The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society July/August 2013 ...leedslawsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Issue123.pdf · The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society July/August

July/August 2013 | Issue 123The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society

FocusCuts to legal aid will have a detrimental effect on family justice – but to what extent?

NewsLeeds Legal winds down and Blacks secures shirt sponsorship for a top football club

SocietyCalling all volunteers – would you like to help youngsters consider a career in the law?

LifestyleHull’s legal community resides in a bustling and diverse city that is once again on the rise

CommentPatrick Walker investigates cures for insomnia with some surprising results

LeedsLaw Society

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Contents 03

The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society

LeedsLaw Society

August 2013 | Issue 123

Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer Magazine | Issue 123

Leeds Law Society1 Albion PlaceLeeds LS1 6JLDX 12079 LeedsTel: 0113 245 4997

EDITORIAL:Editor Marek Handzel0844 858 [email protected]

Founding Editor Ian McCombie Editorial AssistantSophie Dilley PRODUCTION:Head of designLucy Taylor

ADVERTISING:Project ManagerRosie Beattie 0844 858 [email protected]

Published by: Barker Brooks Communications Ltd9 Cardale Court, Harrogate, HG3 1RYTel: 0844 858 2890Fax: 0844 858 2891www.barkerbrooks.co.uk [email protected]

PRINT:Buxton Press Limited

© 2013 Leeds Law Society & Barker Brooks Communications Ltd. All rights in and relating

to this publication are expressly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publishers. The views expressed in Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer are not necessarily those of the Leeds Law Society or the publisher. While the publishers have taken every care in compiling this publication to ensure accuracy at the time of going to press, they do not accept liability or responsibility for errors or omissions therein however caused.

SUbSCRIPTIONS:Subscriptions are available to Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer at £70 for one calendar year (10 issues). Unless requested otherwise, your subscription will start with the issue following receipt of your payment.

To subscribe contact Jacques Clarkson at publishers Barker Brooks Communications on 0844 858 2890, or email [email protected]

Views From the President 05Promoting diversity in the workplace will help the legal profession in the long-run

Society 06 Volunteer for the legal Education Week in November and sign up for a seminar

NewsLead 09Leeds Legal winds down after seven years of promoting the city as a legal hub

business development 10 Mergers and record profits for Langleys, while Exchange Chambers looks to expand

Social & Charity 14 Levi Solicitors helps Life for a Kid Foundation and Schofield Sweeney helps keep the Children’s Air Ambulance Service in the air

Community & cases 16Ridley and Hall Solicitors is involved in a landmark case on foster caring, while Makin Dixon is named Legal Aid Firm of the Year

Events 19The shortlist for the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards is set to be announced in August as the judges meet at the end of July

Appointments 20hlw Keeble Hewson, Rollits, Shulmans, Atherton Godfrey and Squire Sanders all recruit new staff

CommentLet sleeping dogs tell the truth 21Patrick Walker fights insomnia with the help of a yoghurt-obsessed dog

Focus onFamily matters 25Emma Pearmaine warns Yorkshire’s legal community of the dangers that legal aid reforms pose to family justice

Rolling credits 24HMRC’s tax crackdown has led to an intriguing case in the world of film

A helping hand 25Asylum seekers are in desparate need for help in getting legal advice

Picking the right safety net 27With some unrated PII insurers going under, can firms afford the cost of an A-rate policy?

LifestylePride of the Humber 29Hull’s rich history and favourable location means it remains a city to be reckoned with

Last wordHitting the bullseye 30Neil Howes, a partner at Mills & Reeve’s insurance disputes group

THE COVER SHOwS:Andy Scott’s 15m high horse sculpture named Equusdy, at Trinity Shopping Centre.

Emma Manners / Shutterstock.com

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President’s column 05LeedsLaw Society

All the colours of the rainbow

T he SRA’s diversity data collection system is now live for firms to comply with their annual reporting obligations, and must be completed before 31 January 2014.

All firms regulated by the SRA are required to complete this exercise in order that the SRA can collect, report and publish workforce diversity data.

This is the second year the SRA has collected this data and the results from 2012 demonstrate that the majority of the workforce regulated by one of the approved regulators (mostly those that hold practising certificates) are white, heterosexual, and Christian.

Of that group 37% are aged 25-34, 50% women and less than 2% consider themselves to have a disability. The results reveal what many would have expected.

So is it all a waste of time and resources at a time when law firms face other pressures?

The SRA certainly hopes not. It is keen that the reporting is not seen as a standalone exercise done just for the sake of compliance, but that law firms embrace better diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

It hopes that publication of the data will promote transparency and diversity in the legal profession, nudging law firms to take a look at their internal make-up. This could them lead to further steps being taken within the profession so that it better reflects the society we live in.

The Law Society is also doing its bit to assist firms with diversity issues. Launched in 2009, the Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter has recently added its 350th signatory – Peters & Peters.

The charter is a public commitment by firms to promote diversity, equality and inclusion throughout their business.

Those that have signed up to the charter have seen an improvement in areas such as achieving equality and diversity targets and setting better objectives in these areas. Those firms have recognised the business case for diversity and wish to reflect the clients they represent.

This doesn’t mean that firms shouldn’t recruit on merit, but offer opportunities to all employees irrespective of their background.

Since 2009 lawyers have also participated with London Pride, bringing the legal sector together under the banner of ‘Equality under the Law’; this year promoting the message ‘Lawyers extending and defending LGBT rights’.

Sexual orientation is something that may not be widely understood in a conservative profession. However, although we are a long way from the days where members of the gay community were anonymised, a recent EU survey uncovered that a quarter of LGBT people have been subjected to attacks or violent threats in the past five years. It’s clear there is still some way to go.

Although there has been a move towards greater diversity and inclusion, women, black, Asian, disabled and LGBT solicitors remain underrepresented in senior positions in the legal profession.

Some might cynically say collection of the data is another tick box exercise that law firms must contend with.

However, with those that have a more optimistic view it might just be one of the steps that make the profession better reflective of society and the clients it represents.

Heidi Sandy is the President of Leeds Law Society and is a solicitor in the commercial litigation department at Gordons’ Leeds office

Issue 123 | Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer Magazine

06 NewsSociety

A group of 45 guests were present on a glorious evening on Tuesday 9 July at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, to watch Yorkshire Vikings v Leicestershire Foxes in the T20 Cup.

They were treated to a great game from the comfort of a private hospitality area and the game was thoroughly enjoyed by all with calls to repeat the event next year.

With tickets priced at a very reasonable £35 per head the event was an excellent opportunity to entertain clients.

Perfect innings

Food & Drink

Spirit Tasting course Following the success of our wine tasting course earlier this year we are running a monthly spirits course which starts on 25 September and runs to February, in association with Armstrong Watson.

Session 1Introduction to spirits • How to taste spirits • Looking at different vodkas Session 2Gin – A terrible past with a bright future? Session 3Whiskey – Scotland and beyond Session 4Brandies and other grape-based spirits Session 5Rum and Tequila

Cookery Masterclass At Chaophraya Thai restaurant, Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 5.30pm

An exciting opportunity for guests to create a culinary feast with the guidance of expert chefs at the Chaophraya cooking

school. Discover the art of Thai cooking, culture, regions and ingredients and use your newfound knowledge to prepare unique dishes before sitting down to the enjoy the fruits of your labour: chicken spring rolls and prawn pad thai.

COST - £45+VAT per person which includes all ingredients for two courses.

Cocktails and Tapas at Seven bar and Grill

Thursday, 10th October 2013, 5.30pm for 6.00pm

Enjoy a specially chosen chef’s selection of three mouth-watering tapas and then sit back and watch the expert mixologist make some of your favourite cocktails and taste them for yourself.

Price includes four cocktails and three tapas from just £24 + VAT per person. Book now for a brilliant evening of Mediterranean delight.

Top of the class

Leeds Law Society is delighted to be hosting Education week, in association with Ahead Partnership, continuing the success of Leeds Legal’s achievement in building one of the largest annual volunteering initiatives in Yorkshire for the legal sector.

In previous years it has facilitated over 807 volunteers from leading law firms and legal organisations to give up more than 5,374 hours of their time and visit over 50 schools in some of the most deprived communities in the city. They have helped around 4,000 children to consider and develop their future career ambitions.

This year the Education week will be held on 25-29 November. The initial meeting will be held at Leeds Law Society’s offices on 12 September.

If you would be interested in taking part then please do get in touch.

LeedsLaw Society

For more details go to:www.leedslawsociety.org.uk/events

07NewsSociety


LeedsLaw Society

New patron sponsor

Dynamic is the new patron sponsor of the Leeds Law Society. The company focuses firmly on service excellence. We’re couriers who care a great deal about what our customers, want and need. Honesty and communication are essential ingredients of our service and we get to know you and your business.

