims made against the estate on the basis of alleged testamentary incapacity.