Chris Payne

Chris conducts a mix of court and written work in property law with a particular focus on matters arising out of the landlord and tenant relationship in both a residential and commercial context, including forfeiture and lease renewal, disrepair and defective premises, service charges, rights of way and easements. He acts as a legal adviser to a London Borough Council’s arbitration panel advising on issues of disrepair, service charges, and leaseholder disputes. Chris is also developing a strong TOLATA practice and has experience of trusts disputes, including in contentious probate cases.

Recent cases Chris has been involved in include:

- Drafting particulars following a property purchase where the seller misrepresented the rights of access to the property;

- Advising a freeholder on forfeiture where a leaseholder had made alterations without consent and in breach of covenant to use the premises as a single private dwelling;

- Successfully striking out a claim for possession and rent arrears at trial as an abuse of process after persuading the court the tenancy agreement served with the Claim Form had been forged in a bid to disguise payment of a tenancy deposit.

Chris has a busy civil and common law practice and is regularly instructed to appear in court and to advise and draft pleadings in a range of civil and commercial matters with a particular emphasis on breach of contract claims, professional negligence, property damage and building disputes.

Chris has extensive experience involving claims relating to property damage and is regularly instructed by insurers to defend claims relating to damage to highway furniture and residential property which involve arguments over the reasonable costs of repair or reinstatement frequently requiring the use of expert evidence.

He is particularly sought after for his advice on contractual matters arising out of the employment relationship.

Chris is also regularly instructed to appear in the Insolvency and Companies Court and has appeared in a range of matters from individual and corporate insolvency through to claims alleging fraudulent changes to information at Companies House and seeking rectification of the Register.

Chris has vast experience and expertise in employment and discrimination matters. He acts for both employers and employees and regularly appears in the Employment Tribunal. Outside of the Employment Tribunal, he frequently acts in contractual matters with an employment law element, regularly advises directors and senior executives on exit strategy and negotiating favourable terms and also advises on matters relating to services discrimination.

Recent cases Chris has been involved in include:

- Drafting a Defence and acting for an employee of an after-school club who was a named respondent to a multi-party services discrimination claim, ultimately resulting in a settlement whereby the employee had to pay nothing to the claimants

- Acting for a Respondent in a constructive unfair dismissal claim following a protected conversation ‘gone wrong’, the claim was settled for nothing after the second day of trial following cross-examination of the Claimant undermining his claim and losses;

- Representing a Claimant sports therapist who was dismissed for allegedly treating his own clients at the private hospital where he worked without an agreement, the claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal succeed with the tribunal ultimately finding that there had been an agreement of some sort in place;

- Advising, on a number of occasions, small solicitor firms on redundancy following the fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic;

Chris is also direct access qualified and is able to advise and represent companies and individuals directly on suitable cases.

To instruct Chris please contact Rob Johnstone.