The result? Cost-effective, friendly and tailored service that keeps your organisation’s wheels in motion.Dynamic is more than our name. It’s our watchword. We constantly review, develop and adapt our range of services to ensure that we always meet your needs. So we can rush an urgent or fragile package to a named person – and we’ll keep you fully in the picture about your parcel’s progress. Maybe you have a consignment bound for Europe, or a heavy overnight load? Dynamic will deliver with speed, care and attention. There’s no ‘one size fits all’. At Dynamic, there’s a delivery solution for every package and every customer, and you can be assured we’ll find the perfect solution for you.

brasserie Forty4 25% off à la carte lunchesFamily owned restaurant on a historic site offering the finest in British and Mediterranean dining with a fabulous wine list deemed by The Which Good Food Guide as exceptional.

Oracle 2 for 1 drinksLeeds’ largest waterfront venue. Situated in the heart of the newly developed Brewery Wharf, overlooking the River Aire.

The Alchemist 20% off total food billThe Alchemist is open for morning coffee, lunch and dinner and offers everything Living Ventures are renowned for – excellent service, innovative cocktails and great food.

New Membership benefits Seminars

Catch up on your CPD points with the Leeds Law Society’s programme of training seminars. Seminars are free to members of the Society

12 SeptemberPensions and Divorce17.30 – 18.30. 1 CPD point 18 SeptemberManagement Stage 109:00 – 17:00. 7 CPD points 19 SeptemberProfessional Practice17.30 – 18.30. 1 CPD point 24 SeptemberComplaints handling 12:00 – 14:00 1 CPD point

25 SeptemberSocial media12.30 – 13.30. 1 CPD point

8 OctoberFraud and Tax Consequences17.30 – 18.30. 1 CPD point

15 OctoberRetirement planning 17.30 – 18.30. 1 CPD point

22 OctoberMediation17.30 – 19.30. 1 CPD point

24 October Risks to homebuyers in property searches9.30 – 12.30. 3 CPD point

In association with:

For more details go to:www.leedslawsociety.org.uk/training

Save the date Networking lunch Monday 9 September 2013 at The Food Academy

CPD webinars return for a flexible way to collect your CPD points in September and October.

Subjects include:• Fraud in the Civil Arena• Company Formation and Constitution• Road Traffic Law – a practical guide• The Duty Solicitor at the Police Station• The Bribery Act• The Equality Act 2010• An Introduction to Ancillary Relief• Jones v Kernott• Neighbour Disputes• Conveyancing Quality Scheme 1.

Making the Application• Conveyancing Quality Scheme 2.

Section G• Lexcel version 5• Managing Risk Effectively – Part 1• Managing Risk Effectively – Part 2• Outcome Focused Regulation (OFR) –

Part 1• The role of the CoLP in the relationship

between the SRA and the firm• Retirement Planning

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Leeds Legal winds downLeeds Legal, the body set up to promote Leeds as the largest legal centre outside of London, has been wound down after seven successful years of campaigning.

The chairman, Alan Baker, and directors of the project, Rosemary Edwards and Deborah Green, said in a statement in their last regular newsletter, Leeds Legal Inform, that they had been successful in achieving their main objective of raising the profile of Leeds to catch the attention of both potential clients and lawyers.

“There is no doubt that our activity has contributed to establishing Leeds as a city of legal excellence both within the UK and overseas,” they said.

Originally started in 2006, the campaign was expected to run for three years. But its success made the directors consider furthering their efforts and thanks to the support of the local legal community, the Leeds Law Society, the national Law Society, and a number of sponsors, it was possible to extend the campaign for a further four years.

The first campaign of its kind in the UK, Leeds Legal was a unique partnership of the cream of the city’s legal profession. It promoted the high levels of service, expertise, no nonsense advice and value for money provided by the city’s law firms.

The project was sponsored by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and was spearheaded by Leeds-based legal practices Clarion Solicitors LLP, DLA Piper, Lupton Fawcett and Pinsent Masons.

It was also supported by Marketing Leeds, the Leeds Financial Services Initiative, Jet2.com, Millnet Northern, Hilton Leeds City hotel, and a number of associate sponsor law firms.

The Master of the Rolls, Lord John Dyson, is to speak in Leeds on 10 October at the annual public lecture of the Leeds Council for Christians and Jews.

Held at the Council Chamber in the Leeds Civic Hall, and commencing at 8.00pm, Lord Dyson will speak on the topic of ‘Religion and the Law’. Lord Dyson comes from Leeds and was educated at Leeds Grammar School.

Before that, the Annual General Meeting of the Bradford Law Society is to take place at 12.30pm on Friday 27 September at the Bradford Club at 1 Piece Hall Yard, Bradford, BD1 1PJ.

For more information please contact the Society’s Secretary Adrian Charles Green, at c/o Stachiw Bashir Green, 656 Great Horton Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 4AA.

Lord Dyson rolls into Leeds

Blacks Solicitors has helped Fulham F.C. to secure a new shirt sponsorship deal with online betting company Marathonbet.

The sponsorship is the largest in the history of both Marathonbet and Fulham and will see the Marathonbet brand feature on team shirts, training kit and apparel for the next two seasons, with the option of continuing the deal for a third year.

Blacks acted as legal advisors for Marathonbet and the legal team was led by head of sport Stephen Lownsbrough and corporate/commercial specialist and partner David Paterson, and included assistant Andy Boyde.

The deal has confirmed Blacks’ sports department as one of the UK’s leading niche sports practices.

Blacks Solicitors’ Managing Partner Chris Allen said that the firm had been able to meet the company’s expectations on

a matter involving a number of complex issues and tight time constraints.

“Undoubtedly the expertise and industry knowledge we have within our sports team proved invaluable. Special mention should be made to David Paterson and Stephen Lownsbrough for their efforts,” he said.

Graham Luke, CEO at Marathonbet, said that the Blacks Sports Team deserved its envied reputation within the sports law sector.

“The extensive industry knowledge which they bring to the table allowed us to move quickly and deal with the numerous complex issues involved in this deal such as intellectual property, gaming regulations and licensing,” he said.

Pictured above, from left to right: Graham Luke, Marathonbet chief executive, Fulham manager Martin Jol, and Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh.

Blacks helps Marathonbet secure Fulham shirt sponsorship

09NewsLead

There is no doubt that our activity

has contributed to establishing Leeds as a city of legal excellence both within the UK and overseas

10


New family mediation service for Harrogate

More than 30 solicitors, barristers, counsellors and life-coaches involved in family law attended the launch of Berwins’ new family mediation service at the firm’s offices in Harrogate at the start of July.

Berwins has launched the service, headed by managing director Sarah Smith, an FMA qualified mediator, in response to government moves to encourage separating and divorcing couples to use the process as a first step.

Smith, who is also a member of the Law Society’s Family Panel, said that the decision to launch a family mediation unit also fulfilled her own long-term ambition to provide greater access to the process.

“Mediation can cool down conflict, encourage open and honest dialogue between those concerned and reduce overall costs,” said Smith.

“Creating a mediation facility at Berwins was a natural progression for a family law department that is already widely recognised in the region for its expertise and is top-ranked in both the Chambers and the Legal 500 industry guides.”

Langleys expects record results for rest of 2013Langleys Solicitors has reported that it expects to achieve record growth in the coming financial year.

The firm, which has offices in York and Lincoln, is predicting a 10% increase in

revenue, after posting 8% growth in the year ending April 2013.

Almost 40 new staff have been recruited in the last 12 months and the company has plans to continue recruiting this year, adding to its 358-strong workforce. As a result, 6,500 sq ft of new office space has been secured in central York to accommodate its residential conveyancing division and accounts teams.

Part of Langleys’ success has been down to attracting new clients such as Santander, Indesit, Bauer Media, North Yorkshire County Council and the Danwood Group.

“We have performed extremely well in tough market conditions and I’m confident we will continue to do so as we move through into the next quarter of 2013 and beyond,” said David Thompson, managing partner at Langleys.

“Our forecast for profitable growth is both realistic and achievable which will enable the firm to compete on a national basis as the UK legal sector diversifies.”

Hempsons has been named on the NHS Litigation Authority’s (NHSLA) line-up for its clinical negligence and non-clinical negligence legal panels as well as its new regulatory, health and disciplinary panel.

Hempsons has been on the panel since its inception in 1995, and has once again retained its spot on the clinical negligence panel for its offices in Harrogate, Manchester and London.

The firm’s appointment to the new regulatory, health and disciplinary panel, introduced by the NHSLA this year, will see it join 13 other firms in providing legal advice to 15 Department of Health organisations across the country.

Bertie Leigh, senior partner at Hempsons, said the firm was looking forward to working with the Litigation Authority and local Trust clients throughout the country.

“We’re particularly pleased to have the opportunity to support Trusts working on patient safety projects and we look forward to welcoming clients to our patient safety events,” he said.

“We also look forward to working with other organisations through our place on the NHSLA’s newest panel.”

The new panel also includes the following firms with a Yorkshire presence (as reported in Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer 122 page 17): Capsticks, DAC Beachcroft, Hill Dickinson, Kennedys, Mills & Reeve and Ward Hadaway.

Hempsons has also announced the promotion of Faisal Dhalla to partner at its Station Parade-based office in central Harrogate. He specialises in corporate and commercial law and joined the firm in 2008 as a solicitor.

Dhalla advises a wide range of public and private sector organisations with a particular specialism in acting for dentists in the sale and purchase of dental practices. In the private sector, he acts for a number of private limited companies across the UK, particularly SMEs.

