Luke Maidens

Luke specialises in real estate litigation and dispute management.

He has over 13 years’ experience advising clients across a range of sectors including Real Estate (acting for occupier, investor and developer clients), Telecoms and Health. His clients include 'Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield', 'Telefonica UK Limited', 'Cornerstone', 'Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust' and various national residential developers.

Luke has significant experience and expertise in the full range of Real Estate litigation issues. He regularly deals with complex and/or high value disputes, as well as overseeing a large volume of more routine matters.

Luke will always seek to resolve any property issues in the most practical and commercial way possible.

In addition, Luke is a national leading expert in the telecommunications sector and has been at the forefront of precedent-setting litigation (in both the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and the Court of Appeal) in this field, following the introduction of the new Electronic Communications Code in December 2017.

Relevant experience includes:

(Real estate)

• Providing ongoing asset management assistance and advice in relation to Europe’s two largest shopping centres. Recent instructions have included facilitating a number of key lease renewals for this client.
• Securing vacant possession of a high value and high profile city-centre site for an international developer and investor client, for onward redevelopment. This involved removing a number of tenants from this multi-let building, in order to enable this project to proceed on time. Luke has delivered similar projects for a number of clients and has a proven track record of delivery in this regard.
• Successfully defending a number of significant dilapidations claims on the behalf of a large international manufacturing business, either reducing the claim significantly, or else having it withdrawn altogether by the other side.

(Telecoms)

• Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited -v- The University of London [2018] UKUT 0356 (LC) and [2019] WECA Civ 2075 - The first substantive hearing of issues under the Code, to determine whether a site survey is an Code right. The successful outcome has established an industry-wide principle under the Code.
• (Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited -v- Compton Beuchamp Estates Limited [2019] UKUT 0107 (LC) and [2019] EWCA Civ 1755) - Another one of the first batch of claims to be heard under the Code, which set industry-crucial precedent on a number of issues, including from whom Code rights must be sought and also the renewal of Code agreements.
• (Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited -v- Richard Gregory Keast [2019] UKUT 116 (LC)) - This reference involved pivotal questions under the Code, including the content of Code notices, the scope of rights sought and if rights can be granted over sites where apparatus is already installed. All issues were successfully decided in our client’s favour.

Luke regularly provides training and guidance sessions for clients and other interested parties in the real estate, telecoms and health sectors.

Luke is listed as a Next Generation Partner in the UK Legal 500 and is noted as a “telecoms expert” and “a real rising star” in the field of telecoms law.

Luke is a contributory author to The Electronic Communications Code and Property Law, Practice and Procedure, as compiled by Falcon Chambers and published by Routledge. This is the leading legal textbook in this field and is used by practitioners throughout the telecoms sector.

Luke is a member of the Property Litigation Association.