Liverpool Law

Liverpool Law 

The magazine for lawyers in 

Merseyside and the North West 

November 2015 

Liverpool Legal Walk 2015 

Lawyer in Lights 

Matt Humphries, Sellafield 

This month’s featured charity 

Merseyside Tuesday and 

Thursday Clubs

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EDITORIAL 3 

Welcome 

to the November edition of Liverpool Law. 

"Things that are repressed return even stronger", so says the producer of the artfully shot and 

confusing French zombie drama "The Returned". 

I can understand that sentiment in terms of cake and chocolate but I am struggling to 

understand how it explains the un-dead appearing in the Alps. If anyone can explain, even 

part of the plot of this zombie thriller, then please email the editor on the address shown below. 

Any help would be gratefully received. 

To help save us from too much confusing television this winter, the Liverpool Law Society have a 

full social diary for November and December, all details included in this edition. 

In these days of increased utilisation, pressure on time recording and bills to ask a lawyer to 

give their time is a big ask, but thankfully lawyers are more than willing to do just that and from 

this month we are including an extended CSR page, to acknowledge and highlight the work 

done by our members. Following the "mind the gap" conference we are also including each 

month, information from not for profit organisations looking for assistance. 

As always, thanks to everybody for submitting the articles that fill these pages and I hope we 

have put together an enjoyable read. 

Sylvia Shepherd 

Editor 

editor@liverpoollawsociety.org.uk 

Follow us on Twitter 

@LpoolLawSociety 

Like us on Facebook 

www.facebook.com/ 

LiverpoolLawSociety 

Liverpool Law Needs YOU 

Liverpool Law Society Magazine is produced by and for Liverpool Law 

Society Members. This is our opportunity to share our news, events and 

celebrations with our friends in the legal community. 

Join us on Linked In 

https://www.linkedin.com 

/company/liverpool-lawsociety 

All members' contributions to Liverpool Law are warmly welcomed. 

Please send your article (and photo captions where possible) or 

request for further information, or assistance to the editor at 

editor@liverpoollawsociety.org.uk. 

Photographs should be provided in the highest resolution possible to 

ensure a good reproduction. 

The views and opinions expressed in Liverpool Law are those of the 

individual contributed and not those of the Liverpool Law Society. 

Published by Baskerville Publications Limited 

25 Southworth Way 

Thornton 

Thornton-Cleveleys 

Lancashire FY5 2WW 

Tel: 01253 829431 

Email: j.baskerville@jbaskerville.co.uk 

Deadlines for 2015 

DECEMBER EDITION - 16TH NOVEMBER JANUARY 2016 - 12TH DECEMBER 

Diary Dates 

13/11/15 6.45pm for 7.30pm 

Annual Dinner 

Britannia Adelphi Hotel 

19/11/15 7.00pm 

Real Ale Trail 

Various Liverpool City Centre venues 

24/11/15 5.00pm for 5.30pm 

AGM 

Liverpool Law Society 

8/12/2015 5.30pm 

Professional Liverpool and 

Liverpool & Sefton Carol Service 

Liverpool Parish Church of Our Lady 

and St Nicholas 

14/12/2015 6.00pm 

Merseyside Christian Lawyers’ 

Carol Service 

Liverpool Parish Church of Our Lady 

and St Nicholas

4 FROM THE PRESIDENT 

President’s Mentions 

Hello everyone, 

By the time you read this month’s Mentions the clocks will have gone back, Kloppmania 

will have no doubt subsided somewhat and we will all be on the dreaded 

run-in to Christmas. 

At the time of my writing these Mentions, however, none of these mildly depressing 

things have yet taken place, and I am able to look back on a bumper month of 

activity which took place in late September and October. 

On 30 September we held our “Mind the Gap” Access to Justice event which was 

kindly hosted by Liverpool University. This brought together like-minded people 

from the universities, local practitioners, the third sector, CAB’s and various other 

coordinating bodies to look at where Legal Aid is still available and what we can 

all do to help. I am pleased to report that there were several clear actions 

following the meeting, which include a bespoke volunteering/CSR section in each 

edition of the magazine, going forward. This is going to be coordinated by my 

colleague Matthew Smith so if you have any news or events that you would like us 

all to get involved with, please email Matt at matthew.smith@weightmans.com. 

On 5 October I attended an interesting event hosted by the National Law Society 

at the Conservative Party Conference. Happily we did not have to run the 

gauntlet of enthusiastic Tory baiters who had descended upon Manchester 

Conference Centre and instead attended separate sessions at which Dominic 

Grieve and Lord Faulks spoke about Magna Carta and Access to Justice issues. 

No direct assurances could, of course, be given though we were told that the 

concerns of the profession were being taken into account in the Government’s 

various ongoing consultations. We will, of course, have to see how those turn out 

before reaching a final judgment as to how much we were, in fact, listened to. 

On 7 October I did a session with students at BPP and am delighted that one of 

the students who attended, Holly Wright, has written an article all about it which 

appears elsewhere in this month’s magazine. 

On 8 October there was a huge turnout for the Liverpool Legal Walk for Access to 

Justice on behalf of behalf of the North West Legal Support Trust – a big thank you 

to everyone who turned out and raised money for this excellent charity. 

On 14 October we had both the Employment Law Conference and an inaugural 

joint event with the University of Liverpool to celebrate the opening of a new legal 

and academic year. Finally, on 15 October I made the perilous journey down 

South to attend the annual dinner at Bristol Law 

Society, including their legal awards. A warm 

West Country welcome greeted me so thanks to 

all concerned from our Joint V counterparts. 

This, of course, leads me to mention, one last 

time, our own annual dinner which is taking 

place on 13 November. There are still some 

tickets left at the time of my writing these 

Mentions so please get in touch with the Society 

if you would like to make a last minute booking. 

It should be a great night and we are all looking 

forward to hearing not only Michael Mansfield 

QC but also the inaugural speech at a Liverpool 

Law Society dinner by our very own Vice 

President Alison Lobb! I look forward to sharing 

a beer with as many of you as possible on the 

night. 

Emlyn Williams, 

President 

Sponsored by 

Charity Spotlight 

Merseyside Tuesday and Thursday Clubs 

The Thursday Club was set up in 1966 as a social club 

for adults with learning difficulties, at a time when 

there was little on offer for over 18s with disabilities of 

this nature. The club has gone from strength to strength 

ever since, founding a second club on a Tuesday and 

achieving registered charity status. 

The clubs assist a wide range of members of differing 

ages. One of the younger members, Tony, has downs 

syndrome but this doesn’t stop him from having a 

different helper as his chosen ‘girlfriend’ each week. 

One of the older members, Phil, is self appointed 

Mayor of Thursday club and each week comes 

dressed in his full suit with a home made Mayor’s gold 

chain. He keeps the club members in check and will 

make calls to the Queen or Prime Minister if things get 

out of hand! 

The clubs are so much more than social clubs; they are 

lifelines for the members and their families, changing 

their lives immeasurably. For some members the clubs 

are the highlight of their week and are the only times 

they will spend outside of their home. For others, the 

holidays and weekends away have been the first 

holidays they have ever been on. The families of the 

members also benefit as they receive respite, content 

in the knowledge that their loved one is in a safe, 

caring and fun environment. 

The clubs completely rely on donations and support 

from the local community. Also as the clubs are 

entirely ran by volunteers, all the money raised goes 

back into the charity to pay for the costs of running 

the clubs; from the 

costs of petrol for 

the minibus through 

to the weekly 

events, days out and 

holidays. 

In April 2015 

Weightmans LLP 

made the clubs their 

joint office charities 

for a minimum 

period of 2 years. This has been a great help for the clubs as it has 

not only meant additional funds being received, which takes 

some of the pressure off the helpers, but it has also meant lots of 

additional volunteers coming to club which the members are 

very excited about. 

The clubs are constantly looking for volunteers to spend some 

time with the members. The Tuesday Club meet each week at 

7:30pm in Halewood and the Thursday Club meet at 7:30pm by 

Sefton Park. Hopefully it goes without saying the club names give 

away the days on which the clubs meet. Anyone who is 

interested in helping should contact 

Michael.westcott@weightmans.com 

The Tuesday and Thursday clubs are also looking for unwanted, 

inexpensive gifts to give away as prizes in raffles. Each week 

various prizes are won such as family/children’s DVDs, board 

games, gift sets, toiletries etc. The proceeds of the raffles go 

towards the cost of the holidays. Ideally the clubs are looking for 

unwanted new items rather than items that have been used, but 

anything in good condition will be welcome.

NEWS 5 

Professional Liverpool and Sefton & 

Liverpool Chambers of Commerce 

Annual Carol Service 

Date: Tuesday 8th December 2015 

Time: 5.30pm 

Location: Liverpool Parish Church of Our Lady & St Nicholas, 

Chapel Street, Liverpool 

As the festive season approaches, Professional Liverpool, in 

association with Sefton & Liverpool Chambers of Commerce, 

would like to invite you to our traditional start to Christmas, the 

Service of Lessons and Carols at Liverpool Parish Church on 

Tuesday 8th December 2015. 

The service is set to bring together representatives from 

professional firms and bodies from around the city in 

celebration of the nativity. There is simply no better way to 

prepare for Christmas than by listening to the traditional 

readings and singing along to your favorite carols in this special 

service. 

We will be joined by The St Nicholas Singers under the direction 

of Stuart Keen who as ever will delight with Christmas music. 

They will be accompanied by organist J Wrightson. 

After the service there will be an opportunity to meet up with 

friends and colleagues over wine and mince pies. 

Real Ale Trail 

Event Details 

Event Date: Thursday, 19 November, 2015 

Event Time: 19:00-21:00 

Location: Bombed Out Church, Bold Street, 

Liverpool, L1 2TR 

If you have an interest in history and a passion for ale then the 

Real Ale tour of Liverpool will be right up your alley! 

Following your friendly and fascinating tour guide, you will be 

taken through Liverpool’s seafaring past and entertained with 

old shanties as you sample some of the city’s best real ales. 

Recreate the buzz and energy of Liverpool’s heyday for 

yourself on this fun-filled, light-hearted real ale pub crawl. 

This joint Liverpool Law Society and Liverpool Society of 

Chartered Accountants event has been kindly organised by 

the accountants. They have chosen 4 fantastic pubs that are 

not only great places in their own right but are located in some 

of the most historic parts of the city 

The night will end at The Philharmonic where we will round the 

evening off with a fish and chip supper. 

We do hope you, your family and colleagues will join us for this 

special service. 

To let us know that you will be coming along to the Carol 

Service please contact Alex Clark at 

alexclark@professionaliverpool.com or call 0151 224 1855. 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Jenny Stewart 

Chief Executive 

John Hall 

Chief Executive 

You are warmly invited to the 

Annual Lawyers' Carol Service 

at 6.00pm 

on Monday 14 th December 2015 

Liverpool Parish Church, 

Old Churchyard, Chapel Street, Liverpool, L2 8TZ 

Preacher: 

The Hon. Mr Justice Cooke 

Sir Jeremy was called to the Bar in 1976, took Silk in 1990 and was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2001, sitting 

mainly in the Commercial Court. He was an Oxford rugby blue in 1968 and 1969, and played first class rugby for a 

number of years at the beginning of his legal career. 

Music from: 

Formby Brass Band 

together with lessons and carols 

All those connected with the practice, administration or study of the law 

(and their friends and families) are most welcome 

Drinks and mince pies in the foyer afterwards! 

The cost for the tour, fish and chip supper (vegetarian option 

available but this must be pre-ordered) and a pint/drink at the 

Philharmonic is £20.00+VAT, further beers will be on a pay as 

you go basis. 

If you wish to book, please search for the event on the Institute 

of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales’ website 

https://events.icaew.com/ 

You will need to register, and then book and pay online. 

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6 LOCAL NEWS 

Liverpool Law Society and University of Liverpool Law Society 

Drinks Reception from an Ulumni and University Perspective 

On Wednesday 14th October 

2015, LLS and University of 

Liverpool Law School held a 

welcome event, held at the 

newly refurbished School of 

the Arts building. Invited 

were current professors and 

lecturers from the Law 

School, Law Society 

members, Merseyside Junior 

Lawyer Members and former 

law school alumni. 

Having graduated from the 

Law School in 2005, I took the 

opportunity to attend this 

event to see what had 

changed in the last 10 years. 

At first glance, everything 

was similar and nostalgia 

flooded in, but upon 

speaking with the University 

staff, I was told that the law 

school building (as I knew it) is 

not currently the hub of the 

law school. Due to changes 

on campus and in the 

university generally both in 

the past and anticipated, the 

law school (lectures/seminars 

etc..) is now spread over 

campus. However, with over 

500 new students in this 

academic intake (previous 

Station 

years being around 200) it is 

likely that further changes will 

be afoot for the Law School 

in the near future. 

At the main event, it was 

wonderful to speak to long 

standing professors, including 

the ever charismatic Anu 

Arora (head of law school 

when I attended) as well as 

the new lecturers. It was 

particularly interesting to hear 

the enthusiasm of the student 

teachers, although I am still 

dubious to how anyone can 

make contract law and land 

law exciting! It proved a 

great opportunity to speak to 

existing contacts and make 

new ones from the University. 

Closing the event, Professor 

Debra Morris (current Head of 

Law school), Emlyn Williams 

(LLS president) and Andrew 

O’Byrne (Northern Circuit 

leader) regaled us with 

(amongst other things) stories 

of their time at university and 

it was clear that everyone 

was unanimous in their belief 

that law is a fantastic career 

choice, to which the whole 

room undoubtedly agreed. 

Advising the suspect at the Police 

- Th e Complete e Novice with Colin 

Beaumont 

This seminar will be particularly useful for those who are about 

to embark upon 

advising clients in this area and those who do it 

already but want to increase their knowledge in this difficult 

area of our work. 

Covering the 

below & much, 

much 

more: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

case prior to the 

interview? 

The order in 

which we see people at the police station and 

the reasons why 

 

Making repre 

sentations on bail/bail conditions 

 

Advising on D 

NA and CCTV footage evidence 

 

What to do w 

hen the client starts changing their instructions 

to us 

Dealing with 

multiple clients at the police station stage 

on Wednee sday 25th November 9.30am - 4. 

45pm 

CPD 6 (lunch included) 

Venue: Liverpool 

Law Society, 2nd Floor Cotton 

Exchange, 

Bixteth Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ 

To see the 

full seminar details or to book, 

visit: 

www.liverpoollawsociety.org.uk 

Off the back of this event, it is 

fantastic to note the 

strengthened link between 

the University of Liverpool and 

Liverpool Law Society, which I 

am sure will yield some 

positive and prosperous results 

going forward. 

I would urge former alumni as 

well as current LLS/MJLD 

members to 

show/reignite/reconnect and 

show their support to ensure 

the continued strength of our 

profession. 

Until next year…… 

Danielle Carter 

Lees Solicitors LLP 

When ‘Town’ Meets ‘Gown’ 

In October 2015, members of the 

Liverpool Law Society, together with 

staff from the Liverpool Law School 

met at the University of Liverpool for 

an evening drinks reception. The 

networking event took place in the 

beautifully restored School of the 

Arts Library which was a perfect 

setting, with views over Abercromby Square, to discuss matters 

of common interest to practitioners and academics. Around 

80 guests were welcomed to the University by Professor Debra 

Morris, Head of the School of Law and Social Justice and she 

explained the importance of the links between ‘town’ and 

‘gown’ for students, particularly in terms of the offering of 

placement opportunities and mentoring. 

Both Emlyn Williams and Andrew O’Byrne QC, Leader of the 

Northern Circuit also spoke briefly. Andrew, who graduated 

from the University of Liverpool some years ago, admitted that 

this was his first return visit to his alma mater and he promised 

not to leave it so long till he visits again. Andrew was not the 

only member of alumni at the reception and academics from 

the University were delighted to catch up with former 

graduates whom they had taught in the past. The event was 

held to celebrate the start of both the new academic year 

and the new legal year and also marks the strengthening links 

between the Liverpool Law Society and the Liverpool Law 

School, The lively buzz throughout the evening confirmed the 

success of the event, which will certainly be repeated in future 

years. 

School of Law and Social Justice 

Liverpool University 

Liverpool Law School Alumni 

Association Launch Event 

All University of Liverpool alumni are invited to attend a special 

event on Tuesday 24 November 2015 to celebrate the launch 

of the Liverpool Law School Alumni Association at the University 

of Liverpool. 

The evening will give you an opportunity to learn more about 

the benefits of the alumni association, network with fellow Law 

graduates, meet with current students and to hear the latest 

news from the Liverpool Law School. The Liverpool Law School 

Alumni Association has been established with the aim to 

enable you to keep in touch with the University, the Liverpool 

Law School and your fellow alumni whilst also seeking to 

provide graduates with further benefits such as career 

development and networking opportunities. 

Book now 

For further information on the Liverpool Law School Alumni 

Association, or to update your career or contact details, 

please contact Caroline Mitchell, Alumni Relations Manager 

(Networks and Volunteers) on caroline.mitchell@liverpool.ac.uk.

Lawyer in Lights 

Matt Humphries, In-House Solicitor at Sellafield 

Our target this month is Matt Humphries, an experienced 

commercial solicitor based at Hinton House the Sellafield Ltd 

building in East Warrington. Sadly not close enough to the 

Gemini centre for my liking, but non-the-less set in a wide open 

and landscaped area and we were able to amble around to 

the Birchwood Centre and settle down with a decent 

Starbucks. 

Sellafield Ltd is the site license company which holds the 

licences for the Sellafield and Windscale nuclear sites, both of 

which operate around the clock from the same location in 

West Cumbria. Sellafield is the world’s most complex nuclear 

site. Work at the nuclear site is now concerned with emptying 

and decommissioning its ageing facilities and reprocessing 

nuclear fuel from elsewhere. Sellafield Ltd currently manages 

the sites under contract with the Nuclear Decommissioning 

Authority (NDA), although next year the company will be 

transferred into ownership of the NDA. 

There are 9 in-house lawyers employed to deal with a wide 

range of work. Matt is one of four lawyers in the commercial 

team, headed up by the Head of Commercial Law Gill 

Edwards, under the overall leadership of Andrew Carr 

(General Counsel). 

Matt lives with his wife and three young children and his 

morning commute to Warrington is about 30 minutes. On the 

day we met, one of Matt's three children was starting high 

school and the conversation he was listening to, between his 

son and his wife, as he getting ready for work went along the 

lines of "Mum can you look me in the eye and promise me that 

if I have that shower my hair will look exactly the same as it 

does now?" Oh the joys of children. 

Matt's working day has started by 8.00am. Many of the 

people in the building are engineers and an early start is fairly 

universal. Matt's first job is to check emails, usually a mixture of 

the expected and the unexpected as overnight issues might 

need his input. 

Matt will support a variety of projects through the competition 

process to contract placement and then on through its 

‘lifetime’ to final completion. Managing time, emails and 

meetings is a problem shared by most of us although Matt 

feels as an in -house lawyer with the experience he has he is 

now able to make his own call as to when he needs to start 

getting involved in a project, though always being responsive 

to the needs of the business. Recently, Matt has supported 

such diverse projects as the construction of the new Box 

Encapsulation Plant, contracts for the long term manufacture 

and supply of stainless steel boxes (both of these projects 

being important to the company’s decommissioning strategy), 

a significant logistics contract, the security enhancements 

programme, and working with the Technical Directorate on a 

wide range of research and development matters. 

Matt's started his legal career in Liverpool articled with 

Weightmans and he qualified as a litigation lawyer. He 

became very interested in professional indemnity litigation and 

worked for Tony Ensor at Weightmans before moving on to 

Beachcrofts in Birmingham to specialise in professional 

indemnity litigation. 

Matt told me indemnity work was one of the best introductions 

both to a new area of the country and areas of law and he 

dealt with a range of litigation, including, as it was sadly a 

busy time for that type of work, a large number of cases 

relating to property claims but at least it was a job where a lot 

of "law" was involved and he enjoyed delving into legal issues 

around causation and loss. 

Having done this work for some time, he was aware 

Beachcrofts were forming a new NHS litigation team in 

Birmingham. Whilst this area was not necessarily one he had 

covered before, but he was very interested and took the view 

if you "don't ask you don't get" and so he managed to 

negotiate another move into this new team. Again, he 

enjoyed the work and was able to deal with new legal issues 

and, from what he told me, dealt with some quite harrowing 

matters. Beginning to get disenchanted with the type of claim 

some people were prepared to bring he felt another move 

was necessary and applied for and joined Beachcroft's newly 

developed commercial projects team in Bristol. 

Matt's a great example of taking control over one's career and 

being prepared to ask for and be willing to move into new 

areas and keep work fresh and interesting. 

Gill Edwards is keen that the team covers a wide range and 

mix of commercial contracts so knowledge is expanded and 

developed across new areas. EU procurement is a big area for 

them as well as a mix of commercial and construction 

contracts, Sellafield Ltd being considered the largest building 

site in Europe. Work is kept in-house unless the team does not 

have the resource or expertise to cover a project in which 

case the work is outsourced to external lawyers with one of the 

in-house team retaining oversight and control. The team do 

have to manage a legal budget and keep tight control of 

fees, external work is priced and billed accordingly. 

Matt’s role means that he splits his time between Warrington 

and Cumbria, which means he often makes the 300 mile round 

trip to the Sellafield site. 

Matt has a busy family life, he is also a keen swimmer starting 

some "proper training" with a squad in Warrington. 

He also has a keen interest in horse racing and music and he 

tells me that his first interview at Weightmans was with Michael 

Hill, and they spent most of the time discussing choral music, in 

fact his second interview at Weightmans was with Michael Ball 

and once Michael heard that Matt was a keen football fan 

then that was a main focus of discussion. Who says you need 

assessments days? 

I asked Matt if there was anything else he wanted to tell me 

about the job and he simply said that he "loved it" and folk I do 

believe he meant it! He knows the legal experience he had 

has given him the ability and the experience to do this job and 

he is enjoying it. 

Sylvia Shephed 

DLA Piper

8 NEWS 

The Old and the Young 

In the evening of our third 

day into the GDL induction, 

Emlyn Williams, the President 

of Liverpool Law Society was 

coming to give a talk. It is 

suffice to say, we were all 

expecting an elderly, retiring 

man who would intermittently 

fire lengthy questions at us, 

which would leave our palms 

sweating and our brows 

furrowed. But there Emlyn 

stood, a man with youth on 

his side and an authentic 

enthusiasm generated only 

by those who can truly say 

they love their jobs. This 

instantly made many relax 

and upon discovering his 

penchant for pictures and 

not words, during PowerPoint 

presentations, it was a 

welcome and unexpected 

change at the end of a long 

day. 

The first slide was Emlyn at 

about seven years old with 

bright ginger hair and glasses 

(two features he championed 

as proof he had been a 

natural born nerd). Later, 

another slide would cement 

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this assertion, showing his 

childhood bedroom 

meticulously wallpapered 

with newspaper cut outs of 

Garfield comic strips. 

Although this was very 

humorous, he maintained that 

unusual idiosyncrasies such as 

this, can be very helpful when 

pursuing a career in Law, as 

Lawyers have to be analytical 

(and perhaps down right 

peculiar). I revelled in a quiet 

hallelujah as I remembered 

my tendency as a child to get 

up in the middle of the night 

and organise my toys and 

books. My room was spotless 

and whenever I made too 

much noise I jumped back 

into bed before my perplexed 

mother looked in. I still have 

never told her this, but it has 

now been outed! 

Moreover, Emlyn showed us a 

picture of his childhood 

home, where his parents still 

reside. He grew up in a 

working class background, 

and is evidence that entering 

Law is open to people from 

 

 

 

 

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other backgrounds, not just 

the upper and middle 

classes. He studied at the 

Liverpool Institute, and 

originally thought he might 

do English. The course was 

filled with attractive, 

intelligent young girls, but 

upon discovering their 

extensive knowledge of the 

works of Shakespeare and 

Charles Dickens, he realised 

he didn’t measure up to their 

high standards and would 

look elsewhere. He became 

attracted to the prospect of 

studying Law and went to 

Aberystwyth University, which 

although he admitted it 

wasn’t the most 

cosmopolitan and 

aesthetically exciting place, it 

prepared him for his future 

and gave him a good home. 

When he qualified as a 

Lawyer he decided to go into 

Employment Law. In many 

ways, the real excitement 

and challenges began. He 

relayed a testing but 

rewarding experience, in 

which he had been 

preparing papers for a QC in 

order to address the court. 

The day before, he was 

contacted by said Barrister 

requesting the content be 

changed. Emlyn and his 

colleague stayed up into the 

wee hours of the morning 

making the alterations and 

were in awe of the QC, who 

managed to make his 

delivery hours later with great 

precision and aplomb. Emlyn 

further revelled in the 

satisfaction of winning a case 

that went on for a couple of 

years. The client needed 

justice and protection, 

services provided by Emlyn’s 

firm, with him at the helm. This 

latter example, was very eye 

opening for those of us who 

might want to make a 

difference as a Lawyer, who 

enjoy the academic rigour it 

provides, but do not want to 

be embroiled in situations 

which regularly occur in other 

areas of the Law, such as 

being stuck in between the 

trauma of two family 

members fighting over the 

custody of a child. 

Emlyn impressed upon us the 

importance of getting 

comfortable with public 

speaking, the process of 

change and finally, people, 

because they are all integral 

parts of the job. Psychology 

Today revealed that a fear of 

public speaking is more 

prominent than the fear of 

death, so this may be a tall 

order for some. Although 

some people can get away 

with delegating some of their 

public speaking, change 

cannot be avoided; the Law 

is always developing and 

Lawyers have to 

accommodate this. 

Finally, Emlyn spoke about the 

interaction between Lawyers 

and people and how crucial 

it is that this runs smoothly. 

This talk was extremely helpful 

because learning from 

someone who was so 

enthusiastic, in such a high 

position and who knows what 

it is like to be in our shoes was 

inspirational, and will no 

doubt, continue to ignite our 

passion and determination to 

achieve our goals. 

Holly Wright 

Holly Wright 

Emlyn Williams aged 7

LEGAL WALK 9 

NWLST Liverpool Legal Walk 2015 

The Legal Profession came together on Thursday 8th October 

with participants from the Judiciary, Law Firms, Barristers’ 

Chambers, CILEx and law students to take part in the Liverpool 

8km charity walk. The lead walkers were Emlyn Williams and 

Alison Lobb, President and Vice President of Liverpool Law 

Society and Andrew Holroyd, CEO of Jackson Canter. 

The teams taking part included: Carpenters Solicitors, EAD 

solicitors, Scott Rees & Co, Weightmans, WLD (Merseyside), 

MJLD, Canter Levin Berg Solicitors, Vauxhall Community Law & 

Information Centre, Cilex Liverpool, DWF, Morecrofts Solicitors, 

University of Liverpool School of Law and Social Justice, Young 

Legal Aid Lawyers, Swain & Co, Maxwell Hodge Solicitors, Parry 

& Co, Kevin Edward Costs, QualitySolicitors Jackson Canter, 

MSB Solicitors and BPP University 

So far the amount raised is a little over £3,500. These funds are 

essential for community legal advice services, as they help the 

most vulnerable individuals in our society. Each year the NWLST 

supports campaigns that help over 2 million families and young 

people receive protection, shelter and education. For over 60 

years legal advice services have been helping local people to 

help themselves. 

The Liverpool Legal Walk has provided essential support and 

funding for legal advice services in the North West region, and 

has helped make a considerable impact on the lives of the 

most vulnerable in society. The money raised from the walk and 

other NWLST fundraising activities has enabled advice services 

to further their resources and provide enhanced assistance to 

clients. This has directly increased the prospects for many 

people seeking legal support and has made a real difference 

to those most in need of justice. 

Team Weightmans 

BPP Manchester 

Team Carpenters 

Setting off on Liverpool Legal Walk 2015 

Occupational 

Disease Conference 

Accredited by APIL Training 

Raising funds for NWLST 

CILEX Liverpool 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 NEWS 

The 2015 Residential Property 

Conference 

The Liverpool Law Society 

Residential Property 

Conference was held on the 

30th September, at their 

office within The Cotton 

Exchange. There was a 

turnout of approx. 60 

attendees. 

I agreed to chair the event 

and Jamie Winch of The Land 

Registry provided the first 

session regarding Local Land 

Charges Proposals. Alistair 

Guthrie then discussed The 

Effect of the Land 

Registration Act 2002, 

following which delegates 

enjoyed a quick refreshment 

break. 

Denis Cameron got 

everybody focused again 

with his session covering 

Regulatory Issues before 

breaking for a much needed 

buffet lunch, which gave 

delegates the chance to 

network. 

Denis Cameron, Jamie Winch, Alistair Guthrie, Eddie Goldsmith 

Richard Snape took control of the afternoon covering Planning & Building Regulations before the 

final session of the day, covering Leasehold Flats: how to deal with management issues. 

Thanks go to sponsors Conveyancing Data Services. 

Eddie Goldsmith, Goldsmith Williams 

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costs and disbursements. 

The funds can be used by you for any purpose. Including, for 

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costly, fixed term repayment loans from secondary funders. 

Disbursement funding (‘DCF’) 

VFS funds the ongoing disbursements incurred on PI, Clinical 

Negligence and Litigation cases until their natural conclusion. 

Costs advance facility (‘CAF’) 

VFS can provide immediate funding against most bills that 

have been served – releasing cash back into the practice. 

For a no obligation discussion please call 020 3747 9333 

or email enquiries@vfslegal.com or visit vfslegal.com

Probate: The Myth of Accounts Integration 

v 

The buzzword used by many law firms is integration, usually without 

understanding what it means, and with-out properly evaluating the 

perceived benefits against the actual benefits. 

There are many areas of legal work in which software integration is 

beneficial, particularly when buying spe-cialist software from 

different sources. 

It is clearly useful to have a specialist case manage-ment system that 

can extract data from your practice management system, and merge 

the output to Mi-crosoft Word or to your email system. It is also 

funda-mental to be able to enter your basic client details once only 

into your practice management system (PMS), where you would 

conduct your client identity and mon-ey laundering checks, without 

having to enter this data a second time into your case management 

system. 

Client monies into and out of the firm belong to the do-main of the 

client account ledger of your practice man-agement system. Your 

cashier or accounts department ensures that the total of your client 

accounts always matches the total of client funds in the bank 

account. This reconciliation is fundamental. 

The issue that I wish to address is the attempt to inte-grate your 

probate client accounts with your PMS client ledger. Integration 

between the two would mean the ability to make a single entry 

posting into both client accounts. Is it feasible or fantasy? 

“There is a plethora of detail that you will need to 

record in your probate accounting system that has no 

place in your firm’s client account, and which is of 

minimal concern to your cashier.” 

Your cashier is primarily concerned with money in and money out of 

your client account, with only marginal concern with the actual 

breakdown and analysis of the funds received. What those funds 

represent are rela-tively easily managed by the practitioners of the 

various departments. 

By contrast your probate team will want to know the detail of each 

transaction. What is the breakdown of a cheque or transfer from the 

stockbroker? How many shares have been sold? What was the value 

of the individual shares? Some of them might have been allo-cated to 

a specific beneficiary. Were any dividends included in the transfer? 

And at which income tax rate? 

How will the probate team treat the breakdown of a single transfer 

from the bank into the firm’s client ac-count, when that single transfer 

might represent more than one bank account? It might well include 

an ele-ment of interest. 

How will they deal with the distinction between pre and post death 

income in the firm’s client account, especial-ly when the statement 

arrives from the bank three weeks later. Inheritance tax is due on predeath 

in-come, whereas income tax is due on that same pre-death 

income, plus post-death income. 

Isokon 

 

“Our terms are 30 days net. It means that if you do 

not pay within 30 days, we will come after 

you with a net.” 

Where will you record the value of the various stocks and shares prior 

to any sale by the stockbroker, and prior to any money having been 

received by the firm? How will you deal with values when one 

beneficiary wants the money for the BT shares, while the others want 

to keep the shares? How will your cashier keep track of these 

distinctions in the PMS client account? 

Your cashier is not fundamentally concerned with these distinctions, 

but you will need to record and track the financial breakdown of each 

transaction - ideally in a dedicated probate accounting system that 

allows you the flexibility that is not available in the firm’s account-ing 

system. 

It is redundant for your practice management system to contain a 

click and pick list of probate registries or fu-neral directors or a list of 

stock exchange shares with correct SEDOL and ISIN numbers. Or even 

to maintain a profit and loss account for each of 30 plus properties 

owned by the deceased for example, some with mort-gages, and 

some lease owned, each with various charges against the property. 

These features are of little relevance to the other departments in the 

firm. Your PMS client account is not designed for the finan-cial 

complexity that is an intrinsic part of estate admin-istration. 

There is a plethora of detail that you will need to record in your 

probate accounting system that has no place in your firm’s client 

account, and which is of minimal con-cern to your cashier. 

Considering these issues, it is clear that in order to properly manage 

your deceased estates, you will need a dedicated probate accounting 

system. 

You will of course need to reconcile the totals of the two client 

accounts from time to time, but trying to inte-grate the two makes no 

sense whatsoever. Any such attempt belongs to the realm of IT 

mythology. 

r 

For further information please contact: Gregory van Dyk Watson, Managing Director of Isokon Limited. 

Email: gregory@isokon.com or call 020 7482 6555. Alternatively visit www.isokon.com 

Isokon was founded by Gregory van Dyk Watson in 1999. The company has invested 44,000 man hours in development of the product over 

the last 16 years. The company is currently the leading supplier of software for Probate and Private Client work. Isokon is used by 40% of law 

firms who do private client work. It is used by more than 2,000 individual users. Isokon is used for the most complex estates, as well as basic 

estates. Isokon is based on an accounting database engine with an integrated Isokon case management component. 

Alternatively visit www.isokon.com

12 NEWS 

What if Google launched a law firm? 

“You have to learn the rules of the game and 

then play better than anyone else.” 

