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Sente Masemola

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