Victory for barrister beautician
24/11/2009
An Essex beautician recently won a legal battle in the High Court against a firm of housebuilders in a dispute over access rights. Georgina Blackwell and her mother Sandra clashed with the company which was developing land next to their home and wanted to cross the pair's front garden to carry out building work. The parties tried to compromise, with Mrs Blackwell accepting £75,000 and making a number of concessions, but the firm withdrew the offer a few days later claiming that no agreement had been reached. The matter reached the High Court and, faced with the cost of hiring a barrister to represent them, 23-year-old Georgina decided to take the matter up herself and stood up to represent her mother in court. Had she lost the case, her mother would have been faced with a six-figure legal bill plus costs and damages.
Georgina turned down a place at law school when she was 17 to help her mother run their beauty salon and is now considering joining the profession. She told the BBC: "My mum was going to lose her business and her home unless we won, and that gave me the courage to stand up and be counted. I knew that I was fighting for absolutely everything. I must admit that although it was scary, I got a real buzz out of the court case."
