Vivien Margaret King (1950-2024)

It is with deep sadness that the Executive Committee informs members that PLA honorary member, Vivien King, passed away recently after a short illness.

Vivien qualified as a Solicitor in the 1970's at a time when women Solicitors in City firms were a rarity and Property Litigation was not widely (if at all) recognised as a separate discipline.

Vivien was very much a trailblazer in the field of Property Litigation alongside a small group of other (largely women) lawyers.  During the span of her career, she was a Partner at a number of firms in the City of London, including what are now Linklaters, BCLP and Charles Russell Speechlys to name but a few. Vivien was always a feisty, but scrupulously fair, opponent and had a loyal client following.  Over the years, Vivien was widely recognised as a leading Property Litigation practitioner and was also a PACT Arbitrator and a member of ARBRIX.

After moving to Devon, Vivien continued to practise as a part-time Consultant with Bond Pearce (now Womble Bond Dickinson) and subsequently with the well-known building consultancy firm, Malcolm Hollis (now Hollis Global).

Not content with a career solely as a busy property litigator, Vivien's other diverse professional activities included work with the RICS resulting in the award of an honorary membership of the RICS in 2003 (a distinction of which she was particularly proud) and setting up Hatherleigh Training in 2007 specialising in teaching and conducting property litigation workshops for Solicitors and Surveyors.

In terms of her PLA involvement, Vivien served on the Law Reform Committee working on the dilapidations protocol and many other projects.  Following her retirement from the legal profession, Vivien was made an honorary life member of the PLA in recognition of her major contribution to the profession in this area. With that accolade came duties, the foremost of which was the judging of the annual Essay Competition, established in memory of Alan Langleben. This was a task which Vivien undertook alongside fellow honorary member Suzanne Lloyd Holt and one which she approached with her usual combination of humour, directness and sense of fairness. The last occasion on which members may have seen Vivien was the dinner preceding the Oxford Conference in March 2024.  She will be much missed, both as a colleague and a friend.