Royal Wanstead School sues Macfarlanes to tune of £300K

Macfarlanes to tune of £300K" />Macfarlanes is being sued by a childrens' educational charity for damages of more than £300,000.

The Royal Wanstead School, formerly known as the Infant Orphan Asylum, claims that Macfarlanes gave negligent advice over the sale of a piece of land to property developers.

In a claim form lodged with the High Court on 28 January, the charity alleges that, as a consequence of selling a small piece of land to Lifetime Properties for £15,000 in 1998, it lost rights over the Snaresbrook Crown Court site, which it sold to the Government for £6.5m in 1989.

Under the terms of the Snaresbrook deal, on which Macfarlanes also advised, the Royal Wanstead School says it was entitled to 50 per cent of the profits if the Government sold the property for use as anything other than crown courts or government offices before 2040.

According to the claim, as a result of the later sale to Lifetime Properties, Royal Wanstead School is no longer entitled to the benefit of a restrictive covenant which entitles it to the profits; that has now passed to Lifetime Property board members David and Anita Bales.

The claim form states: "Notwithstanding that in the course of acting for the claimant in respect of the 1998 Sale Agreement and/or previously the defendant had cause to consider and examine the 1989 Sale Agreement, at no point before or in the course of the 1998 Sale did the defendant advise the claimant that such sale would have the effect referred to."

The charity is being advised by Forsters. Macfar-lanes declined to comment.