Nicola Stanley

LEGAL DIRECTOR, MANCHESTER

Practice areas

With over 21 years’ Litigation experience, Nicola has advised a wide range of clients from individuals and SMEs to local authorities and PLCs. Her strength lies in having studied and worked in business prior to embarking on a legal career so can understand the client’s business objectives from the outset, get to the heart of the dispute and provide practical, commercial advice to resolve the dispute quickly and cost effectively.

Her broad experience includes general commercial litigation encompassing breach of contract claims, partnership disputes and consumer credit claims with a particular emphasis on professional negligence matters. She has considerable expertise acting for lenders and financial institutions in negligence claims against surveyors and solicitors and more recently, for individuals and limited companies against tax and financial advisers. She also has extensive property litigation experience acting for landowners, landlords and tenants in cases involving break clauses, contested lease renewal claims, dilapidations, forfeiture and enforcement of general terms.

Nicola is a Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 where she is also ranked as a ‘Rising Star’.

Client testimonial:

• “Nicola Stanley is extremely thorough, and very persistent in her work for the client”
• “Nicola Stanley is absolutely outstanding, and I couldn’t praise her more highly”
• “Nicola Stanley is a pleasure to work with. She takes the stress out of a legal situation and replaces it with confidence. She is an excellent listener and is extremely reliable. Her knowledge of relevant case law is outstanding and her attention to detail and recall is amazing. She is able to make you feel like you are her only client and is always available if you need her. She is always calm and makes the process infinitely manageable. I would thoroughly recommend her”
• “Nicola’s level of sophistication is very strong. Her commercial vision is also very strong”
• “Nicola Stanley is an experienced litigator with a strong background in financial services professional negligence”

Notable cases

Knights & Others v Townsend Harrison Ltd 2021 EWHC 2563 (QB)
Represented the Claimants in a seven-figure claim against accountants in relation to alleged negligent advice concerning investment into a foreign exchange investment scheme which turned out to be a Ponzi scheme and also in relation to a variety of tax mitigation schemes.

Cheshire Estate and Legal Limited v Thomas Blanchfield, Mark Montaldo and MTCC Solutions Limited
Represented the Claimant in an expedited 6 day trial in claims for injunctive and springboard relief following breach of contract and statutory duties by the Claimant’s 2 former directors in setting up their own competing law firm.

FJ Chalke Limited v Lloyds Bank plc
Represented the Claimant in a claim in the High Court against Lloyds Bank following a vishing scam and the loss of £540,000.

Warwickshire County Court and Midlands Homes Limited
Acting for a national house builder in a dispute with Warwickshire County Court in relation to a claim for £1.2M pursuant to an agreement under Section 278 of the Highways Agency Act 1990.

Louise Bond and Boxhall Management Limited v Kay Johnson Gee (a firm) and Others
Represented the Claimants in a £5.75M claim against former accountants for negligence and breach of contract following tax and accountancy advice.

Redwater Contracts Limited v Scale Project Developments Limited
Represented the Claimant in a £500k in the Technology and Construction Court against the quantity surveying firm appointed at the Claimant’s prestigious Astley Point Development.

Peterborough City Council and Morris Homes (Midlands) Limited
Acting for a national house builder, Morris Homes (Midlands) Limited in a dispute with Peterborough Council in relation to a claim for £550,000 purportedly due under an agreement made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

BL Goodman (General Partner Limited) & Others and Morris Homes (Midlands) Limited
Acting for a national house builder, Morris Homes (Midlands) Limited in a £2.5M overage dispute

Lyme Green Settlement and Morris Homes (North) Limited
Acting for a national house builder, Morris Homes (North) Limited in a contractual dispute with the land-owning trust in relation to land purchased for £2.75M.

Redstone Mortgages Limited v Countrywide Surveyors Limited [2011] 3 EGLR 153
Acting for a lender client in a professional negligence claim against a surveyor following the negligent overvaluation of a property. Success at trial on all aspects of the claim, including defeating the partial defence of contributory negligence on account of the lending criteria and failure to mitigate.

Advising a partnership in a successful breach of warranty claim involving a 2 week trial following the purchase of a dental practice.

Acting for a landlord client in a terminal dilapidations claim involving diminution in value arguments.

Acting for a landlord client in an insurance claim contesting reinstatement costs and loss of rent following a serious fire at commercial premises.

Career History

• FS Legal 2017 to date
• Read Roper and Read Solicitors – Associate Solicitor, 2014 – 2017
• Walker Morris LLP – Associate Solicitor, 2013 – 3014
• Cobbetts LLP – Solicitor, 2002 – 2013
• Laytons Solicitors LLP – Trainee Solicitor, 2000 – 2002
• PriceWaterhouseCoopers – 1999-2000
• Royal Mail – Graduate Project Manager, 1994 – 1998

What Nicola Stanley’s clients say:

When you choose FS Legal you are hiring an entire team of professionals, not just a select group of lead lawyers – this is the FS Legal difference, and the difference is everything. I have no hesitation in recommending the entire FS Legal team.

– Client Testimonial