Brearleys and what we do

As a busy high street practice we help a wide range of clients with a wide range of legal issues. This often gives a unique insight, and the chance to see things from both sides. A case currently handled by Andrew Marsden of our Batley office recently threw up a good example of this. Andrew is acting for a lady who tripped and fell in a defect in the surface of a courtyard area at a housing development where she used to live. The flat she lived in was rented as were most of the properties, and the development as a whole was looked after by a management company. Unfortunately, as it turned out, not managed very well.
They should have been carrying out regular inspections of the area to check for defects such as these so that they could be repaired. They should also have encouraged residents to report problems. It seems they did neither, and for that reason they were at fault for what happened. This is an excellent example of where a broad range of legal services within one firm helps. Within our commercial team we provide help and advice to landlords, and whether they have one property or one thousand the advice isn’t just about the legal niceties of the lease. We help with advice about responsibilities and duties, such as inspecting the properties.
So in this instance the knowledge we have from our commercial specialists helped prove the injury claim. And at the same time knowledge gained from injury claims is then fed back to commercial to be passed on as warnings to clients of potential pitfalls.
When it comes to picking your legal firm you need to make sure they offer a full service and are not just a one service firm, otherwise you are missing out on a wealth of knowledge that can benefit you.