Rachel Anthony

Year of Call:

2000

Areas of Expertise

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Overview

Rachel has practised on the Wales and Chester Circuit for over 15 years. She has built up a wealth of experience in Landlord and Tenant Law, Land Law and Trusts. She is experienced in claims involving disability discrimination both in the County Court and in the Employment Tribunal. Her practice incorporates debt and insolvency work, consumer law and property matters. She enjoys working in matters involving the Court of Protection. Her ability to work in tense negotiating circumstances, often with conflicting opinions within the family, stands her in good stead both in Court of Protection matters and in resolving disputes concerning wills. Her pragmatism greatly assists clients involved in consumer disputes. She is well respected as a mediator and has a 100% record of achieving settlement between the parties.

Rachel is frequently asked to advise or draft at short notice. Her standard turn around for papers is 7 days, but is perfectly content to agree shorter time frames where required.

Education

LL.M Corporate and Insolvency Law: Distinction

Nottingham Trent University 2014-2016

Cymraeg I Oedolion

RhCA Cymru/Swansea University

2004-2006

Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Services (BVC)

Manchester Metropolitan University

1999-2000

LL.B (Hons) 2: I

University of Manchester

1996-1999

Scarisbrick Hall School, Lancs

1982-1996

Training

Accredited Mediator Course

CEDR

Public Access Course

HJT

Professional Memberships

The Honourable Society of Middle Temple 1999

Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship 2016

Public Access Bar Association 2017

Awards

2016 Best LLM Student in Business Organisations : Association of Partnership Practitioners

Previous Roles

Mental Health Advocate (Older Persons)

Wigan Churches Association for Family Welfare

Assistant (Voluntary) South Manchester Law Centre
Researcher: Law Faculty University of Manchester

Company, Commercial and Insolvency

Company, Commercial & Insolvency

Business Structures/ Corporate

Rachel recently gained an LLM in Corporate and Insolvency Law with a distinction and was awarded the Association of Partnership Practitioners Prize for Best LLM Student in Business Organisations. She is often called upon to advise in relation to rights and liabilities arising as a result of various business structures’ activities. A recent example was advising the inadvertent formation of a business partnership which then purported to transfer assets to a registered company in breach of duties held by the partners.

Commercial property

Forfeiture in relation to business premises have featured heavily, as well as advising in respect of termination and renewal of leases. Rachel has experience in relation to claims brought under deemed contracts with electricity providers. Rachel has experience of advising in dilapidations claims.

Debt and Insolvency

Rachel has acted for several public/celebrity persons in debt and insolvency claims. Rachel’s measured, calm approach focusses clients on the issues which will assist them in the claim, and enables them to concentrate on the matters at hand. Rachel’s work in this field includes personal debt secured on the family home. She undertakes a large amount of defended repossession work. A recent example of such work involved representing clients in the High Court in respect of land which had been charged. There was a lengthy background involving issues arising from s. 106 agreements in respect of the planning application and probate issues. Rachel was successful in securing a victory for her clients.

Other examples include representing a client who was isolated (C’s family and friends lived in another country), was deaf and communicated through sign language and suffered with extreme mental ill health. C had no recollection of having signed the charge deed, but evidence was forthcoming from the solicitors witnessing the signature that C had in fact attended. Rachel’s patient and thorough conference skills and advice caused further investigation of C’s mental health, whereupon it was proved that the client was detained under section at the material time, and was not able to leave the ward to sign the documentation as claimed. More complicated disputes, involving banking law and partnership / corporate law have again featured in her practice on an increasingly frequent basis.

Rachel has acted on behalf of receivers and in defending claims by receivers. She achieved a distinction in LL.M Corporate and Insolvency Law.

Consumer Law

In the changing world of consumer legislation, Rachel’s experience and knowledge is an asset to any client. She has a proven record of providing good quality advice and tenacious advocacy in consumer disputes.

Employment

Rachel has a thorough understanding of discrimination legislation and has acted for a number of clients in the Employment Tribunal.

Housing

Landlord and Tenant

Rachel was delighted to achieve an exceptional high mark on her LL.M dissertation “The Law of Forfeiture: Antiquated, Problematic and More Popular than Ever?” Her academic achievements are reflected in a practice with regular instructions in relation to Forfeiture, a notoriously technical minefield through which Rachel can readily and confidently guide clients. Instructions in relation to forfeiture, as with the rest of her Landlord and Tenant Practice encompass commercial, agricultural and long- lease residential properties.

Rachel is experienced and adept in negotiations surrounding business tenancies and business licences. She has a pragmatic approach in dilapidations disputes and utilises her skills as a mediator to achieve a fair result.

Disputes between electricity suppliers and tenants of commercial properties/ landlords of investment (residential) properties are another regular feature of Rachel’s practice. Rachel has experience in acting for both sides of such disputes involving a niche area of law.

