James Fryer-Spedding

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Exclusively Chancery and Commercial litigation, particularly:

Trusts, Wills, Probate & Administration of Estates

• Construction of wills and trusts, contentious probate, administration actions and "Beddoe" applications.
• Inheritance Act 1975 applications for and against all classes of applicant.
• Ranked in Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide – Band 1
• Ranked in Chambers and Partners (Chancery – Northern (Bar)) – Band 1
• Legal 500 – Regional Bar – Chancery, Probate & Tax – Band 1

Partnership

• Ranked in Chambers and Partners (Partnership – Northern (Bar)) – Band 1

Property

• Including restrictive covenants, boundary disputes, easements, adverse possession and co-ownership (constructive trust and proprietary estoppel claims, applications to court for orders for sale).
• Ranked in Chambers and Partners (Real Estate Litigation – Northern (Bar)) - Band 2

Landlord & Tenant

• Including disrepair, possession claims, forfeiture and Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 applications.

Commercial Contracts

• Legal 500 – Regional Bar – Commercial Litigation – Band 1
• Ranked in Chambers and Partners (Commercial Dispute Resolution – Northern (Bar)) – Band 2)

Professional Negligence

• Solicitors (especially in connection with misconduct of conveyancing and litigation), accountants and surveyors.

REPORTED CASES

• Goodwin v. Avison [2021] EWHC 2356 (Ch.) – costs – contentious probate claim
• KSH Farm Ltd v. KSH Plant Ltd. [2021] EWHC 1986 (Ch.) – commercial contract dispute – allegations of duress and undue influence
• Haandrikman v. Heslam [2021] UKUT 56 (LC) – adverse possession – fencing – grazing – registered land – squatters – transfer of title
• UK Learning Academy Ltd. v. Secretary of State for Education [2018] EWHC 2915 (Comm) – 13-day trial in the Circuit Commercial Court in Leeds - contract terms – educational institutions – formalities – variation
• Perry v. Neupert (Ch D - John Martin, KC) 19.7.18 LTL - Administration of Justice Act 1985, s.50 - application to remove a personal representative - joinder
• Perry v. Neupert [2018] EWHC 1788 (Ch) - Administration of Justice Act 1985, s.50 - application to remove a personal representative - successful appeal against summary judgment
• Burns v. Burns [2016] EWCA Civ 37 - validity of wills - testamentary capacity - knowledge & approval - mentally impaired testatrix
• Anselm v. Buckle [2014] EWCA Civ 311 - landlord and tenant - damages
• JJ Metcalfe Ltd. v. Dennison (LTL 6.12.13 HHJ Raynor, KC, Technology & Construction Court) - civil procedure - construction law
• Re St Michael and All Angels, Isel (October 2010, Ecclesiastical Law Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2, p.248) right of way - consecrated land - easements - interested person - standing
• Re Pearce, Decd [1998] 2 FLR 705 - Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 - claim by adult child - appeal to Court of Appeal

Examples of Other Work

• Confidential Arbitration – professional partnership dissolution dispute
• Indian Workers Association, Bradford - litigation concerning ownerships of club premises – unincorporated association - constitutional dispute
• O'Neill v. Holland - dispute between former cohabitees over a valuable portfolio of investment properties
• Donohoe v. Bannister - proprietary estoppel claim to ownership of the site of stables
• Successful family provision claim for adult children of an abusive parent - won at trial (Simpson Decd, unreported)
• Successful defence at trial of the validity of a challenged will - issues of capacity, undue influence, knowledge and approval - associated partnership issues (Bainbridge v. Hebson, unreported, Chancery Division, Manchester, HHJ Pelling, KC)
• Simpson v. Ridley - 5-day trial - prescriptive claim to a right of way to taxi aircraft
• Preliminary issue in ancillary relief proceedings - issues as to ownership of valuable farms and partnership property - successfully concluded in favour of client wife
• Sale of goods - claim concerning the quality of breeze blocks used in the construction of 22 homes - TCC Leeds
• Professional negligence - solicitors - conveyancing - claim in the High Court concerning the purchase of a home in West Cumbria with numerous title defects
• Bankruptcy - offshore trust - litigation concerning efficacy of a charging order”

PRESCRIBED INFORMATION

James Fryer-Spedding is a practising barrister, who is regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Details of information held by the BSB about James Fryer-Spedding can be found here.

James Fryer-Spedding's clerks will happily provide no obligation quotations for all legal services that he provides. Their contact details can be found here. It is most common for James Fryer-Spedding to undertake Court, Tribunal or Mediation services for a brief fee plus additional refresher days. For advisory including paperwork and conferences it is most commonly charged at an hourly rate although fixed fees are available. James Fryer-Spedding will typically return paperwork within 21 days, however professional commitments, complexity and volume of documentation can affect these approximate timescales.