Edward Cousins joins Exchange Chambers as a Door Tenant

September 7, 2015

Exchange Chambers is delighted to welcome Edward Cousins as a Door Tenant.

For over 30 years, Edward pursued a successful career as a Barrister with expertise in property and land law and associated litigation.

In March 2002 he was appointed as the Chief Commons Commissioner dealing with disputed commons registration issues. This was a part-time post abolished in December 2011 by the implementation of the Commons Act 2006.

In September 2003 he was appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the newly created salaried judicial role of the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry established under the Land Registration Act 2002. The jurisdiction deals with land registration applications referred by HM Land Registry where there are disputes over title. The cases involve consideration of most (and often somewhat complex) areas of land law, ranging from beneficial interest and rights of way cases, boundary disputes and adverse possession claims, to more esoteric disputes involving market rights, commons and town and village greens, aspects of planning law, easements, priority of mortgages and charges, and compulsory purchase. In effect this jurisdiction deals with any land law issue where there is a dispute as to title.

More recently a contractual mediation scheme was established within the jurisdiction designed to persuade the parties to reach settlements before the cases reach trial, and so as to avoid the costs of litigation.

On 1st July 2013 this jurisdiction was subsumed into the Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal as the Land Registration Division, and Edward Cousins became the Principal Judge of the Land Registration Division of the Property Chamber.

Edward has now retired from that position and has joined Exchange Chambers as a Door Tenant with the view to developing his practice in mediation, early neutral evaluation, and alternative dispute resolution.

As a result of his experience, Edward is also ideally placed to conduct Town and Village Green Inquiries as a non-statutory inspector.