Property law | real estate | Land law

• Property Law

• • Overview

  • A Day in the Life of

  • Interview

  Put Simply...

  Property/real estate law, whether residential or commercial is a thriving area of practice, especially during periods of economic boom. The value of land as an immoveable asset has always been high throughout history and there will always be a market to buy, lease or sell, develop/convert for different types of use, as a means of investment or any other such utilization of land.
  
  Given that only a quarter of the earth’s surface is land, its value as a limited resource has always been much in demand. As a lawyer practising in this field, the range of work available is both contentious and non-contentious; you could limit yourself to working on residential or commercial property matters or do both. In the realm of commercial property, work can be further divided into private and public sector projects. The clientele for whom you will provide legal services can be individuals, groups of individuals, companies in all sizes, investors, developers, public bodies, governments, etc.

  What is involved in Property Law?

  As a property lawyer, you could be involved in many types of transactions; there is as much variety available as there is land. To begin with, at the start of your career, you will work on drafting contracts and related documents, progressing to negotiations between parties, and in most firms, junior lawyers often handle small value property matters on their own.

  Within property and real estate law are smaller segments which one can choose to specialize in or be a general practitioner and work in all of them. Some of these are residential property transfers through sales, acquisitions, leases and tenancy or financing properties through mortgages, loans, investment funds, etc. The daily tasks of a property lawyer include negotiating property transactions, structuring arrangements for conveyancing or investments, and preparing documentation such as contracts, etc to finalize transactions.
  
  Solicitors will also collect relevant property information from surveyors and confirm that the party selling the property is the rightful.

  What is needed for Property Law?
  

  To be successful as a property solicitor, important talents required include attention to detail, meticulousness in collating and presenting information and be logical in dealing with all concerned parties. Drafting skills should be first-class and you need to have a thorough understanding of various laws and regulations governing property. Negotiation and communication skills should be top-notch since most of the work involved is of a consensual nature.
  
  Client management is also important since you will be converting complex jargon and terminology into simple terms for your clients.

  Current Climate for Property Law

  Laws and regulations relating to rights of easement, rights of access, obstruction of an owner’s right to enjoy his property to the fullest extent (ventilation, natural light, views, etc) constantly get changed as courts create precedents with each case.
  
  Growing rents in business districts and central areas and limited availability of fresh land for development have brought to the fore creative mechanisms such as redevelopment of existing property by changing terms of land-use, reclamation of land and investments in companies holding property rather than holding property directly.
  
  

  A day in the life of... Michael Lawrence, Partner at Martineau
  

  My brain definitely works better in the morning than the afternoon or evening so I try to organise my day around that when I can. Obviously I have to fit things around commitments such as court hearings and litigators are always at risk of having their carefully planned agendas for the day shot to pieces by an urgent injunction case or similar. But not knowing what’s round the next corner is something you need to thrive on if you do litigation work and property litigation is certainly no exception.

  When I can I try to get to the gym before work. It’s a struggle in the winter when it’s cold and raining outside but it sets me up for the day and means I’m fully awake by the time I get to my desk.  Once I’ve looked at whatever emails and calls have come in overnight, checked the morning’s post and what Outlook is telling me I have to do today, I try to get on with the work which I know is going to take the most brainpower. This usually means drafting court documents such as statements of case or witness statements and detailed reports or letters.

  Lunch is usually a sandwich in the office although if I know I’m going to be working into the evening I try to get out and get some fresh air. As a team we meet once a month, normally at lunchtime, to discuss recently reported property disputes cases and share ideas and experiences arising from the cases we’re dealing with. I might also be involved over lunchtime in meetings with other teams in the firm to discuss how we can best cross-sell our services.

  In the afternoon, in addition to signing out post I will usually deal with more routine work on cases and meet other members of the team to discuss any issues arising on their matters where they need my input.

  All of this is slotted in around other commitments such as court hearings, meetings with clients or opponents, conferences with Counsel, or lunch or evening drinks with clients. But of course the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and I often find myself at the end of the day having done little of what I’d originally planned. But then if I wanted a steady routine, I wouldn’t be doing this job!

  Daily Diary

  Time:	Diary entry
  06:15	Gym
  07:30	Arrive at office, check emails and phone messages
  09:00	Check incoming post and discuss with team members where necessary
  09:30	Work on statements of case, witness statements and detailed reports or letters of advice
  13:00	Lunch meeting to discuss cross-selling of services
  14:00	Sign out post
  14:30	Deal with shorter and routine letters and emails, and speak to clients by phone
  15:30	Attend court hearing by telephone (case management conference)
  16:00	Meet with other team members to discuss progress of various cases
  16:30	Sign off of further post and longer documents prepared during the day
  17:00	Telephone conference with Counsel on case relating to dispute over extent of prescriptive right of way
  18:30	Leave office; deal with any further emails on BlackBerry on train journey home

  Martineau is are one of the UK's leading independent law firms. They have 46 partners and over 100 other lawyers who focus on today's key market sectors. Based in Birmingham and London with international capabilities.
  

  Please visit their Graduate Recruitment website to find out more about working for Martineau.
  

  Name: Michael Lawrence

  Firm and location: Martineau, Birmingham

  Current position: Partner, Real Estate Disputes

  What attracted you to this area of law?

  I was always interested in land law when I did what was then called the CPE (now the GDL) in the early 1990’s. I don’t really know what it was about land law that I liked so much but it probably had something to do with the complexity of the area and the fact that it gave your brain a good workout. When I was about to start my training contract all I knew was that I definitely didn’t want to do litigation but to my horror I got a letter from the firm I was going to be training with telling me that my first seat would be in commercial litigation. I was terrified but within a few weeks of starting I knew that litigation was actually what I wanted to do. So property litigation was the obvious choice for me.

  Is it what you expected?

  It wasn’t what I expected initially but I had no real appreciation of what the job of a solicitor might actually involve at all! I had always loved trying to get my head round knotty land law problems but I wasn’t prepared for the fact that litigation solicitors spend much of their time on other aspects of the job such as complying with procedural rules, devising strategies and tactics to win their cases. There’s a lot of strategy involved in property disputes work and you need to be a good tactician. That’s something I certainly wasn’t prepared for when I first started out.

  What is the best part of this field?

  Definitely the fact that there’s nothing routine about the work. Every case is different and demands its own careful analysis and approach. Developing good relationships with clients who often find themselves forced to become involved in costly and lengthy legal proceedings is sometimes challenging and that’s another part of the role I love.

  What is the worst part of this field?

  Having to explain the perpetuity rules in clear English!

  Wise words for anyone considering this area?

  Don’t think of it as an area of practice you can master quickly. You need to go into it with an appetite for continual learning and re-learning because the law and procedural rules change so often. To a greater of lesser extent this applies to all areas of practice but having to keep abreast of changes in law and procedure never stops being a challenge.

  Martineau is are one of the UK's leading independent law firms. They have 46 partners and over 100 other lawyers who focus on today's key market sectors. Based in Birmingham and London with international capabilities.
  

  Please visit their Graduate Recruitment website to find out more about working for Martineau.

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