His promotion coincides with three others in the rest of the firm’s UK offices, the first time that has happened in Hempsons’ history.

Hempsons retains place on NHS Litigation Authority panel

NewsBusiness development

Our forecast for profitable growth

is both realistic and achievable which will enable the firm to compete on a national basis as the UK legal sector diversifies

Mediation can cool down

conflict, encourage open and honest dialogue between those concerned and reduce overall costs

In association with

11


Firm adviceAndy Poole, the Legal Sector Director at Armstrong Watson, answers your strategic and financial questions every month

HMRC has opened a consultation on the taxation of Partnerships and LLPs – what impact might that have for me?

Firstly there is the basis of taxation of LLP members whose terms resemble those of employees. Secondly, there is the question of profit allocation where the partnership includes at least one corporate partner, as well as individuals. The intention is for changes to take effect from April 2014. The consultation paper seeks to treat the employment status of LLP members in the same way as partners in traditional partnerships. Fixed share or salaried members without the risks of self-employment could be taxed as employees. HMRC has realised that having a corporate partner gives firms the potential to benefit from lower corporate tax rates whilst continuing to have the flexibility of the partnership or LLP structure. HMRC is seeking to limit this. But what is much less clear is how this could be done and how far it will go. HMRC quite specifically recognises that there are certain circumstances where it might be appropriate to have a corporate partner for what the taxman would consider legitimate reasons. Its approach is likely to centre around whether the corporate partner receives an appropriate profit share. This could prove to be extremely difficult for HMRC to police. Things for you to consider now will include: Does your corporate partner have a commercial role? And what would be an appropriate level of profit share?Watch this space for updates.

Exchange Chambers has increased its barrister headcount in Leeds by over 500% since opening in October 2010, and expects to continue to expand its practice in the near future.

The chambers announced record turnover of £23.4 million for the 2012/2013 financial year at its recent AGM, and attributed a good deal of its strong performance to the work carried out by its Leeds set.

“We are building on strong foundations by attracting outstanding barristers to our Leeds chambers,” said Tom Handley, director of chambers.

“Our Leeds chambers is ahead of budget with all departments performing strongly,” he added.

Ian Spencer, senior clerk in Leeds, said that further expansion was on the agenda, as the chambers looks to become the leading multi-disciplinary set in Yorkshire.

The latest tenant to join Exchange Chambers is Andrew Wastall, who was called to the Bar in 2005.

He moves from New Park Court Chambers in Leeds and is particularly well regarded for his family law practice, which focuses exclusively on financial remedy, and also specialises in personal injury and employment.

“Exchange Chambers has a superb reputation as a progressive, forward-thinking chambers,” said Wastall.

In a separate development, Handley said that the chambers would continue to be at the forefront of fighting proposed changes to the criminal justice system.

Exchange Chambers has one of the Bar’s leading criminal departments – and Handley acknowledged publicly funded work is under severe pressure as a result of the ongoing reduction in fees.

Exchange Chambers eyes further expansion

Ware & Kay has announced that it is to merge with Sykes Lee & Brydson.

The combined practices will operate under the name Ware & Kay and will be headed by Peter Kay as senior partner. The firm will increase by 13 people from 54 to 66 staff and 5 partners.

“The primary driving force behind the merger was a shared desire to increase the legal services from which both sets of clients could benefit,” said Kay.

“As a larger firm our business clients benefit from a much broader range of

expertise, including corporate, commercial and employment teams, an extensive litigation and dispute resolution capability and the addition of niche know-how in fields like mediation.”

Peter Joslin, senior partner with Sykes Lee & Brydson, said that the news had given a huge boost to the team, who were excited to now be part of such a progressive and successful larger practice. The firm will now look to bring its approach to legal services to York, Wetherby and the wider Yorkshire area.

Ware & Kay joins up with Sykes Lee & Brysdon

NewsBusiness development

Andy advises lawyers across the UK in response to changes in the legal marketplace. To contact Andy directly, call 0113 221 1300 or email [email protected]

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Hull based solicitors, Carrick Read, has become part of regional law firm Wilkin Chapman’s debt recovery and insolvency department, creating a powerhouse in this specialised area of the law.

Following the merger on 1 July, Wilkin Chapman, one of the largest law firms in the East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire area, now has 44 partners and 305 staff.

Wilkin Chapman’s debt recovery department will now be boosted by Carrick Read’s insolvency practice team, which includes an authorised insolvency practitioner as one of its partners.

The partners and staff of Carrick Read have moved to Wilkin Chapman’s Beverley offices, providing an East Yorkshire base for the firm’s debt recovery and insolvency services. They have joined colleagues with specialisations in family law and mediation, commercial property, wills, trusts and probate, agricultural law, personal injury, litigation and domestic property.

Chris Grocock, partner and head of debt recovery and insolvency at Wilkin Chapman, said that the merger was excellent news, not just for the firm but for its clients too.

“The Carrick Read team are nationally

recognised as specialist insolvency solicitors and their expertise will complement the specialist knowledge of our own debt recovery team, providing a complete debt recovery and insolvency service for individuals and businesses alike,” he said.

Chris Garwood of Carrick Read echoed Grocock’s thoughts adding: “We are pleased to have joined forces with Wilkin Chapman LLP and becoming part of a larger law firm.

“Our clients can rest assured that they will still receive the highest levels of service and now will also have access to a wider range of legal services.”

Wilkin Chapman creates debt recovery and insolvency powerhouse

13NewsBusiness development

DWF growth leads to additional floor at Bridgewater Place

DWF has acquired an additional floor at Bridgewater Place due to its rapidly expanding Leeds team.

The firm’s Leeds office, which has grown by 62 per cent in the last year alone, now occupies 36,081 sq ft of ‘The Dalek’.

James Haddleton, executive partner at the DWF Leeds office, and last year’s winner of the Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year award, said that the firm’s numbers had been boosted by the takeover of Cobbetts earlier this year. He said that with staff numbers pushing 350 in total, it was important that everyone could work from a single location to create an efficient work environment.

“The acquisition brought great strength and depth to the team,” said Haddleton.

“In particular, our real estate group has increased by 124 per cent and the corporate group has grown by 92 per cent – providing a fantastic resource and knowledge base for our clients in the region, which include organisations such as Leeds City Council whom we advised on the Leeds Arena.”

DWF now employs 2,500 people based in Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Preston.

Our clients can rest assured that

they will still receive the highest levels of service and now will also have access to a wider range of legal services

14


Costs draftsman walks through the pain for Meningitis charity

David Gray, a costs draftsman at Graysons WE, has completed the Sheffield to Manchester Trans Pennine Challenge endurance walk in aid of The Meningitis Research Foundation.

Gray, who was also walking in memory of his son who died of septicaemia five years ago at the age of three, following a bout of chicken pox, walked 100km in 27.5 hours and was one of the 300 who finished the course out of a total of approximately 400 participants.

Gray and his wife have raised over £10,000 in aid of the charity since his son’s death and has raised over £1,000 of that from the walk. This amount will rise as the partners at Graysons WE have promised to match whatever sum is raised by Gray’s work colleagues.

The walk, which included walking through the night wearing head torches, left Gray with numerous blisters and an aching body.

“It really was quite gruelling, but I am so pleased to have done it,” he said.

“I started to ache after only about 20km, and my body just about fell apart with 10km to go – but I managed it. I’ve since gone from hobbling to limping and am just about walking normally now – though my poor colleagues at work are having to put up with me with no shoes on!

“I am so grateful to everyone, especially my work colleagues and the partners at Graysons WE, for their support which has helped me to raise so much money for such a worthy cause.”

If you wish to support The Meningitis Research Foundation by making a donation, you can still sponsor David by visiting www.justgiving.com/David-Gray11 or by texting GRAY62 and an amount to 70070 (eg GRAY62 £5).

Coles calls for help over lost will

John Carlisle from Coles Solicitors is attempting to find the will for Michael Kirkby, late of 33 Bromley Road, Hanging Heaton, Batley, WF17 6EH.

If anyone holds a will for the deceased then the firm would be very grateful if you would please contact John Carlisle at Coles Solicitors, Town Hall, Settle, BD24 9EJ – or to call him on 01729 823589.

The firm’s managing director, Peter Gibson, is also once again participating in the Great North Run to raise money for Herriot Hospice Homecare, which provides hospice services across the North Yorkshire.

He would be grateful if you could sponsor him at www.justgiving.com/Peter-Gibson5

Levi Solicitors is helping to sponsor a charity boxing event being held in aid of the Life for a Kid Foundation and Kippax Welfare Juniors rugby team (pictured above).

A team of coaches from Kippax Welfare rugby club will each fight on the night, and some ex-professionals will also get involved in the event, which will take place on the evening of 17 August at Castleford Civic Centre.

The evening’s entertainment will include nine fights and auctions between bouts to raise further donations.

This is the biggest fundraising event held by Kippax Welfare and will support both the Life for a Kid foundation and make available much-needed funds for the junior rugby section which has seen rapid growth over the last 12 months.

