Keith Conway

Full Profile

Keith's work focuses on disputes concerning property development, joint ventures, funding, site assembly, contractual and landlord and tenant matters. He has particular experience of rights of light and neighbour disputes, dilapidations and break right disputes.  He is the immediate past Chairman of the Property Litigation Association, a past chair of the Law Reform Committee, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an ADR Mediator.

Experience

• Advising a client in respect of a £5bn major waterfront land regeneration scheme. Our client acquired land and took various contractual commitments from its neighbouring vendor in respect of future development of the acquired and retained land . Our client commenced proceedings against its neighbouring vendor seeking damages of in excess of £20m for breach of various contractual commitments arising from the difference in profits between the consented scheme now being developed by our client and that originally envisaged at the time of the sale contract. 
• Advising a developer in respect of grounds available to terminate and/or negotiate a variation of their JV partnership in order to improve their financial position and outcome in respect of an £80m leisure portfolio. We carried out a wholesale review of the complex partnership structure and core obligations on both parties to assist out client in recovering ongoing income of over £1.6m per annum and in respect of variations to the JV partnership.
• Advising our client a large property investment fund on the redevelopment of six storey Grade A offices in the prominent position in Notting Hill London (approx. 80,000 sq. feet plus retail units). Opposing the grant of a new tenancy by its major High Street tenant on both grounds (d) suitable alternative accommodation and ground (f) substantial works of reconstruction. We filed proceedings opposing the grant of a new tenancy on grounds (d) and (f), dealt with significant pre-action and other disclosure and advised our client in respect of a prompt application for summary judgment. The matter required nuanced advice in relation to carefully balancing the litigation action with the various commercial aspects of the matter, the redevelopment timetable and without prejudice negotiations. This included, among other matters, further advice in respect of breach of user and advice on minimising the payment of substantial statutory compensation.
• Successfully advised our client, Receivers and well know international bank client in respect of enforcement against a high profile borrower and a substantial residential property in a prime location in Surrey, worth in excess of £45m. This high-profile matter ran alongside a significant debt and enforcement claim in respect of the property and other worldwide assets and prime properties and enforcement proceedings , including the arrest of a well-known super yacht. The total borrowing and debt amounting to just under £400m. We were instructed to document the Receivers’ appointment and advise on strategies for obtaining vacant possession of the property. Further to this, we issued possession proceedings in the High Court, advising throughout on complex issues and correspondence and numerous applications made by the borrower’s solicitors, before and after successfully obtaining a possession order and order for sale. Further to these orders being obtained, a refinance was eventually put in place. We successfully guided the clients through the refinance process with assistance from our transactional team, enabling the Receivers to make a full recovery and also our international bank client and obtain a complete recovery of all borrowings costs and interest.
• Advising an established education client on its future turnkey move from its current campus. The dilapidations and reinstatement claims are complex and substantial and will require a solution involving carrying out separation works and agreeing and paying compensation to the client’s two separate now landlords. We assisted in negotiations to compromise these whilst taking a reversionary leases from each now landlord of the existing campus to ensure a tidy and flexible move within a window of time aligned with the summer university recesses of either 2024 or 2025 whilst also allowing our client to carry out substantial agreed works of reinstatement and fit out work in respect of the new campus. We also issued two lease renewal proceedings so as to ensure suitably short but flexible renewal leases were obtained from the university’s now separate landlords. We worked closely with out transactional and construction teams to de-risk the transaction for our client.
• Continuing to act for well-known high street retailers, throughout the challenges they have faced following the pandemic. We provide a seamless and joined up service with our transitional teams, advising them often in relation to breaks, lease regears and renewals and in respect of issues arising throughout the relative downturn and beyond.
• Continuing to act for various group companies (major well known property company) on a number of matters involving development and neighbourly disputes, landlord and tenant matters, rights of light , vacant possession strategies and wide ranging enforcement issues. Each of the complex long term projects we advise on are of great strategic importance and value to our client. We continue to be their “go to” commercial property litigation firm.
• Advising the client, a real estate property developer and investor. The client acquired a farming business and substantial neighbouring land , subject to the benefit and burden of an Option Agreement. A well-known house builder was the option holder under the Option Agreement in exchange for being the “promoter” of the land for housebuilding. The client is a fund that seed fund large scale developments both residential and commercial. Due to the complexity of the issues this matter was referred by the client to us away from their existing advisers. The house builder had merged with another equally well known house builder who was already part of a neighbouring consortium causing a number of further complex potential conflicts of interest . We worked with our planning team and the client to plan a future development strategy.
  
  This is a complex matter involving multiple parties and a substantial development site. We were instructed to review the Option Agreement, review the company structure of said member and where the housebuilder sat within that structure and advise on the obligations of those parties with a particular emphasis on ensuring our client land was not prejudiced in light of the consortium arrangements. We recommended to the client to write a letter before action setting out the obligations of the housebuilder (for example, to optimise the development value of the land as a whole) and noting that their conduct in the negotiations regarding certain accesses had led to a breach of their obligations. We also provided advice on how the client should approach any potential negotiations and deal with the Consortium in relation to any payments required for access to implement housebuilding on the option land and to avoid any potential ransom payment .
• We are instructed to act for five Defendants in High Court proceedings concerning a dispute which has arisen in relation to our clients' duties to provide financial information in respect of a LLP partnership and regarding the distribution of the partnership's profits in accordance with the terms of the joint venture agreement, shareholders' agreement and ancillary documents. The documentation is complex involving analysing the reasonableness and contractual entitlement to deduct various historic expenses and make payments in accordance with various waterfall agreements. 
• Successfully acted for Capgemini in relation to two lease renewals (consolidated into one claim).The subject premises are a data centre of national importance in the UK and therefore the lease renewal considered a multimillion pound rent and many complex technical issues such as security, power capacity and power outages, which are over and above usual landlord and tenant matters.
• Successfully advising Cathedral LLP on a settlement in response to an application made against the client by a neighbouring land owner for an injunction to prevent our client from allowing a crane on its development site to oversail the neighbour's land.
• Advising Pembury Hotels Limited on a Cypriot family joint venture dispute involving a number of properties and hotels in London, including forfeiture proceedings, lease renewal proceedings and advising upon termination of various leases and management agreements in respect of the properties and pursuing recovery of rent, trading and other investment receipts during the joint venture.
• Successfully advised on a complex landlord and tenant dispute regarding a rent review agreement between the head landlord and intermediate landlord who are part of the same group.
• Successfully acted for the corporate owner of the property in defence of a claim brought by a leading UK venue company for wrongful termination of a Management Agreement concerning a venue on the top floors of Milbank Tower in London.
• Advising stationary retailer Ryman on issues arising from leases and former guarantees following the sale and insolvency of the La Senza business.
• Rectifying proceedings in respect of a reverse premium following exercising a break by the tenant of a trophy building in the city of London.
• Acting for Thamesway Developments in successfully defending an application by an action group to thwart a UK development by having land registered as a Village Green.
• Acting for a UK house builder in getting an injunction allowing completion of road building works required under planning obligations, to be completed prior to commencing the building of a substantial housing estate.
• Advising Hiscox in relation to break obligations and providing vacant possession of an office building in London.
• Advising a Developer in a dispute following the insolvency of the building contractor and disputed "step in" by the Forward Funder.