Direct Access Barrister

Katherine Elizabeth Hallett

I am a specialist chancery and commercial barrister, who qualified in 2006. I appear in court and advise clients in cases mostly concerning insolvency, property, probate, and contract law.

I regularly advise and represent people and companies in the High Court, the County Court, and the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)/Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber).

Area of Law

Banking and Financial Services

I assist with disputes concerning mortgages and loans.

Chancery

I assist with work relating to property (including the family home) and land, insolvency (both bankruptcy and liquidation), probate (when someone has died/inheritance), and contracts

Commercial

I advise and represent people and businesses involved in contractual disputes.

I advise and represent people in possession proceedings (both tenants and mortgage borrowers), forfeiture (regarding long leases), wrongful eviction, and disrepair (in both rented property and long leasehold property).

Insolvency and Restructuring

I work for both individuals and businesses when they are in financial difficulty, and for individuals and businesses who are owed money.

Landlord and Tenant

I assist in all areas of landlord and tenant law, in relation to both residential and commercial property.

Property

I advise and represent people and businesses faced with all types of property disputes, covering boundary disputes, issues over rights of way, and adverse possession (squatters' rights). I also have experience of proprietary estoppel claims i.e. when someone claims that land has been promised to them.

Wills and Probate

I deal with inheritance disputes, both when there is a will and when there is not. I assist executors and administrators dealing with a deceased person's estate/property, and those who have a dispute with an executor or administrator.

What sort of work do I do?

My insolvency practice includes: petitions for bankruptcy and winding up; applications to set aside statutory demands; validation orders; annulment and rescission applications; applications for possession and sale (of houses and other property); actions against company directors for misfeasance; transactions at an undervalue, preferences, unlawful dividends etc; challenges to trustee/liquidator remuneration and expenses.
My property practice includes: - landlord and tenant disputes (residential and commercial); real property (boundary disputes, adverse possession claims, easements and rights of way); trusts of land matters (including orders for sale) relating to e.g. houses; proprietary estoppel; mortgage repossessions (including mortgage fraud).
My commercial practice covers: company law; breach of contract; sale of goods; supply of services; contracts regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974; personal guarantees and indemnities.
My probate-related practice covers: the validity, interpretation and rectification of wills; administration of estates; claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975; challenges to wills on the grounds on lack of testamentary capacity, want of knowledge and approval, and undue influence.

Who do I work for?

I represent and advise individuals with issues relating to their homes (and other land), businesses, and inheritance/after someone has died. I also represent and advise directors and owners of companies with insolvency or company problems. I also act for companies and businesses, both big and small, with commercial problems.

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