Janet Babington, practice manager at Levi solicitors, said being able to help and raise funds for Life for a Kid and Kippax

juniors was “an extremely easy decision. We couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of such an event”.

The Life for a Kid Foundation supports children who require life-changing operations and equipment to lead a better life.

Levi Solicitors helps rugby coaches fight for kids

NewsSocial & charity

Being able to help and raise funds for

Life for a Kid and Kippax juniors was an extremely easy decision and we couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of such an event

15


Andrew McDougall, the former senior partner of law firm Plexus, and his old boss, former Hammonds senior partner, John Heller, have taken part in a gruelling 900-mile charity bike ride for Yorkshire Cat Rescue.

The journey, taking place from Land’s End to John O’Groats over 12 days in July, demands that riders cycle 70-80 miles a day to make sure they manage to cover the distance.

“As the owner of a staggering 11 cats, my choice of charity was rather straightforward – especially since adopting more homeless cats and kittens is currently out of the question,” said McDougall.

“Yorkshire Cat Rescue doesn’t just help animals in need. It is a charity that helps desperate people who have become unable to care for their beloved pets;

sometimes because they have passed away and left no one behind to help find their companions a new home.”

Sara Atkinson, founder of Yorkshire Cat Rescue, said that the fundraising work of supporters such as McDougall and Heller was invaluable.

“We wouldn’t have been able to rescue more than 600 cats in 2012 if it wasn’t for people like Andrew and John who brave the elements and hit the fundraising road for us,” she said.

“Although the day-to-day running of the charity is demanding at the best of times, I take my hat of to these two gentlemen for taking on a challenge of which the mere thought would make most of us break a sweat.”

To make a donation and support Yorkshire Cat Rescue, visit: www.charitygiving.co.uk/andrewmcdougall

Former colleagues don’t paws on road for cat rescue

Staff at Schofield Sweeney have nominated the recently launched Children’s Air Ambulance Service (TCAA) as their Charity of the Year for 2013.

The Children’s Air Ambulance Service provides an emergency transfer service for critically ill babies and children but relies entirely on voluntary support to continue providing a service.

The first infant to benefit from the service was one-day-old Theo Mikoya who was transferred from Scarborough Hospital

to Hull Royal Infirmary for emergency surgery in just 15 minutes. Schofield Sweeney is one of TCAA’s first major corporate sponsors in the Yorkshire region.

“As in Theo’s case, we are delighted to be helping reduce transfer times,” said Martin Sweeney, managing partner at Schofield Sweeney.

“A journey that might take hours by road can take just minutes by air, and those minutes can sometimes make all the difference.

“The Children’s Air Ambulance was chosen overwhelmingly by the partners and staff and the firm is committed to raising a significant amount of money for specialist equipment and medical teams.”

“As a relatively new organisation, we are delighted to be working with Schofield Sweeney,“ said Faye Wilson, TCAA’s fundraising manager for Yorkshire.

“They are a great example of what can be done and, importantly for them, they can clearly see the difference they are making to our life-saving work. But we need more like them.”

The charity has an information pack for any organisation interested in becoming a corporate sponsor. It can be obtained from [email protected] or telephone 08454 130 999.

Schofield Sweeney keeps Children’s Air Ambulance flying high

NewsSocial & charity

A journey that might take hours

by road can take just minutes by air, and those minutes can sometimes make all the difference


16

Makin Dixon wins legal aid awardMakin Dixon has been named as the Legal Aid Firm of the Year at an awards ceremony run by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.

The Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards, taking place for the eleventh year in a row, saw Makin Dixon pick up the award from Lord Justice McFarlane at the Globe Theatre in London on 2 July.

The firm has nine offices in Yorkshire as well as one in Lancashire, having recently opened new premises in Wakefield, Leeds and Rochdale; and managing partner Caroline Makin said that the award was a tribute to all its hardworking staff.

“The awards are a recognition of the help and support provided by Legal Aid practitioners to the most needy and vulnerable in our communities, including victims of domestic violence and families whose children may be taken into Local Authority care,” she said.

“It is also important for people to be aware that – although Legal Aid has been reduced in scope – it is still available in certain circumstances. If people have a legal problem they should still ask about Legal Aid.”

Meanwhile, the clinical negligence work of Atherton Godfrey is to be recognised nationally for the third year running, with three of its solicitors being ranked as leaders in their field in the latest edition of the Chambers UK Directory.

John McQuater, who has been recognised in both the 2012 and 2013 editions, was joined last year by Bob Allen, an associate with the firm who has particular expertise in birth damage and cerebral palsy cases.

This year they have been joined by Christopher Noble, partner and head of the firm’s Clinical Negligence department.

Julian Goose QC appointed as Recorder of SheffieldZenith Chambers’ Julian Goose QC has been appointed Recorder of Sheffield. He was sworn in on 2 July at The Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Goose (pictured far right), who joined Zenith in 1984 and was elected head of chambers in 2004, practised primarily in crime and personal injury.

Many of his criminal cases have received high profile media attention. In 2011, he defended a Polish national who attempted to murder his girlfriend by using a Taser and burying her alive in a box in woodland; and he was involved as prosecution Counsel in the case concerning the kidnap of the 9-year-old Shannon Matthews by her mother Karen.

Zenith Chambers will help him celebrate his achievement at a special dinner later this year.

Ridley and Hall Solicitors has been involved in a landmark case with wide-ranging implications for local authorities who pay less to family and friends carers than they do to unrelated carers.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that kinship foster carers should be entitled to all the same support and benefits as unrelated foster carers, including additional training.

Rebecca Chapman of Huddersfield-based Ridley and Hall Solicitors, the solicitor for the client who brought the case, explained that family and friends carers have been entitled to be paid the same basic fostering allowance as unrelated carers since 2001. This payment, however, only covers the basic cost of looking after a child, with most local authorities paying their own foster carers significantly more.

“This can be a very large sum,” said Chapman. “In this case the kinship carer received around £600 per week to care for three disabled children, whereas an unrelated foster carer would have received over £1200 per week to care for the same children.

“North Yorkshire pay a premium to foster carers of between £46 to £81.82 per week

which family and friends carers cannot receive. Blackburn with Darwen pay an additional £56 per week per child which is not immediately available to family and friends carers.”

Following the case, kinship carers are now entitled to request their local authority to provide training and access to the fee scheme.

“Many local authorities operate schemes where unrelated foster carers can apply for extra fees for the children they care for due to their skills or qualifications. Kinship carers now can have access to training to allow them to develop the skills and qualifications in order that they can receive the increased fees,” added Chapman.

Her client initially took London’s Tower Hamlets local authority to judicial review, where the court found that they were wrong to discriminate between kinship carers and unrelated foster carers. Tower Hamlets appealed the decision. The appeal was heard and the judges gave their verdict on the same day. The appeal was dismissed with the court saying that the Secretary of State provides guidance that there should be equity of provision and entitlement for carers.

“It has been a long battle but I am absolutely delighted for my client,” said Chapman. “This means that she can now be treated equally compared to unrelated foster carers so she should be able to receive the same fees and training. This will have an enormous impact on my client as she will have enough money to be able to continue to care for the three very demanding children.

“It will also have an impact on other local authorities. I am already aware of several local authorities who will have to change their policies in light of this decision,” she added.

Huddersfield law firm in landmark ruling

NewsCommunity & cases

It will also have an impact on other local

authorities. I am already aware of several local authorities who will have to change their policies in light of this decision


17

Chadwick Lawrence launch second series of 2013 employment seminars

Chadwick Lawrence has launched its second series of 2013 employment seminars following the success of its seminar series earlier this year.

The free of charge seminars will be held at the firm’s Leeds City Centre, Huddersfield and Wakefield offices over September and October.

Employment Law specialist Neil Wilson will present the seminars. The first in the series is aimed at business owners, managers and HR advisers and will bring attendees up to date on how changes in Employment Law will impact on businesses in general, and forewarn owners of the steps they will need to take to ensure they continue to comply with the ever-changing Employment Law regulatory environment.

Chadwick Lawrence has also teamed up with national training specialists Dale Carnegie Training to provide a one-off seminar on performance management which will take place at its Wakefield office.

“As well as providing valuable advice the seminars also provide a great networking opportunity,” said Wilson.

“We are delighted to have teamed up with Dale Carnegie Training to offer a one-off seminar on performance management. Combining our legal expertise with their extensive experience in training, it’s definitely not one to be missed.”

For information about the seminars, or to register visit: www.chadwicklawrence.co.uk/index.php/business-services/employment/free-seminars/.

Alternatively please contact Sarah Guest on 0113 2258811 or email [email protected]

Mills & Reeve supports next generation of family lawyers

Two students have won this year’s Travel Studentship Scheme, designed to increase law students’ exposure to family practice and encourage them to consider family law as their specialism.

The winners, Maya Kaye (Pembroke College, Cambridge) and Ellie Lowes (Clare College, Cambridge) will now take up internships this summer in Santa Rosa California and Minneapolis, respectively.

David Salter, joint national head of family law at Mills & Reeve, and former President of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML), set up the scheme last year.

