Remedies, Procedure and Ethics in Land Matters
What the exam tests
Remedies, procedure and ethics test how land disputes are litigated and how lawyers must behave. You must choose the right remedy, identify jurisdictional and procedural bars, and apply professional conduct rules.
Core rules
- Remedies include declaration of title, injunction, specific performance, recovery of possession, damages, account, and rectification. Specific performance is discretionary and available where damages are inadequate.
- An injunction may be interlocutory or perpetual; interlocutory relief requires a serious question and balance of convenience.
- Procedure matters: the correct court, parties, pleadings, limitation periods and service. A land dispute may require customary or statutory court depending on the claim.
- Ethics: a lawyer must avoid conflicts of interest, keep client confidences, act diligently, account for client funds, and not mislead the court. Acting for both sides in a land sale without informed consent is a conflict.
- Professional discipline may follow misconduct; costs and contempt powers enforce procedure.
Worked example
Lawyer L acts for both seller and buyer in a land sale. The buyer later discovers a title defect that L knew about from the seller. L has a conflict and a duty of confidentiality to the seller that prevents disclosure to the buyer. L should have declined the joint retainer. The buyer may complain; L may face discipline and cannot use the seller’s confidence to defend the claim.
Traps
Choosing damages when specific performance is needed; missing limitation; ignoring conflict rules; assuming confidentiality ends when the retainer ends.