Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department
Specialist in dispute resolution
- Real estate and property disputes
- Landlord and tenant disputes
- Business partnership
- Commercial conflicts
- Probate and inheritance
- Paralegal assistance on employment matters
- Paralegal assistance on matrimonial matters
- Small claims and fast claims track cases
- Property, boundary and adverse possession claims (often called squatters rights)
About Katie
A trainee legal executive specialising in litigation and dispute resolution.
As well as managing her own portfolio of clients, with a focus on litigation and dispute resolution, Katie assists several solicitors within the firm, in particular partners Jeremy Fitzgibbon and John Devlin. Her positive manner and attention to detail are proving great assets when dealing with difficult or complex disputes.
Katie’s career
Katie completed her legal training at the University of Westminster in 2017, having previously graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in history. She’s currently building an impressive portfolio of work to support her training here at Horsey Lightly. We look forward to Katie becoming a fully-fledged member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives in the near future.
Some of Katie’s work highlights
- Assisting in a successful proprietary estoppel claim to prevent a farm from being divided between siblings upon the death of the father.
- Assisting in relation to bringing and defending various claims under the Inheritance Act 1975, for financial provision to be made from the deceased’s estate.
- Assisting and advising clients in relation to court procedures for small claims track and fast claims track cases, where it would be disproportionate in terms of costs to have continual legal representation.
- Using various types of dispute resolution, such as negotiation and mediation, to agree a settlement of court cases on behalf of clients. Many types of claim can be settled using this method, which can be a cheaper alternative to the court process.
- Assisting in contested commercial lease renewals under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
- Advising in relation to common real property disputes, for example, rights of way, various easements, boundary disputes and adverse possession claims including bringing and defending court and tribunal proceedings to resolve such disputes.
- Assisting in recovering a commercial parade of shops on behalf of the landlord, to allow for the redevelopment of the land despite the leases being protected.
- Assisting in taking possession of residential properties due to non-payment of rent.
- Advising clients on the alternatives to forfeiture where there is non-payment of rent in commercial premises.
Life beyond the office
A keen skier, Katie loves nothing more than being outdoors in the fresh air, going for long walks and taking part in activities with family and friends.