Kaye and Lowes won their chance to secure an internship with an IAML-linked matrimonial firm anywhere in the world by

winning an essay competition. Leeds-based Salter said that there is a

general assumption that top law graduates will become corporate lawyers. He argues that it is his and other current family experts’ duty to encourage and nurture the next generation of family lawyers.

“Because of the assumption that law graduates will become corporate lawyers, family law gets little air-time at careers events and is often dismissed as a soft option,” he said.

“Access to work experience such as that provided through the internships is an invaluable addition to academic studies and will present the students with a fuller understanding of what to expect when they are fully qualified.”

Actor and television broadcaster Michael Palin helped to make the Harrogate International Festival a hit again this year after speaking at the Literature and Lecture Series section of the event, which

was sponsored by Raworths Solicitors for the second year in a row.

The firm and their guests had a special reception with Palin before he addressed a packed audience at the St George Hotel in the centre of the town.

His talk, named From Monty Python’s Lumberjack song to Around the World in 80 days via A Fish Called Wanda, was one of the highlights of the Raworths Literature and Lecture Series and involved Palin answering questions posed to him by journalist and publishing adviser Danuta Kean.

Other speakers at the event, which took place over a four-day period, included Richard (Madeley) and Judy (Finnigan), Ann Widdecombe, John Whaite, (winner of the Great British Bake-Off) and Joanne Harris, the author of Chocolat.

Palin is no dead parrot at Harrogate Festival

NewsCommunity & cases

As well as providing valuable

advice the seminars also provide a great networking opportunity

Advert

19


The UK is at a crossroads, needing diverse sources of energy for its ever-growing population. With tough carbon reduction targets and the need to be more self-sufficient, the attraction of shale gas is proving ever more alluring, says leading environmental consultancy firm GroundSure.

In the latest Spending Review, George Osborne committed to further incentives for exploration and extraction, including streamlining the release of permits.

The latest British Geological Survey (BGS) analysis suggests that there are far greater shale gas reserves under UK soil than previously thought. In the North of England alone, there could be as much as 1300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, of which roughly 10% would be recoverable. Given that the UK as a whole consumes some 3 trillion cubic feet of gas a year, we could easily be self sufficient for decades to come.

The process to extract shale gas, hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is necessarily invasive. Shale deposits have lain for millions of years under high pressure many kilometres below ground. Fracking involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into boreholes. Fissures are created in horizontal shafts and the gas is released to be captured and stored.

The market is quite mature in the US with hundreds of thousands of individual drill sites, which has transformed the US energy market with plentiful cheaper gas. The economic benefits to the UK also seem obvious – greater self-sufficiency, thousands of jobs created and a healthier balance of payments. There could also be significant benefits to local communities, with the latest offers by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) offering £100,000 per fracked well and 1% of the revenues generated. Communities would decide how the cash was spent.

However, critics argue that the process of

fracking can cause earth tremors and pollute groundwater supplies, and that shale gas wells could blight the countryside and affect house prices. The jury is still out on all of these. The recent exploration in Lancashire that caused tremors registered just 2.3 on the Richter Scale – the same as a lorry passing by a house.

The BGS recently declared fracking as “safe” providing the wells had a high degree of integrity before and after drilling. However, they think more research is required into the relationship between fractured wells and aquifers, which the south of England relies on for 70% of its drinking water.

What is certain are the human reactions to this in the backyard – significant opposition is already well underway at sites like Balcombe, West Sussex, which will start exploration soon. Concerns about high methane content in drinking water close to US drill sites, plus the noise and disruption, have propelled residents into action.

Permit areas, existing and planned exploration and extraction sites are now identified and captured in a ground breaking new report from GroundSure, now available through PSG. Homebuyers will be concerned to understand the current and future impact of fracking in proximity to their property. This is essential information for conveyancers so that clients have their eyes open to the issues ahead of exchange.

Fracking – energy bonanza or time bomb? Judges set to shortlist entries for the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards

The judging panel for the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards is set to meet on 30 July, when it will decide which firms and individuals are to be shortlisted for the county’s premier legal event.

Nominations closed on 8 July for the awards, which will be held on 2 October at the New Dock Hall in Leeds. The event, headline sponsored by Am Trust, offers the county’s legal professionals the chance to come together for a memorable evening of networking, socialising and celebration.

The 2013 panel will once again be chaired by Jeremy Shulman from Shulmans Solicitors and Peter McCormick OBE, from McCormicks Solictors. Joining them will be Heidi Sandy (President of Leeds Law Society/Gordons), Giles Searby (President of the Sheffield Law Society/Hill Dickinson), Peter Smart (Business Consultant and former Chairman of Walker Morris), Roger Dixon (Hague & Dixon Solicitors), James Haddleton (DWF), Mark Pearson-Kendall (Andrew Jackson), Lorrette Law (Switalskis) and Peter Wright (President of the Yorkshire Union of Law Societies/ DigitalLawUK).

Organised by Barker Brooks Communications, publishers of Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer, the awards have been bringing together the region’s legal community to recognise and celebrate its achievements since 2000.

Other sponsors include Prime Professions Ltd, New Park Court Chambers, Property Search Group, Towry, Douglas Scott Recruitment, Parklane Plowden and mmadigital. The charity partner for the awards is Yorkshire Cancer Research.

To get your tickets before they sell out, visit www.yorkshirelawyerawards.co.uk or contact Paul Bunce at paul.bunce@ barkerbrooks.co.uk.

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For more information on insurance products and services from PSG Financial Services Limited:Email: [email protected]: www.psgconnect.co.uk or Telephone: 01226 246 644PSG Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

For more information on all other products and services from PSG:Email: [email protected]: www.psgconnect.co.uk or Telephone: 01226 240 055

Patrick walker investigates cures for insomnia, with surprising results

T en minutes ago I had a puppy which curled up in my arms and entertained itself by trying to stretch out from one side of the dog bed to the other. Now she spills

over the side like dirty washing thrown hastily at the basket and her lanky legs and giant paws make her less easy to cuddle than a giant set of bagpipes.

No matter: she is, after all, a working dog and as she matures she develops a keen nose for game and will sit quivering but silent, watching pheasant and grouse come over the horizon, and in season will retrieve them as they fall to the ground having been shot with seeming ease and deadly accuracy.

Only this is fantasy. Leaving aside for a moment that I am most likely to have missed (thereby upsetting those who shoot by my incompetence and those who don’t by raising my gun at all), the dog only has eyes for flying yoghurt pots!

She is a quick learner and just one indulgence with an empty yoghurt pot means that she can be woken from the deepest sleep by the noise of peeling off the foil top, and the tap of the spoon against the pot will guarantee a neat sitting position and angelic face which is harder to resist than popping bubble wrap.

I suspect too that she understands enough English to qualify for British citizenship. I remarked that perhaps the blanket in her bed was a bit thin. The following morning she was proudly sat on a thick skein of wool neatly curled in the bed. It took me a while to realise that what I thought was a door mat is really just fifty metres of Labrador bedding.

Talking of bedding, how do you sleep? I am perplexed and frustrated by an inability to sleep well at night. In the hammock in the garden I can fall into deep slumber within minutes. In front of the telly is no problem, but give me a proper bed at night and I manage a few hours at best. I’ve addressed the usual causes – alcohol, coffee, late night TV and even cheese – but no change.

Counting sheep doesn’t work and Winnie the Pooh found that Heffalumps were no better!

“The more he tried to sleep the more he couldn’t. He tried counting sheep, which is sometimes a good way of getting to sleep, and, as that was no good, he tried counting Heffalumps. And that was worse. Because every Heffalump that he counted was making straight for a pot of Pooh’s honey, and eating it all. For some minutes he lay there miserably, but when the five hundred and eighty-seventh Heffalump was licking its jaws, and saying to itself, ‘Very good honey this, I don’t know when I’ve tasted better,’ Pooh could bear it no longer.”

The Internet provides a bewildering selection of ‘cures’ with equal rating going to ‘visualise green cows’ and ‘sex – alone or with others’. It also appears that the same number support ‘sleep facing south’ as ‘sleep facing north’.

In the face of a thick volume of unlikely wives’ tales, I resolved to follow the example of anybody who could demonstrate an ability to drop quickly into a relaxed sleep. My thoughts were interrupted by loud vibrations and I assumed my mobile was about to creep across the kitchen table as it announced the arrival of a new text.

But the source of the pulses was at a lower level and I looked down to see the puppy curled up on the last remains of the floor mat, a well-chewed stick, the shredded remains of another unmissable offer from Sky TV, and a yoghurt pot licked squeaky clean. The snoring was loud and intense and the message clear. Forget crisp linen sheets and tuck yourself up in bed with an empty yoghurt pot! Well anything’s worth a try, isn’t it?!

Let sleeping dogs tell the truth

Patrick walker is head of Property @ction, Squire Sander‘s specialist advisory and advocacy service. He is also an independent mediator: www.imediate.co.uk

20 CommentPatrick Walker


williamsons Solicitors Sarah Blagg has become part of Williamsons Solicitors’ Industrial Disease Department and will work with a team of two other solicitors, two litigation executives

and two legal executives in the only dedicated industrial disease department in the Hull and East Yorkshire area. Blagg, a graduate of the University of Hull and the College of Law York, has had a number of years experience working in the area of industrial disease.

