.png){kind=icon}
Question
Your supervising partner's secretary has taken a telephone call from Ms Fleur Helder, a long established and important client of the firm, who needs some urgent advice. She would like someone from the firm to ring her back before 3 p.m. as she is leaving for her summer holiday this afternoon and wants peace of mind before going. Your principal is out at a meeting for the rest of the day. It is your responsibility to provide cover for your principal during this afternoon.
The secretary's note of the telephone conversation is as follows:-
"12.25 p.m..
Attending Ms Helder on the telephone.
Conversation summary - Now that her vintage car restoration business is so successful she is thinking of buying a detached house (about eleven years old) on a small and exclusive residential estate. The house is on the edge of the estate occupying a good-sized corner site. It seems that the side road is a private unmade road. The side road is very quiet and is used infrequently as it leads down to a private paddock. She especially wants this particular house because the present owner, a Mr. Patel, has built a large double garage and rear workroom for his own cars five years ago at the bottom of the garden and fronting right onto the side road. For the last four years he has been using the garage for repairing, renovating, re-spraying, and servicing all sorts of vehicles and Ms. Helder wishes to do the same. When Ms. Helder asked about planning permission the owner Mr. Patel said as far as he was concerned he didn't think it was a problem and anyway no one so far as he knew has objected. In any event it was only a single storey garage that was entirely in keeping with the general style of buildings on the estate.
Can someone ring her back as soon as possible to advise her if there are any unforeseen problems?”
Consider the issues that concern you and prepare an attendance note, for the file, of the advice you can give the client when you ring her back.