Kay Hewitt

Expertise

Kay qualified as a solicitor in 1999 after completing her studies at De Montfort University, Leicester.

As head of the dispute resolution department at Lamb & Holmes, Kay has amassed a wealth of experience in dispute resolution over the years. She is a skilled listener, quick to understand the needs of her client and to identify the issues. She is astute and sympathetic in her dealings with clients whilst recognising the need to be commercially minded. 

Kay will deliver straightforward and practical legal advice to provide her client with the best options available to resolve the dispute. Her mantra is her desire to achieve the best outcome for her client within the shortest time frame possible, at the lowest cost.

Kay is experienced in civil litigation cost recovery and highly skilled in the recent requirement for civil cases to be properly managed and costs budgeted. This enables Kay to expertly guide her clients, ensuring that civil litigation is conducted proportionately. Where appropriate, Kay will encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution such as negotiation, mediation and expert determination, ensuring that civil litigation really is a last resort.

Experience

Kay has more than 15 years’ experience in the provision of legal services. During her career Kay has undertaken most areas of general practice in a solicitor’s office, this has ensured Kay has a wide general knowledge which has made her particularly skilled at advising clients on the resolution of disputes. 

Notable Cases

• Kay recently acted for a developer client facing a multi-million-pound claim brought by an ex-business partner under a Profit Share Agreement. Mediation was quickly agreed and arranged through CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution). The mediation lasted 10 hours and concluded with a confidential settlement agreement; and a highly satisfied client.
• Kay acted for a client who had to take his highly contested claim as a joint owner of property all the way to a full hearing lasting 3 days, in order to obtain a declaration as to the interests held by each of the co-owners; and to carry out an inquiry into the income received on the property, and the expenses that had been incurred by each of the joint owners during the period of co-ownership, in order to calculate the split of the proceeds of sale between the co-owners.  
• Kay successfully recovered over £300,000 for a client creditor by securing an order for sale against a property owned by the debtor and dealt with the sale of the property in order to see her client’s debt satisfied.
• Kay negotiated a satisfactory settlement for her client embroiled in a highly charged contentious probate claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act following the death of a father and the disputes that arose between his widow and children.
• Kay is very experienced in resolving boundary disputes and rights of way disputes, which require careful surveying on the ground, meticulous investigation of title deeds, and thorough consideration of local knowledge.
• Kay is commercially adept at identifying the issues in contractual disputes, and will quickly help her client to explore the options available and identify the most cost-effective way to resolve the matter satisfactorily.

Key Services

The range of disputes which Kay can help with include: 

• Contractual disputes
• Consumer Rights
• Commercial disputes arising from business and company dealings
• Construction and property disputes, both domestic and commercial
• Ownership of land, including disputes between co-owners
• Neighbour/boundary disputes
• Contentious probate and inheritance claims regarding the assets of a deceased person
• Negligence claims, for e.g. professional negligence
• Landlord and Tenant disputes
• Leasehold disputes, for e.g. business leases and  ground rent/maintenance charges
• Debt advice and debt recovery
• Employment issues, advising employers and employees
• Personal injury claims, for e.g. road traffic claims
• Personal injury in the workplace (employer’s liability) or in a public place (public liability/occupier’s liability)
• Bankruptcy and insolvency advice

Interests

Kay loves her family and her dogs and enjoys walking in the countryside and on any beach, she also enjoys reading and going to the theatre.