RollitsRollits LLP has promoted five of its solicitors across a number of key service areas.

Rebecca Latus, Jennifer Sewell and David Myers have been promoted to Associate, while Ed Heppel and James Peel have been made senior solicitors. “All of them have worked extremely hard for the firm over the years and thoroughly deserve their promotions,” said managing partner Richard Field. Pictured are (l-r): Peel, Heppel, Latus, Myers, Sewell.

Atherton GodfreyAtherton Godfrey has brought Vicky Sladdin on board as a new solicitor in its private client team. Sladdin, whose career in law spans 22 years, now specialises in wills, probate, Lasting Powers

of Attorney and applications to the Court of Protection. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity in giving clients peace of mind that their affairs are in order,” she said. The firm has also been named the Best Recruiter (small firm) category at The Training and Recruitment Awards.

ShulmansDeepak Prasad has joined Shulmans, bringing with him a wealth of strong international connections to the firm’s commercial property team.Prasad previously operated his own West Yorkshire firm,

Prasad Solicitors, and has developed strong international connections in the Far East, India and Middle East. He specialises in matters relating to landlords and tenants, along with an additional focus on property acquisitions and disposals.

hlw Keeble Hawson Michael Cantwell has been appointed as partner at the Leeds office of hlw Keeble Hawson. An experienced corporate lawyer, Cantwell joins from Chadwick

Lawrence and has advised high profile clients in sport and property development on transactions worth in excess of £100 million. Elaine Buckley has also been made the new head of business development at the firm’s Leeds office.

Simpson Sissons & brookeSimpson Sissons & Brooke (SSB) has launched an Employment Law division headed up by new starter Melissa Cook, who moves from Simpson Millar. As the new head of

employment law at SSB, Cook will lead a team offering advice in areas such as compromise agreements, discrimination claims, redundancy matters, issues regarding pay, maternity and paternity matters, unfair dismissal and disciplinary procedures.

Squire SandersSquire Sanders has appointed Hannah Kendrick as a corporate partner. Kendrick, who has joined the firm from Eversheds has over 15 years of experience advising on a range of

substantial corporate transactions and arrangements, including working with both public and private companies on all aspects of acquisitions and disposals, fundraising, joint ventures and related commercial arrangements both within the UK and with international parties.

Guest walker & Co Guest Walker & Co has recruited commercial property specialist Steven Berry (pictured, centre). Berry has over 20

years’ experience in commercial property law and has acted for an extensive range of clients including national house builders, retirement care providers, national retailers, private developers, the education sector and third sector developers and occupiers. He has worked in Liverpool, Leeds and Hull, and spent some time in the voluntary sector in Germany.

Ridley & HallVicky Medd has become the latest recruit at Ridley & Hall. The mediator and solicitor will be heading up the firm’s mediation department as well

as working with the family team. Medd, is an accredited member of Resolution, the family dispute settlement group, as well as a collaboratively trained solicitor. She specialises in divorce and financial provision and is well known across West Yorkshire.


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Family mattersEmma Pearmaine issues a rallying cry to Yorkshire’s legal community over legal aid cuts which have the potential to harm family justice

O n 3 July, the Family Courts Unions Parliamentary Group (FCUPG) was re-launched at The House of Commons.

Together with my colleague Emma Hopkins, I delivered a presentation to MPs focusing on family issues that find their way into MPs’ post bags and spill over into their constituency surgeries. By many accounts, MPs are now experiencing the negative impact that recent Government policy and further proposed policy changes have had on constituents.

The FCUPG is an independent Parliamentary Group which was formed in 2006. It meets every two months to provide Parliamentarians with the chance to discuss the challenges facing the family justice systems. The group is chaired by the Rt. Hon Elfyn Llwyd MP and comprises over 30 MPs and peers from all parties.

It is sponsored by Simpson Millar LLP Family Law, Napo – the largest trade union in CAFCASS (the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) – and the PCS (the Trade Union representing over 14,000 members working in the Ministry of Justice).

Together, the family lawyers, CAFCASS practitioners and court staff representatives are able to report their front line experiences and work together to brief Parliamentarians to enable them to raise issues of concern with Government at all levels.

Dealing with cuts to legal aid As Elfyn Llwyd says, FCUPG must ensure that the Government understands the need for a family justice system which is effective as well as thorough and which ensures the best outcome for all families.

“The Legal Aid budget has been slashed by £350 million and the structure of family justice is being reshaped beyond recognition. The need for Parliamentary Groups to monitor and address the impact of Government policy has never been greater,” says Llwyd.

Further to the cuts to Legal Aid in April 2013, family solicitors, CAFCASS practitioners and court staff are all reporting an increase in litigants-in-person, which leads to delays in the court process and increased anxiety for all. The Children and Families Bill looks set to dominate the family justice agenda for the coming months.

The biggest concerns the FCUPG highlighted to the MPs are:• the impact of a presumption of shared parenting

Emma Pearmaine is a Partner and Head of Family Law at Simpson Millar LLP.

• the lack of regulation for mediators• the repeal of restrictions on divorce where there are

children – removing the requirement for the Court to be satisfied that appropriate arrangements have been made for the care of the children (taking away a necessary safety net for children as we see more litigants in person dealing with their own divorces)

• the impact of the intended 26-week time limit for care cases

• the end of the Court’s duty to scrutinise Local Authority Care Plans

Further, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 establishes a single family court, which includes the High Court and Family Proceedings Court. This should be an opportunity to improve family justice for those who come to Court.

Unfortunately, the shared view of the FCUPG is that budget pressures mean it may largely be an opportunity for more cuts with fewer local staff endeavouring to deliver family justice in fewer venues.

This severely limits access to justice for the average member of the public and many MPs already see that this is a big issue for their constituents.

Time to take actionLawyers in the main part were once content to deliver legal services and leave law and policy-making to Parliamentarians and lobbying to Unionists.

Recent marches, petitions, news articles and letters show that we lawyers now feel so strongly about changes to our legal system that we are prepared to stand up and shout.

I am a partner and the head of Simpson Millar’s sizeable Family Law Department. I should be at the peak of my career and secure in my position.

But with another 25 years to work, I dare not – and cannot – sit back and just wait and see what happens. Can you?

If you are a Family Lawyer ask yourself: How many potential new clients have you turned away since April because they are not eligible for Legal Aid?

When you read a Care Plan do you consider the proposals child focused or budget focused?

And for those clients eligible for Legal Aid post April, how difficult is it to meet the Legal Aid Agency proof of domestic violence requirements?

Tell your clients to contact their local MP about these issues.

Access to Justice cannot be ignored.

23Focus onLegal Aid cuts

24


Dennis Healey once said that the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the width of a prison cell. The

case of R v Driscoll certainly pushed the boundaries of tax avoidance to almost breaking point.

The case concerned Film Tax Credit relief and resulted in a defeat for HMRC as the Jury acquitted the Defendant. The Defence successfully argued that they had merely taken advantage of a tax loophole created by the Finance Act 2006 and the Corporation Tax Act 2009.

The Finance Act 2006 attempted to shut down previous film tax relief schemes that had been open to abuse.

The new tax relief was designed to subsidise the British film industry by allowing a film production company to claim back up to 25% of a film’s eligible core production costs. Those costs are subject to a number of qualifying conditions, in particular: that they are ‘used and consumed’ in the UK; the relief is calculated upon the cost of actually producing the film; and that connected companies were able to transact so long as they operated at “arm’s length” and charged each other open market value.

The caseThe case concerned the making of a British horror feature film called Eldorado starring Peter O’Toole and Rick Mayall. Driscoll, who directed and also starred in the film, owned his own film studio in Cornwall. He was approached by investors to produce a series of films and Eldorado was the first.

A claim for film tax credit was submitted to HMRC for £1.7 million, based on a total film budget cost of £11million and a total core production cost of £9 million.

HMRC alleged that the film cost significantly less than £9 million to make, that the costs had been grossly inflated.

The Defence conceded that the claim was far greater than the actual costs, mainly because Driscoll owned his own studio and so was able to produce films

for less money. The film actually cost approximately £1.5 milion to make. However the Defence argued that it could legitimately submit a Film Tax Credit claim based on “open market value”.

Inflated costsA series of connected company transactions were used to inflate the costs, best illustrated with three examples.

Firstly, there was the cost of the computer generated imagery (CGI).

Eldorado was the first British made film in 3D. Driscoll outsourced the majority of the work to a company in Bulgaria who undertook the CGI for £35,000; a fraction of the cost had it been done in the UK.

The CGI work was then finished off at the studios in Cornwall getting round the issue of where the costs had been used and consumed. Driscoll’s own company then charged the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) production company, who would ultimately make the clam for FTC, a fee of approximately £1 million. To the Prosecution this looked like a grossly inflated charge and a fraud.

However, during the Defence case we introduced evidence from an expert witness to show that the CGI price charged to the production company was in fact ‘the going rate’, had it been sourced in the UK. Caught unaware, the Prosecution called their own expert. However their expert, under cross examination, conceded that the fee charged was actually below the market rate.

