Daniel Crehan > Chambers of Rachel Sleeman > London, England > Barrister Profile

Daniel specialises in landlord and tenant litigation and his practice encompasses the full range of disputes within the area. Daniel acts for both landlords and tenants in respect of both residential and commercial property, including social housing and leasehold disputes.

Having been seconded to the in-house housing litigation teams of a London borough and one of the large housing associations, Daniel regularly acts for landlords with extensive property portfolios. Daniel’s in-house experience has provided him with an insight into the pressures that landlords face and enables him to represent his clients with a comprehensive knowledge of housing disputes, from initial breaches of tenancy to the enforcement of possession orders.

As a barrister with a specialism in employment law, Daniel is well equipped to address Equality Act issues that arise within possession proceedings.

Daniel’s recent work includes:

• Successfully resisting an appeal made by a tenant on the basis that a judge had made an error of law by making a possession order without exploring whether the tenant had a possible legal defence.
• Obtaining an unlawful profit order in the sum of £28,500, on behalf of a landlord in a case in which a tenant had obtained unlawful profits by both subletting a property and claiming housing benefit at the same time.
• Successfully applying to strike out a claim for significant rent arrears on behalf of a commercial tenant on the basis of the landlord’s repeated breaches of court orders.
• Representing a freeholder in a claim by a leaseholder for over £100,000 on the basis of an alleged breach of the repairing covenant.
• Advising on the enforceability of offers of new tenancies made by a housing provider inadvertently.
• Successfully arguing, on behalf of a tenant, that a local authority’s decision to seek possession was irrational as a result of a failure to follow its policies.
• Obtaining relief from sanctions on behalf of a landlord in a service charges dispute where the claim had been struck out because of its failure to pay the court fee, where several months elapsed between the strike out and the application and where the trial date had already passed.

Daniel regularly acts for both employers and employees in a wide range of employment disputes.

Before starting pupillage, Daniel built up his advocacy experience by representing claimants in employment tribunal hearings whilst volunteering for the Free Representation Unit. Daniel also gained a detailed understanding of disciplinary procedure and investigations by representing the families of excluded children at Independent Appeal Panels whilst volunteering for a pro bono organisation.

Daniel’s practice encompasses a broad range of employment disputes including:

• Unfair Dismissal
• Wrongful Dismissal
• Constructive Dismissal
• Redundancy
• Unlawful Deduction of Wages
• Direct Discrimination
• Indirect Discrimination
• Harassment
• Victimisation
• Failure to make reasonable adjustments
• Bonus Claims