Steven Woolf

Introduction & Contact details

Steven is first and foremost a Property Lawyer. However in recent years his commercial practice has developed significantly.

Steven prides himself on three principal qualities, which he believes are of primary concern to his professional and lay clients. They are:

• Firstly his knowledge of the law and how to use the law to ensure the best possible advantage for his clients.
• Secondly his work ethic which recognises that there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and if the client wants an answer tomorrow, they shall have it.
• Thirdly his amicability because it is imperative to the success of a case that a good personal as well as professional relationship exists between the three-person team of client, solicitor and barrister.

The case of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets v Begum provided him with his first visit to the House of Lords. In addition, Steven has been involved in a number of significant Court of Appeal decisions such as R v Rent Officer of West Sussex Registration Area ex parte Haysport Properties Limited [2001] EWCA Civ 237 a case involving questions of rent reviews under the Rent Act 1977, Hurst v London Borough of Barnet [2003] 1 WLR 17 and Markos v Goodfellow a case that clarified the working of the slip rule.

In addition Steven has been reported in approximately 20 High Court actions, the most recent being the decision of Lewison J in Frazer v Brown [2009] EWHC 2692, HFHA v Asra Greater London Housing Association [2008] EWHC 2430, the decision of Park J in the case of Edwards v Lloyds TSB Bank [2004] EWHC 1745, and the highly significant decision in relation to adverse possession in the matter of  Beaulane Properties v Palmer [2005] EWHC 817.

Cases in which he has been involved have frequently been reported in the Legal Action Group (LAG) journal, Family Law Reporter, Times Law Reports, New Law Journal, Family Law Cases.

Qualifications

• LLB Hons

Professional Associations

• Property Law Bar Association
• Bar Sports Law Group
• London Common Law Bar Association

T:   020 7242 2523 (switchboard)
F:   020 7691 1234
E:   steven.woolf@hardwicke.co.uk

Land & Real Property

The main area of Steven’s property work is land related, in particular boundary disputes, rights of way and Adverse Possession. In addition to land, Steven has considerable experience in both residential and commercial landlord and tenant.

Steven has experienced a significant increase in land related litigation over the last five years. This he puts down in a large part to the existence of Legal Expenses Insurance. These disputes are most often very personal, involving the classic legal truism, an Englishman’s castle is his home. Steven’s sensitive and pragmatic approach to litigation has resulted in favourable results for clients from as far afield as Pembrokeshire in West Wales to the Yorkshire Dales. Steven has at least 50 land related cases ongoing at any one time and therefore it is difficult to find the highlights, but the following are good examples of his recent work.

Recent Work

• acting in a dispute relating to the extent of land adversely possessed for near on 50 years
• acting in a dispute where the neighbour literally tore up trees that had been in place for hundreds of years and bulldozed a pond leading to subsidence to the surrounding land
• a dispute relating to the acquisition of a prescriptive right of way
• acting in a dispute relating to the escape of sewage from a caravan park onto farmland
• acting in a dispute rlating to the title to ancient woodland

Landlord & Tenant

Commercial Landlord and Tenant

Steven is extremely experience in this field, which involves daily analysis and interpretation of technical lease terms and their effect on the use of commercial premises, the covenants that landlords and tenants offer to each other and the operation of termination and renewal provisions.

Recent Work

• acting for a landlord against a tenant who used the premises for purposes other than commerce
• acting for a tenant seeking to establish a proprietary right to commerical lease
• acting for a tenant seeking damages against a shopping centre developer due to dust and smoke nuisance
• acting for a tenant seeking to avoid substantail servce charge demands relating to underground work
• acting for landlord in relation to terminal dilapidations at a brewery

Residential Landlord and Tenant

Steven has considerable experience in all types of resdiential occupation from bare licenses to 999 year leasees. The majority of this work would be possession related. In addition to claims for possession Steven has acted for landlords and tenants seeking consent to alterations, extensions to leases and service charge related disputes.

Recent Work

• whether storage area was appurtenant for the purposes of enfranchisement
• whether is remains possible to occupy two homes
  liability of the leasees for electrical installations in new residential development
• forfeiting of a residential lease following persisent arrers of service charge

Commercial

Steven has over the last 5 years developed a significant successful commercial law practice. These disputes substantially involve the interpretation of commercial agreements which with Steven’s background as a property lawyer has proven invaluable. The other principal area of commercial work that Steven concentrates upon is professional negligence, which not surprisingly most often arise out of property transactions, such as property purchases or litigation.

Contractual Disputes

The description commercial disputes covers a huge variety of subject areas, from banking to partnership and from insolvency to contract. Steven has much experience in all these areas, regularly acting for clients who have been the victims of breaches of agreements. Steven’s ability to grasp the facts and apply this to the law has enabled him to be able to advise clients with sound, comprehensive advice.

Recent Work:

• Actin for a photo-copier supply compnay in relation to numerous hire purchase agreements;
• Acting for an internet business which had their telecommunications disconnected for three weeks;
• Acting for an International Steel trader in an action for the recovery of steel portside;
• Recovering a high worth luxury motor vehicle;
• Enforcing restrictive covenants and non-solicitation agreements

Professional Negligence

Steven’s professional negligence practice obviously combines well with his primary specialism in property. His professional negligence work initially developed out of actions against surveyors and solicitors at the time of the first property recession in the early 1990’s. Needless to say the present financial climante has found Steven become more and more involved in similar litigation.

Recent Work

• Acting for a property company that buys residential property at an undervalue within days of the vendor contacting them but who relies heavily on accurate valuations from surveyors;
• Acting in a claim against solicitors who failed to advise their client (the purchaser) that the vendor’s solicitors would not be holding the deposit as stakeholders.
• Needless to say the developer vendor took the deposit, did not complete the build and the client is still awaiting the return of its deposit