Secondly, Driscoll had his own fully functional studio with green screen facilities. Driscoll therefore charged the production company for hire of the studios a fee of around £1million. It cost Driscoll next to nothing, as he owned the studio.

Again it was argued by the Defence that that the fee of £1million was comparable with market rate within the UK. Again the Defence called evidence to show that had the production company used Elstree Studios it would have cost almost £2 million.

Thirdly, Driscoll had connections and was owed favours by the film’s star actors’ agents, so he was able to secure their services for a heavily discounted rate.

By using connected companies, a significant mark-up was charged to the SPV production company, who then submitted the costs as part of the Film Tax Credit claim. Expert evidence as to the cost of securing talent was again employed.

The Revenue found it difficult to deal with the Defence interpretation of the legislative framework. The head of the Film Tax Unit in Manchester gave evidence. During cross-examination it became apparent that the unit was hugely undersourced and the team that dealt with multi-million pound tax relief claims (£800 million a year) was staffed by only three people. The Revenue conceded that the legislation and their own guidance, allowed claims to be made based on costs generated between connected companies, so long as the costs were referable to market value.

As the trial unfolded the Prosecution case, based on an FTC claim that had looked hugely inflated and dishonest at the outset, began to unravel.

Notwithstanding that the Jury convicted Driscoll of a separate VAT fraud, the not guilty verdict on the allegation of Film Tax Credit fraud was an unwelcome reality check for the Revenue.

Driscoll was represented by Simon Bickler QC, leading James Lake and instructed by Cohen Cramer and Co.

FeatureTax

Rolling creditsHMRC’s tax crackdown has led to some intriguing cases, including one involving a film producer and Film Tax Credit. Simon bickler and James Lake explain

Simon bickler QC and James Lake are both barristers at St.Paul Chambers

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FeaturePro bono

A helping hand

S care stories are printed with alarming frequency propagating myths about asylum seekers.

They’re blamed for higher taxes, rising crime rates, terrorism; and that’s just to name a few.

But where does the truth lie? The facts are these: a typical asylum seeker receives £5.62 per day to live on; most have substantial education and work- related qualifications and were successful individuals in their home countries; and perhaps most importantly, most have fled their home countries due to serious human rights abuses – not because they see the UK as the land of milk and honey.

Asylum seekers need lawyers to fight their corner. Otherwise, they are catapulted into a complex judicial process and are at the mercy of the system. Many are refused legal aid and are therefore left to represent themselves, often with dire life-altering consequences.

This is where the Manuel Bravo Project steps into the breach.

Inspiration The project, born out of tragedy following the suicide of an unsuccessful asylum seeker, has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2007. Manuel was an asylum seeker from Angola, who tragically took his own life in 2005. He fled to the UK after his pro-democracy activity led to attacks on his family, including the murder of his parents. He lived in Leeds with his son, Antonio.

At his asylum hearing in 2002, his solicitor failed to attend and thus he was forced to represent himself. He did not learn that his claim for asylum had been finally refused until he and Antonio were detained for deportation and removed to a detention centre in Bedford.

Within 24 hours, Manuel had taken his own life. With this ultimate act of self-sacrifice, he hoped that his son would be allowed to remain safely in the UK. Out of this tragedy, the Manuel Bravo Project was formed.

The Manuel Bravo Project provides free legal assistance for people seeking asylum. Acting for clients on appeals and on fresh claims and only for those for whom legal aid has been refused, the Project provides a valuable service to those clients who have reached the end of the road with regards to legal assistance.

How it works Clients are referred to the project and then seen by teams of non–immigration lawyers. We have commercial, employment and even tax lawyers who work on our cases who will see the client, take full and detailed instructions, and prepare bundles for any court hearings.

Their work is overseen and guidance is provided by our panel of specialist solicitors or barristers. This ensures all relevant issues are tackled and the court and/or Home Office are presented with a case, prepared with the same level of expertise as any other fee-paying or legally-aided client.

We have successfully acted for a Nigerian client who was given discretionary leave to remain following her gender- based violence appeal; have won leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal for a Gambian national; and were recently successful on a domestic violence appeal case for an Afghanistani client.

None of this would be possible without our teams of lawyers. We work with

non-immigration lawyers from DLA Piper, Eversheds, DAC Beachcroft and Stewarts Law.

None of these lawyers work, or have ever worked, in the immigration sector, most of them hail from commercial backgrounds, but we deliver regular and comprehensive training to all of our non-immigration pro-bono volunteers. In addition, we are also supported by our specialist lawyers from Henry Hyams, Kenworthy Chambers, Broadway House Chambers and our latest and newest team from No. 37 Chambers in Leeds.

Needless to say, all this work was carried out on a pro bono basis.

We are always looking for more lawyers so that we can increase the number of people we can help. Lawyers from any discipline are welcome to assist – we will train you and provide you with as much support as possible and in any event all cases are overseen by one of our specialist lawyers.

Legal advice should be a right, not a privilege; and asylum seekers desperately need help in getting legal advice, says Sabeeha Khan

If you are interested in helping the project please contact our Legal Development Worker Sabeeha Khan (third on the left in the picture) on [email protected] or telephone 0113 350 8608 for an informal and preliminary discussion. Any form of assistance is welcome.

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FeatureProfessional Indemnity Insurance 27

who would have thought that something as mundane as Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) would ever hit the headlines?

Well that’s just what happened last year with the collapse of two foreign insurance companies, Quinn and Leema, who had underwritten significant amounts of PII business for UK-based law firms.

And in April this year, when the Financial Conduct Authority prohibited Latvian insurer Balva from writing any new PII business following concerns about the viability of the business, PII became became big news. This was followed in June with an announcement that the Latvian authorities had withdrawn the insurer’s operating licences.

Balva’s spectacular collapse means that some 1,300 UK firms have to find cover from elsewhere by October this year.

In response, the Law Society has brought out its PII Made Simple guide, designed to give solicitors a better insight into the workings of the PII market and the various broker-insurer distribution chains that can sometimes give unrated insurers a veneer of credibility.

The Law Society has said that it is increasingly concerned about the number of small practices who take out business with unrated insurers and say that 12.5 per cent of the PII market is controlled by unrated carriers.

A number of law firms have been caught out with their PII providers facing insolvency, prompting calls for firms to drop unrated insurers. But can firms struggling with their bottom line really afford to switch to A-rated policies?

But it may not have been a lack of awareness or knowledge that led to many firms taking out a policy with such a risky and unrated insurer.

Cost, as with so many aspects of the profession today, seems to have been the over-riding factor.

No choice?“Costs have been quite restricted, particularly for the small high street firms with exposure to conveyancing,” says Jake Fox, a director at broker Prime Risk Solutions.

“It’s been difficult for them to get competitive quotes and there hasn’t been a huge amount of choice down there. I would say the Balva and other unrated insurer policyholders probably fall into a couple of categories.

“The first is that they literally weren’t able to get quotes from anywhere else because they had some claims problems, or they had some other underlying issues in their business; the second category is perhaps firms that saw that Balva were charging say, £10,000 and the rest of the market was at £30,000.

“If you need to control the cash flow in your business then to a degree you can understand why a large number of firms went down that route.”

The broker who brought the beleaguered Balva to the market has come up with an alternative insurer for policyholders, but the problem is that the company in question, called Berliner, is also in the unrated camp.

Fox says that it is perfectly understandable that some firms would feel compelled to secure a renewal with Berliner now, especially if they believe that they have no other option.

But he urges any firm that feels that they have a reasonable case to state, and have a decent relationship with a good quality broker, to seek alternatives from an A-rated carrier.

Picking the right safety net

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FeatureProfessional Indemnity Insurance28

This advice chimes with that offered by the Law Society, which has been concerned about firms getting into a cycle of unrated insurance that then becomes very hard to break out of.

“We are continuing to emphasise the message about choosing insurers that are going to be financially secure and able to meet claims in the long term,” said Lucy Scott-Moncrieff on the launch of the PII Made Simple guide.

“There is a wider benefit to the profession too. The provision of client protection afforded by the insurance policy enhances its reputation and the entire profession will pay if there is an insurer insolvency event, through increased regulatory costs and compensation fund contributions.”

Insurer concernsFlipping the coin over, insurers have their own concerns too, which makes life even harder for firms struggling to get a rated insurer to give them protection.

Financial stability and longer-term viability in law firms is going to be something that will be looked at in far more detail by insurers in the next round of renewals, says Fox.

“From Cobbetts down, you can’t get away from the fact that the legal profession is challenged and there have been some quite high profile casualties to prove it,” he says.

Obvious areas of concern are property and personal injury (PI). Firms heavily involved in the latter field, dealing with the Jackson reforms and reduced income, are going to face some serious questions over

the make-up of their business over the next 18-24 months.

“If you’re a PI firm, I don’t think it would be too difficult to keep getting competitive quotes,” says Fox, “but be prepared to answer far more questions about your balance sheet, financial planning and your marketing strategy for the next couple of years, once the work in progress you’re currently handling dries up.”

