Partners & Staff

Charles Knapper is the Managing Partner and is the firm’s litigation specialist. He has numerous private and commercial clients across a wide range of litigation matters. Charles also has an extensive and loyal client base in residential and commercial conveyancing as well as other contentious and non- contentious matters including landlord actions and wills and probate.

Additional qualifications include being an incorporated engineer with the Council of Engineering Institute and he is a Member of the Institute of Marine Engineers Science and Technology. As a professional engineer Charles has a specialist insight into many commercial and industrial disputes and is able to undertake specialist litigation work including catastrophic steam plant failures, marine engine and gearbox failures as well as general mechanical and electrical engineering disputes including motor vehicle repair disputes.

Charles holds a certificate of professional competence in road haulage and is able to use his engineering and other qualifications to bolster any advice to a client with an engineering based dispute.

Charles obtained his engineering qualification having served over 12 years in the Royal Navy with the majority of his time spent on Nuclear Submarines. Charles is experienced in all form of propulsion systems including steam, gas turbine, diesel and nuclear. Charles is also qualified in the field of electrical generation and distribution as well as control electrical systems.

Charles is also a Senior Caseworker under the asylum and immigration accreditation scheme and undertakes advocacy work in the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.

Cases of note include

Lancefield -v- Lancefield [2002] BPIR 1108 - Insolvent Partnership - No winding-up petition presented - Whether jurisdiction to make winding-up order - Insolvent Partnerships Order 1994, Sch 3 - Insolvency Act 1986, s 221(7), (8)

Philips & Goddard -v- Francis QBD 24/03/2010 - Landlord and Tenant Holiday Lettings - Houses - Service Charges - meaning of "Dwelling" in S.18 LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT 1985. A chalet the use of which was restricted to providing holiday accommodation was a dwelling for the purposes of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.18. King v Udlaw (LT L 29/5/2008) not followed.

Smith -v- Cawse and Crawford 15/07/1997 (unreported) Costs - Indemnity provision in tenancy - Tenant on benefits - Financial hardship - Possession of an assured shorthold pursuant to s21 Housing Act 1988 - Church Commissioners for England -v- Ibrahim (1996) EGCS 25 followed - Party not to be deprived of a contractual rights to costs unless good reason to do so - Financial circumstances of the tenant not a reason to interfere with contractual right to costs

Sinclair-Steadman -v- Beak 2005 (unreported) Costs - Landlord recovering legal costs from deposit - Contractual right to costs on indemnity basis - No order for costs at possession hearing - Landlord seeking to recover the costs of possession proceedings and costs of serving Statutory Demand under the Insolvency Act 1986 from tenancy deposit - Can a "no costs order" interfere with the landlord's contractual right to costs - Church Commissioners for England -v- Ibrahim (1996) EGCS 25 followed - Rent was in arrears therefore statutory demand was justified as were the possession proceedings - No good reason to interfere with contractual right - Landlord entitled to deduct costs from deposit - Landlord's costs found to be prefectly reasonable as hourly rate was within scale for Grade A Solicitor - Tenant's claim for the return of the deposit dismissed

Scottish & Newcastle plc -v- MacPherson 22/9/2010 (unreported) Undue influence - whether the wife being a joint licencee and company secretary created a commercial relationship for the purpose of a personal guarantee given by the wife - Royal Bank of Scotland -v- Etridge [2001] UKHL 44 followed - wife had no proprietory interest in husband's company and was a mere cypher - neither the position of company secretary nor the holding of the premises licence created a commercial relationship so as to disturb the undue influence argument.