Lesley specialises in all aspects of commercial property litigation (particularly landlord and tenant) and in the NHS Premises Costs Directions.

She has over 30 years’ experience advising clients across a range of sectors including Real Estate, Local Government and Health. Her key clients include Royal Mail Group Limited, Land Securities and NHS Resolution.

Lesley is able to provide focused, comprehensive advice on all commercial property issues very quickly because of her wealth of experience. In addition, clients appreciate the commercial and strategic instincts she brings to bear.

Relevant experience includes advising:

• Royal Mail Group Limited on the effective exercise of a substantially conditional and complex break clause in a lease of a distribution centre. She successfully applied for expedition of a High Court claim for a declaration on the effectiveness of the break notice. The increased pressure on the landlord of an imminent trial resulted in a settlement with an agreement to surrender the lease. Had the lease not been terminated, the client would have been responsible for circa £60 million additional obligations.
• Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited on several ground breaking cases in the Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal during 2018 and 2019, which involved dealing with interpretation of the new Electronic Communications Code. Lesley’s depth of experience in complex litigation cases was invaluable to the client who had little experience in the area as traditionally mobile telecoms operators were not litigious.
• A major house builder on its response to a Competition and Markets Authority request for information in connection with its investigation into ground rent abuse. This included managing the investigation and reporting on over 1,500 sites and the analysis of over 1,700 leases within a critical timeframe to produce a comprehensive report tailored to the Authorities requirements.

Lesley has been an active member of the Property Litigation Association since its inception.