In the property arena, it is not just straight conveyancing that remains risky. Insurers are also conscious of firms that could be exposed to the limitation passing on property-related claims within the next six to nine months, given that the property market crashed in late 2007, early 2008.

Mergers These pressures have hit all law firms and led to much consolidation, which is expected to increase.

What this does mean, however, is that firms may be able to access an eventually

more competitive PII market. “There is a significant amount of

consolidation and it’s not limited to one section of the market,” says Fox.

“The big firms are merging, the next tier down are merging and then high street firms are getting together. That being said, there seem to be as many new firms popping up as there are firms consolidating. So I don’t think the profession’s changing in terms of the number of law firms around at the moment.”

Longer term, the picture is bleary. From the current level of c11,000 firms, some commentators are suggesting that the number could drop down to about 7,000. Others, however, are adamant that there will be an increase in overall numbers with bigger firms getting bigger, but at the same time niche firms emerging in the gaps that mergers will leave behind.

Whoever turns out to be right however, firms will be the beneficiaries when it comes to PII.

If the number does decrease, then insurers will need to compete on price to win business and some of the riskier unrated insurers will simply fall away. If the pool of firms expands, the same could happen, as insurers look to cater for one end of the spectrum, rather than spread themselves thin. Again, pricing will probably have to get more competitive in such an environment, opening up access to A-rated insurance.

So for all the Law Society’s efforts, law firms may end up shunning unreliable insurers anyway, due to good old-fashioned market forces.

We are continuing to emphasise

the message about choosing insurers that are going to be financially secure and able to meet claims in the long term


FeatureLifestyle

while Hull’s significance as a port city has declined somewhat since the Second World War, ports along the

Humber still deal with 16% of the UK’s maritime trade and over 15,000 people are employed in related businesses.

The city’s connection with it commercial shipping past has also helped it to put forward a bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2017.

Although Hull itself has shifted from trade to tourism, with ferries to and from the continent proving lucrative and ferrying over one million passengers every year, its history and geographical position have allowed it to benefit in new ways after decades of stagnation.

New lines of business Hull’s maritime tradition has had a huge influence on the culture of the area, and many of the tourist attractions reflect that.

The Deep is a particularly striking building that sits by the Humber estuary, and is ideal for family days out: one of the most spectacular aquariums in the world, The Deep is home to more than 6,500 fish including 7 species of shark. Hull Marina is only a short walk away, which has 270 berths for yachts and hosts Hull’s annual jazz festival in late July.

For those interested in taking a look around the city, the Seven Seas Fish Trail leads visitors through parts of Hull, old and new, by way of 41 fish sculptures set into the pavement. For more about the city’s maritime history, there is also Hull Maritime Museum, which is free to enter and is located in Queen Victoria Square.

William Wilberforce, a key player in the movement to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade, was a native of Hull and his family home has been renovated and turned into a museum. The Grade I listed building features an exhibition that explores the history of the slave trade and Wilberforce’s role in its abolition, and includes his own personal journals and other items of importance that belonged to him.

The city’s revival is apparent to anybody familiar with the area, and the redevelopment is most noticeable in the effect it’s had on the city’s retail sector. St. Stephens opened in 2007, a 13 acre, £200 million shopping centre containing many of the high street brands you’d expect along with several restaurants, bars and a fitness club. Even its multi-storey car park has won awards.

Alternatively, Princes Quay is the other major shopping centre in Hull constructed on stilts that sit over the dock, providing views of the marina and the port area. Princes Quay offers over 80 retail shops over three floors, and also features several restaurants and a cinema.

But Hull is not a one-trick pony, reliant on shoppers and tourists. In 2011, Siemens chose Hull to be the site of Britain’s first key wind turbine plant, which should result in the creation of around 700 new jobs in the area.

Theatrics Although not as well known as Hull’s sea-faring history, it also has a strong theatre tradition, with the city producing various well-known stage actors.

Unsurprisingly then, there are some great theatres in the city: Hull New Theatre has been around for over 70 years, and hosts opera, ballet and drama productions throughout the year. There’s also Hull Truck Theatre, founded in 1971, which provides less traditional performances and tends to focus on more modern productions.

Theatre-goers need places to eat as well of course, and Hull has a wide array of highly-rated restaurants.

Those with a taste for an especially high-quality dining experience who are prepared to venture outside the city should take note of Winteringham Fields, a two-AA rosette restaurant owned by Colin McGurran, winner of 2012’s Great British Menu competition.

Winteringham sits on the south bank of the Humber, and although it’s a half-hour drive from Hull city centre, the restaurant itself has several luxurious rooms on offer should diners wish to stay the night.

Furthermore, the village itself is an old roman settlement, and is a great place to visit for those interested in the peace such surroundings provide.

Hull’s rich history and favourable location means it remains a city to be reckoned with in the 21st century, says Alex Forster

Pride of the Humber

A look at some of the firms that make up Hull’s legal community

wilkin ChapmanHull based solicitors Carrick Read, which specialises in insolvency services, recently merged with Wilkin Chapman, one of the largest law firms in the East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire area. The union has created a national debt recovery and insolvency powerhouse in the region.

Neil Hudgell Solicitors Neil Hudgell Solicitors is a fast-growing firm which has just opened new offices in the city centre. Specialising in compensation claims for personal injury, medical and professional negligence, the firm is relocating all 55 staff currently based in three separate premises in Hull to one large ground floor office suite at Blundell’s Corner on Beverley Road.

Rollits Commercial law firm Rollits, which also has offices in York, operates within niche practice areas (including corporate finance, charities and social housing) where the firm acts on a national basis. It recently promoted five of its solicitors across a number of key service areas.

Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson, established in 1874, has a client base that ranges from local to international and covers a breadth of legal areas, specialist sectors and expertise. Richard Hoare, partner and head of Andrew Jackson’s family team, recently became one of only a handful of family arbitrators in Yorkshire.

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Last wordNeil Howes

Hitting the bullseyeI defend solicitors and other professionals such as insurance brokers, accountants and construction professionals when they’re sued for negligence. People react in many different ways when a claim is made against them. Many people find it difficult to accept that they may have been negligent. But we’re all human and making a mistake doesn’t mean the end of your career. The key to my job is getting people to understand that I’m here to help them resolve the claim if a mistake has been made and that I will always fight their corner to the best of my ability.

I first started undertaking insurance disputes work when I was working down in London. I began working for Mills & Reeve shortly after we set up our London office.

My wife was a lawyer down in the City too and ten years ago we decided we wanted to move out of London. We loved it there and I still love the buzz of the city now, but we were just about to get married and decided that longer term we didn’t want to bring up a family down there.

we took a week’s holiday, got into the car and drove around the country and decided where we wanted to live. In a way it was incredibly liberating. Within hours of arriving in Leeds, we knew that it had the balance we were looking for.

For us, Leeds had and still has a great mix. A really progressive legal and business community, great nightlife, and quick access to the great outdoors. We spent the next couple of months in London applying for jobs up here and I ended up at Walker Morris.

I had been at walker Morris for seven years when I got a phone call from my old boss, saying that Mills & Reeve had set up an office in Leeds. They were looking at building a new professional indemnity and risk team up here and needed someone to head it up and grow it. Within a few months I’d made the move over. Although I’d really enjoyed my time at Walker Morris, the chance to help Mills & Reeve grow in Leeds was too good an opportunity to turn down.

Part of what attracted me back to the firm was its collaborative culture and its values. It comes into the way that we approach things.

when I first arrived back at the firm, there was a team of two people doing insurance disputes work in Leeds, we’ve now got six full-time solicitors. We’ve done really well over the past two or three years and hopefully we’ll be growing again over the next 12 to 24 months.

I’m a big fan of mediation. It can often provide the solutions to cases where the parties are so far apart at the beginning of the day that they can’t even bring themselves to speak to each other. It’s a great way of trying to break through a few barriers and testing the other side’s case.

we believe in delivering advice that is straight to the point and offers practical solutions. But in doing so, you also have to try and put yourself in the shoes of the professional who is facing a claim. It must be extremely stressful for people and it’s about trying to help them out of that hole.

Given the current economic climate, clients are pushing their lawyers to develop more for less and insurers aren’t any less different from any other business in that respect. We’ve done a lot of work in the past two or three years, analysing the way in which we handle cases, because we appreciate the pressure that our clients are coming under. As a result, we’re delivering a much more streamlined product and a range of new pricing solutions. But we also realised that people still want the quality of product that they associate with Mills & Reeve and we haven’t compromised on that.

I was a Nottingham boy originally and I’m still a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder. I drag my two young sons down to watch Forest as often as I can. I see it as character-building for them. My wife sees it as some form of child cruelty.

Last spring, I took up archery. I just thought, why not sign up and see if you like it? It’s a really good stress reliever but I’m not sure that it’s got me any fitter. As my wife points out, I’ve managed to take up a sport that effectively involves standing still.

Neil Howes is a partner with Mills & Reeve’s insurance disputes group. He specialises in defending professional negligence claims on behalf of insurers

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The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society July/August 2013 ...leedslawsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Issue123.pdf · The Official Journal of Leeds Law Society July/August

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