Story Time!

It is said that a picture is worth 1,000 words.

In some circumstances, that might be true, but does it always apply?

Take this picture as an example. I have no doubt that anyone looking at it will come up with a different interpretation, but it’s highly unlikely that anyone will get it right.

If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone knows my legs are much better than this, you’d probably all assume that I’d had one too many and had fallen off my killer heels. You’d be wrong.

So, you might assume that it was someone I was out drinking with who’d had one too many and fallen off their trainers. Wrong again.

Have I bored someone to death??? Nope! My stories are far too entertaining to have done that.

Is he trying to get the last bottle out from the back of the fridge before I lose my sense of humour – possibly, but the fridge door is closed, so he’s not going to be successful, and I would never entrust such an important job to someone who doesn’t know how to open the door to the alcohol!!!

But my point, of course, is to illustrate just how easy it is for things to be open to interpretation and how easy it is to get it wrong.

Earlier today I was reading a case report about a long running dispute between a landlord and a long leaseholder. The leasehold property had some disrepair, which had included a significant leak into another property. Proceedings were issued to make the long leaseholder undertake repairs. A deal was done just before trial, and a settlement agreement was entered into, which included a provision for the works to be undertaken and compensation to be paid. The leaseholder complied with the terms of the settlement but took a bit longer in doing the repairs than was provided for in the agreement. The landlord tried to use this as grounds to forfeit the lease. The tenant opposed it. The case went all the way to the Court of Appeal.

The significance of the case is not about leasehold law (although I can tell you all about it if you wish) but the fact that even when each side has legal advice and representation throughout the case from the point of issuing all the way through to the final hearing and beyond, it is still possible that one side or the other is going to try and challenge what has been agreed. This is partly because you cannot possibly anticipate all the different things that could happen and then set out in an agreement what the effect of all of those eventualities could be.

Put simply, there is no such thing as a guaranteed case or a watertight agreement.

In my world, nothing is ever guaranteed.

Which is why, despite being a very good litigator, I will always encourage people to avoid court where possible. Not because I’m not up for the challenge, but simply because I know how difficult and unpredictable court proceedings can be. How expensive they are and how long they can take.

It also gets in the way of my drinking time, but that’s another story.

Speaking of stories, if you want to know what the story behind the picture is, buy me a pint and I’ll explain all!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full service law firm. Good at painting pictures.