by on Sente Masemola
Call:1977
Practice areas
Counsel is Astute and determined professional, with an effective rapport with clients- a leader and team player of vision and integrity. Thorough in legal research and shrewd in presentation of legal arguments. Excellent communication skills.
Achievements
• In 2 months, motivated and led 5 lawyers to successfully complete a 400 property acquisition at Basildon Council.
• Success by tripling settlement offer, in pro-bono work in an employment law dispute in 2013.
• Achieved substantial financial outcome for a council through pre-trial negotiation with multi-national Water Contractor.
• Barnet Council Lead Officer for Notify, the all-borough London Data-Sharing Agreement tracking vulnerable homeless families to improve access to health, education, social services.
• Resolution of environmental waterway and land pollution problem in Burnt Oak north-west London.
A wise and reliable advocate, whose mainly civil practice, has in the last three years involved appearances in a wide variety of courts and tribunals.
Desirable development area:
- Data–protection.
- Intellectual property; passing-off, counterfeits, copyright or mark infringement, design rights; musician’s contracts and performance rights;
Other recent activity:
- August 2018 invited to lead with on-going GDPR work in Chambers, having worked in the GDPR team which finalised the privacy policy in May 2018.
- Drafted privacy policy for a charity’s GDPR compliance, accompanied by training of trustees in May 2018.
Additional areas of specialism
- Commercial property disputes. Breach of contract, forfeiture, lease renewal.
- Private property disputes: Neighbours – extensions and boundary disputes, nuisance.
- Landlord and tenant disputes, illegal and retaliatory evictions, squatters, deposits, repairs, defences and counterclaims in possession cases;
- Social-housing – disputes with public authorities – appeals against negative homelessness decisions, disrepair, eviction, anti-social behaviour, succession.
- Criminal defence and prosecution in Magistrates courts; Crown Courts trials; interim hearings, sentencing and mitigation pleas.
- Immigration – asylum interviews; injunction hearings, bail applications
- Welfare Benefits and Mental Health Tribunals.
Notable cases
- Business lease dispute. Opposition by 3rd party to forfeiture. Proprietary estoppel. Settlement, with agreement for new lease (January 2018)
- Construction: contractual dispute with builder. Settlement (2018)
- Bankruptcy – advice and appearance where bankrupt threatened with loss of home. (2015)
- s.8 Housing Act 1988 possession claim – landlord success (August 2018)
- s.21 Housing Act 1988 acting for tenant – the landlord’s case dismissed (June 2016)
- Representing tenant. Local authority withdrawal of possession claim after non-priority homelessness decision (27 April 2016)
- Opinions drafted for Housing Ombudsman. Social landlord and tenant ( 2015-2016)
- Commercial banking fraud – Opinion on merits. Buyer’s contractual payment fraudulently paid to wrong account, not the seller’s. (2017)
- Insurance claim – defence in rear-end-collision scam.(2017)
- Successful defence and acquittal of train station supervisor accused of assault on female minor at station. (May 2018)
- Positive defence and reduced plea negotiation (achieving no custodial sentence) – Benefit Fraud – Woolwich Crown Court (January 2017)
- Successful prosecution and defeat of doctor’s “scientific defence” over laser speed camera operation in wet conditions (Oxford 2016)
- Presented a “Special Reason” defence for motorway speeding, leading to Prosecution case-withdrawal. (May 2016)
- Southwark Crown Court: ID/Immigration fraud. Plea-in-mitigation secured a minimal detention of 2 months – without deportation, for imminent-father-to-be. (2015)
Education
- Southampton University
- Inns of Court School of Law; King’s College London, University of Law
- Inns of Court School of Law, London – BVC
- Institute of Leadership and Management – Essential Management for Team Leaders
