Ms Bernadette Chikwe > Duncan Lewis Solicitors > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Duncan Lewis Solicitors Offices

Duncan Lewis Solicitors
Head office – Fenchurch Street
Sackville House
143-149 Fenchurch Street
EC3M 6BN
England

Ms Bernadette Chikwe

Bernadette Chikwe photo
020 7275 2885 bernadettec@duncanlewis.com View profile

Work Department

Housing

Position

Housing director Bernadette Chikwe specialises in all aspects of housing litigation and tenant/landlord social housing matters. She has copious experience in both dealing with privately rented, local authority and social landlords rent and other grounds possession proceedings. She also has experience in dealing with mortgage possession proceedings, charging order proceedings and assisting clients make their applications to suspend warrants of eviction.

Bernadette has worked in a number of reported cases including the recent Abdi v the London Borough of Waltham Forest an s.204 appeal, on the issue of suitability of temporary accommodation of time and distance in the context of borough placements and the post Localism Act.

She has been a duty solicitor since 2002 at both Bow County Court and the Central London County Court. As a duty solicitor, she gives clients face to face advice before and after their hearings. She liaises with third parties, represents them in relation to their hearings and when appropriate, makes referrals to other organisations following the hearing.

Bernadette also supervises a remote advice service through the Legal Aid Agency Civil Legal Advice. This entails representing clients UK-wide, handling their instructions and processing their cases remotely through non face to face communications such as video calls, telephone and/or email.

Career

Following over 10 years’ experience in other firms, Bernadette joined Duncan Lewis in 2013 and was appointed partner-level, director of housing in 2016.

Languages

Bernadette speaks Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, some German and basic French.

Education

Bernadette completed her LPC at the College of Law in London and did the Common Professional Examination at City University. Prior to this she obtained a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from the University of North London.

Lawyer Rankings

London > Real estate > Social housing: tenant

Duncan Lewis Solicitors offers representation across the full range of social housing matters, and the team is co-led by Bernadette Chikwe, who specialises in housing litigation and landlord and tenant housing matters, alongside Manjinder Kaur Atwal and Dianne Cowie. The social housing team handles cases related to possession and homelessness, disrepair, succession, unlawful evictions, and neighbourhood disputes. Associate Zuhal Saglam Bas is taking a lead role on neighbourhood disputes and litigation cases. The practice has developed an expertise in handling Equality Act defence cases, and a public law specialism representing both landlords and tenants in disputes, appeals, and judicial reviews. Chikwe regularly appears at the Central London County Court, along with Cowie, who also has experience at the High Court and the Supreme Court. Daljit Singh also handles a range of both contentious and non-contentious matters, from homelessness appeals in the County Court to claims for judicial review. The team has experience working with vulnerable clients, such as those with mental health conditions, terminal illnesses, or learning difficulties, and receives referrals from community organisations, domestic violence units, prisons, and detention centres.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings