Judge orders firm to pay £9.4k in housing disrepair case fiasco

First legal solicitors ordered to cover wasted costs after York judge brands housing case handling a failure

First Legal Solicitors, a Liverpool-based housing disrepair firm, has been slapped with a £9,400 wasted costs order by York County Court—despite securing the very repairs their client sought.

The ruling followed a botched legal claim against City of York Council, which ended in a summary judgment in the council’s favour. But instead of holding the tenant liable for the costs of the failed claim, District Judge Mark handed the bill to the law firm, saying it should pay in full unless it could prove otherwise. It’s understood the firm ultimately covered the entire amount.

The fallout stems from a claim that First Legal brought on behalf of a tenant who had lived in poor housing conditions since before the first Covid lockdown. The firm argued the council failed to carry out essential repairs, forcing the tenant to seek legal redress.

While the legal claim collapsed in court, the pressure exerted by the litigation did achieve something: the client’s home was finally brought up to a safe and habitable standard.

Jennifer Shaw, the firm’s director and former boss at collapsed firm Pure Legal, defended her team’s actions in a statement to the Law Gazette. “Our client has now secured the required repairs, which is the most important outcome,” Shaw said. “The local council’s repeated failure to act left them no choice but to resort to litigation.”

Shaw claimed the tenant had been reporting problems since before 2020, but it was only through First Legal’s efforts that the landlord was held to account. “We take our duty to clients seriously,” she said, citing the firm’s strong public reviews.

Still, District Judge Mark’s costs order is a rare and damning move, often seen as a rebuke of a legal team’s handling of a case. It raised eyebrows across the legal sector—and questions about the firm’s internal processes.

First Legal has grown rapidly in recent years. Its revenue rose from £1.2 million to over £4 million in the year ending April 2024, according to newly filed accounts. But so did its debts. The firm owed nearly £3.8 million due within a year, up from £900,000 the previous year. Net assets, meanwhile, rose from £60,573 to over £673,000, with a team of 11 employees.

The firm specialises in housing disrepair claims, tenancy deposit disputes, and stamp duty refunds—areas often marred by controversy and sharp practice. Shaw’s former firm, Pure Legal, collapsed under the weight of mass claims and client complaints, and some within the industry have raised concerns about repeat patterns.

Despite the setback in York, Shaw maintains First Legal’s success rate is “very high” and insists it only pursues legitimate claims. “We are always improving our processes,” she added.

Still, this wasted costs order may cast a long shadow. It puts the spotlight not just on the firm’s practices, but on the broader ethics of mass housing litigation—especially when firms profit while vulnerable clients shoulder the risk.

For now, one tenant has a repaired home. But their lawyers are footing the price for how they got there.