Having previously acted for a number of Norfolk local authorities in judicial review claims against the Boundary Committee, James Pavey, of Knights Solicitors, has been instructed to act for Devon County Council and Norfolk County Council in judicial review proceedings against the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Despite advice from his Permanent Secretary that he would face such proceedings if he did so, the Secretary of State proceeded to lay draft Orders before Parliament to implement unitary authorities for Exeter and Norwich. The proceedings have been expedited and are due to be heard on 28-29 April 2010.

Here are the links to the wider media coverage of the issue:

Matthew Knight, Senior Partner at Knights Solicitors, acted for clients in a recent case of veterinary negligence claims against Mote Park Veterinary Surgery.

Here are links to the coverage of the case by:

• BBC South East Today; and
• the News of the World.

Knights Solicitors is pleased to announce that, on 1 February 2010, Graham Dorman became a Partner in the firm.

Graham's expertise is in transactional property work - both in relation to freehold and leasehold property.

For his professional background, see Graham's profile.

Partner Michael McNally will be speaking on "Animals and Accidents" with Giles Mooney of 9 Gough Square at Butterworths 2nd Agricultural Law Conference on 22 February 2010.

Please use this link to download the full conference speaker list and booking details.

Knights Solicitors Partner James Pavey chaired a panel of experts, each advocating land law reform in the rural sector, at Portcullis House, Westminster. The panel comprised:

• Christopher Price, Chief Legal Adviser and Head of Policy Services
• James Paice MP, Shadow Minister for Agriculture
• Robert Fookes, Barrister Francis Taylor Building
• Edward Faulkner, former President of the RICS"

The Solicitors Journal has featured partner Michael McNally in an article on the state of the legal market in the south-east of England. In the article [link], Michael comments on the nature of the firm's practice and how it has helped it to weather the economic downturn since 2007.

23-27 September 2009

Knights is contributing through the Agricultural Law Association to the UK’s submissions to the XXV European Congress and Colloquium of Agricultural Law, which is to take place on 23- 26 September 2009 see this link for more information.

Matthew Knight is collaborating with a number of other experts in agricultural law to produce the UK’s submission on legal incentives and legal obstacles to farm diversification.

Please follow the links below in relation to the Court of Appeal’s judgement this case. Knights acted for the successful local authorities – Breckland Council, Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk and South Norfolk District Council:

• BBC
• Diss Express

Please follow these links to see reporting of this test case on the interpretation of the Hunting Act 2004, in which Knights acted for Tony Wright, whose acquittal was upheld:

• BBC
• Daily Telegraph
• Horse & Hound
• The Times
• The Times Law Reports

Knights Partner James Pavey chaired a panel of leading industry experts including Jim Paice MP, Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ian Cullen, founding partner of IPD to discuss the future of investment in rural land held at Portcullis House, Westminster: more information.