Rachel is experienced in claims arising from services charges in long residential leases: either for damages in respect of the service charge or forfeiture. She recently secured judgment in a case involving a substantial history of debt to the landlord, previous court judgment, and variations of covenant. Rachel’s ability to process the numerical aspects of a claim and present a case with clarity despite its many facets is a sure strength.

Rachel has acted for landlords in Wales and England for over 15 years and is at ease with both Welsh and English legislation. She recently appeared and was successful in a matter involving the construction and interpretation of the Housing (Wales) Act and Section 8 notices.

She is often instructed in cases involving complicated family relations and private rentals. Some recent examples include successfully acting for a landlord on appeal from a finding of unlawful eviction arising from a complicated factual and legal matrices involving life tenancies, levels of force used to secure a Landlord’s property and police powers; advising in a case where Father had lost capacity and his EPA sought possession again against a background of claims of a life trust but additionally with undue influence allegations, and successfully acting for a landlord in a claim that they had unlawfully evicted the tenant and who had counterclaimed in damages for disrepair to the property.

Rachel has also acted for councils and social housing associations on many occasions crossing the full breadth of such work including possessions, licences granted to minors, injunctions, exclusion orders and applications to commit.

Tenants benefit from Rachel’s uncomplicated but thorough approach. Rachel has acted for tenants for over 15 years and has expert knowledge in both Welsh and English forums. Her thorough and common sense has led to good results for clients. She has successfully defended applications for possession sought on the grounds of drugs being (non-commercially) supplied at the property, anti social behaviour by children, drunken misbehaviour in sheltered housing and political expression. She handles determined and forthright clients well. She is often called upon to advise as to the proper limitations to a tenant’s expression of dissatisfaction with a service provider. Rachel has advised clients with fire-setting tendencies, drug addiction issues, neighbour harassment issues, and privacy issues relating to CCTV (both neighbours’ CCTV and formal surveillance.)

Rachel has worked well with clients with severe mental health issues for many years and is often instructed by the Official Solicitor. She has a genuine passion to see that vulnerable people retain their housing despite a period of illness which is often frightening for them and for their neighbours. Many of Rachel’s clients have faced eviction due to problems stemming from anti-social personality disorder, emotionally unstable personality disorder, or mental health problems arising from psychosis. Her experience in understanding the mental health and social services links in managing housing for incredibly vulnerable people is invaluable in such disputes. Rachel is often successful in arguing that the eviction in circumstances of such illness is unlawful discrimination.

Claims and counterclaims by tenants are a feature of her practice. For example, Rachel successfully secured substantial damages on behalf of tenants who were unlawfully evicted from their home by being in a property by the Landlords’ henchmen: both tenants being disabled. Rachel has secured damages on behalf of many clients who had been unlawfully or wrongfully evicted, or whose goods have been wrongfully disposed of by their landlord. Disrepair, particularly mould and boiler related issues, have featured heavily in Rachel’s practice. She has achieved a 100% success rate in securing damages on behalf of clients in all cases in which she has been instructed.

Rachel is well versed in all aspects of agricultural and farm business tenancies.

Property and Land

Landlord and Tenant

Rachel is well versed in all aspects of agricultural and farm business tenancies.

Commercial property

Land Law and Trusts

Rachel has extensive experience in relation to all aspects of Land and trusts. She has extensive experience in claims involving trespass, boundary disputes, easements of all types, overage, restrictive covenants and trusts of land. She has frequently advised in relation to claims for rectification, party walls and nuisance claims. Examples include successfully defeating a claim for relief from forfeiture in a long running dispute over arrears and repairs, successfully seeking injunctive relief in a neighbour dispute involving the siting of shipping containers so as to trespass slightly on to the neighbours’ property but thereby causing damage and intimidation, advising in a long running dispute involving enforcement of a previous judgment against the client’s deceased partner and further claims of trespass and harassment.

Property

Rachel has achieved a high level of success in claims involving conversion and trespass to goods. She recently advised in a multi-million pound claim centring on the issue of when the property in the goods passed. She has a solid understanding of issues raised in sales of goods in domestic legislation, and international claims. She has experienced in claims for delivery up and claims involving possession issues with High Court Enforcement.

Wills, Trusts and Probate

Land Law and Trusts

Wills

Rachel has advised clients in disputes concerning wills, largely surrounding the issue of capacity. She recently represented several clients in a complicated multi handed dispute which was resolved at an ENE to the clients’ satisfaction.

Court of Protection

Rachel is experienced in applications concerning Guardianship and issues concerning financial affairs. In a recent case, Rachel represented the attorneys in a dispute involving allegations of fraud. Rachel was able to respect P’s confidentiality and wishes in a tense negotiating environment whilst achieving an appropriate outcome.