We successfully brought a claim for damages for Waterfall Development Limited arising from an alleged fraudulent misrepresentation said to have been made by the Defendants about ownership of a wall. The claim sought to recover substantial losses suffered by our client and his company during a development of 9 luxury apartment blocks in the prestigious Sandbanks area in Dorset.
The dispute arose in 2022 during a meeting between the parties held to discuss damage to a section of the Defendants’ wall which separated our clients’ and their respective properties. During that meeting the Defendants were alleged to have lied to our client about ownership of another section of the wall, which was subject to a party wall award which would have allowed our client to demolish and reconstruct it during the development. The Defendants threatened to call the police and to seek an injunction against our client if he did touch the wall. Our clients’ development plans were altered as a result for considerable cost. Our client issued a claim for damages in December 2022. The Defendants denied all allegations against them throughout the litigation process.
The four-day trial was in March 2024 and involved fierce cross examination by respective counsel. The Defendants continued to deny the allegations against each of them. Judgment was handed down on the fourth day and the Judge concluded that each limb of the applicable legal test had been met by the Defendants conduct during the meeting of 2022 and after. It was found that they had in fact lied to our client, in the knowledge that they were doing so and with the intent to cause our client to change his course of action which led to wasted costs during the development.
The Judge agreed to award our client indemnity costs after our counsel’s successful submissions that the Defendants conduct during the course of the proceedings was so extraordinary that our client should be entitled to recover an amount exceeding fixed recoverable costs.
This claim was worked on by Simon Walton, Partner and Deputy Head of Dispute Resolution, and Annabel Morgan, Solicitor.
