Simon Hartley
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Simon is a Partner in our Property Litigation team, providing comprehensive advice on all aspects of contentious commercial real estate work.
Simon Hartley ‘works hard and knows how to achieve outstanding results’. Legal 500 2019
RadcliffesLeBrasseur ‘takes an innovative approach that allows for practical and commercial advice to be provided in a pragmatic and effective way’. Simon Hartley, who ‘has a good legal brain with an excellent analytical style’, has substantial experience handling rent reviews, professional negligence claims and insolvency issues. Legal 500 2017
RadcliffesLeBrasseur has ‘a growing reputation for litigation’ under the ‘excellent’ Simon Hartley, who is ‘concise and to the point’. Legal 500 2016
Simon is ‘diligent’ and ‘very courteous and prompt in his replies’. Legal 500 2015
Simon Hartley is ‘very hardworking and commercial.’ Legal 500 2014
‘Tenacious’, ‘committed’ and ‘commercially sound.’ Legal 500 2012
A tough litigator who always focuses on the commercial needs of the client – he is good at bringing original thought to cases. Chambers and Partners 2011
Areas of Expertise
Simon has substantial rent review experience working for landlords and tenants both within and outside the central London markets. He advises on professional negligence claims, rights of light, dilapidations, service charge issues, development disputes and emergency injunctions.
Simon has considerable expertise in acting for landlords, tenants and insolvency practitioners in relation to real estate disputes in an insolvency context. This includes liquidation, administration, company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), bankruptcy, schemes of arrangement and receivership. He also acts in relation to the enforcement of security held over property assets.
Additionally, Simon handles all aspects of contentious real estate management work, including lease renewal, tenant default, restrictive covenants and easements and environment and planning disputes.
Experience
Simon has acted for clients on a range of contentious matters:
- Advising an international investment bank in relation to cross border insolvency and transactional structuring issues arising out of the multi-million pound acquisition of its European headquarters.
- Representing the landlord on a rent review arbitration regarding the lease of a large retail site on Oxford Street, London.
- Acting for the owner of one of the world’s most prestigious retail and leisure locations in relation to professional negligence claims and property management issues.
- Representing an insurer and its insured firm of surveyors in relation to the successful settlement of a major professional negligence claim arising from the attempted exercise of a number of lease break options.
- Acting for an international corporate in a professional negligence claim against its solicitors arising from the invalid exercise of a number of lease break options.
- Advising a property investment fund on investing in non-performing loans secured over commercial, residential and buy-to-let property.
- Successfully defending a developer facing a challenge to the validity of a light obstruction notice.
- Securing the retention of a right to run a railway line over land subject to a compulsory purchase order for one of the UK’s largest corporates.
- Acting for a leading corporate in an arbitration and parallel independent expert determination concerning a sale of land and advising on an associated professional negligence claim.
- Representing the successful party in the Court of Appeal in the important land registration case Barclays Bank v Guy [2008] EWCA Civ 452.
Client Sectors
Simon represents clients in many commercial sectors including real estate, retail, hotel and leisure and healthcare.
Membership
Law Society
Property Litigation Association
- Covid-19: Government provisions to protect Tenants and Landlords
27 March 2020 | Property | Property litigation - MEES now in force in relation to commercial property
20 June 2018 | Property | Property litigation - Shaggy dog stories – Allowing pets in leasehold properties
5 April 2018 | Property | Property litigation - Short-term sub-lettings: holiday fun or a risky business?
29 September 2016 | Property | Property litigation - Supreme Court reaffirms that prescriptive rights must be based on actual use
5 May 2016 | Property litigation - New case law on dilapidations
26 April 2016 | Property | Property litigation - Guidance for landlords: UK Government’s ‘right to rent’ scheme
11 April 2016 | Property | Property litigation - Lease assignments to guarantors have been confirmed to be void
31 March 2016 | Property | Property litigation - The introduction of CRAR – Cause for distress?
31 March 2014 | Property litigation - Breaking news – A dozen recent break option cases
31 October 2013 | Property litigation - Tenancy Deposit Schemes – lost in translation
15 October 2012 | Property litigation - Service charge demands – correct address must be given for the landlord
13 August 2012 | Property litigation - Empty rates relief clarified
13 August 2012 | Property litigation - Squatting becomes a criminal offence
21 May 2012 | Property litigation - Eviction of local authority tenants – a question of proportionality
20 December 2010 | Property | Property litigation - The problem of costs in construction litigation
30 November 2010 | Litigation and dispute resolution | Property litigation