Albert Einstein 

A few months ago Google 

added car insurance to its 

‘Google Compare’ suite of 

products, products which 

Google says are designed to 

help people make confident 

and more informed financial 

decisions. Did those in the 

insurance industry see this 

coming? Probably. Can they 

do much about it? Probably 

not. Are they worried by it? I 

should say so. 

So I pose this question. What 

if Google decided to launch 

a full range consumer legal 

services business in the UK 

tomorrow? Presumably the 

venture would be an 

alternative business structure 

owned by Google. It would 

only need to employ one 

lawyer as all the legal work it 

attracts could be outsourced 

to other law firms. And I can’t 

imagine there would be a 

shortage of law firms willing to 

pay for panel slots or leads, 

subject to any referral fee 

ban issues of course. 

It would have little difficulty 

generating enquiries. After all, 

consumers tend to look for 

free advice before they resort 

to paying for anything. 

Between its search engine 

and its video platform, 

YouTube, the interface is 

already in place and it has 

tons of data about its 

audience. The chances are 

Google knows more about us 

than our best friends and 

certainly more than any 

current law firm. 

Those who refuse to play ball 

with Google would no doubt 

withdraw advertising spend 

but it would be a brave firm 

that picks a fight with the 

Cost & Funding Update 

with Prof 

essor Dominic R egan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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world’s leading search 

engine. A famous crime 

novelist was once asked 

where she thought was the 

perfect place to hide a body. 

Her answer: ‘On page 2 of 

Google’. 

And what if Google teamed 

up with IBM to deliver initial 

legal advice backed by IBM’s 

artificial intelligence engine. A 

service delivered by everfresh-faced 

avatars in any 

chosen language at any time 

of the day or night and 

completely free. Many would 

scoff at the idea but a few 

consumers I know would find 

the proposition quite alluring. 

There’s an old adage that 

says a good leader should 

work out what a competitor 

could do to wipe out his or 

her business and then do it 

before the competitor does. 

After all, ‘excuse me, but 

where have all our clients 

AlphaBiolabs, the DNA, drug 

and alcohol testing specialist, 

has become the first to deliver 

next day test results as 

standard practice for all legal 

DNA cases. 

Only previously a service 

offered for so called ‘peace of 

mind’ cases, the Warringtonbased 

laboratory has from this 

week become the first 

company to offer this service 

for its legal cases, without any 

additional costs attached. 

The reassurance of speed 

alongside the industry ISO 

17025 accreditation and strict 

procedures to maintain chain 

of custody, means the service 

and results are accepted by 

family law courts, The Ministry 

of Justice, UK Borders Agency 

and The Child Support 

Agency. 

David Thomas, Managing 

Director at AlphaBiolabs, 

explained: “We understand 

that with the nature of our 

service that time is such an 

important factor. The results we 

provide can be life changing 

and we appreciate it can be 

a sensitive and worrying time. 

“We have pushed the 

boundaries and are delighted 

to be providing next day results 

for all legal DNA cases to help 

reduce any unnecessary angst 

when anticipating allimportant 

results, making the 

gone’ is not the most 

comfortable question to be 

fielding at a team meeting. 

So how would you lead your 

law firm in responding to such 

a threat? Send me your 

answers and there are a few 

bottles put aside for the most 

inventive ones. I found this 

excellent wine merchant on 

Google. 

O’Connors LLP is a Liverpool 

and London-based law firm 

that advises law firms, 

chambers and other 

providers of legal services on 

start-ups, structures, 

regulation, funding, mergers, 

acquisitions and disposals, 

contractual arrangements 

with third parties and 

insurance. For further 

information, please contact 

Nigel Wallis, Pamela Rafiq or 

Mark O’Connor at O’Connors 

LLP via 

www.oconnorsllp.co.uk. 

AlphaBiolabs becomes fastest 

testing lab in UK 

whole process more effective 

and efficient.” 

AlphaBiolabs carry out all its 

DNA, drug and alcohol testing 

and analyses at its own 

laboratory, eliminating the 

need for external partners. 

AlphaBiolabs has recently 

expanded its workforce and 

invested in state of the art 

testing equipment. In addition, 

AlphaBiolabs has developed a 

network of walk-in centres in 

locations across the UK with 

centres already in place in 

London, Liverpool, Manchester, 

Preston and Birmingham, to 

provide convenience for 

sample collection. 

Thomas added: “With our 

peace of mind home kits 

available at Home Bargains 

stores, our competitively priced 

legal testing and our walk-in 

centres providing free sample 

collection, DNA testing is more 

affordable to families and 

clients than ever before. 

“When combined with next 

day results and processes that 

uses the latest technology, we 

pride ourselves in offering the 

fastest and most affordable 

testing available, ensuring 

answers are provided quickly 

and accurately at a time when 

they are needed most.”

Carpenters are a leading provider of claims services to the insurance industry and 

their customers and our range of services extends from receiving notification of a 

cracked windscreen at one end of the spectrum to the conduct of a multimillion 

pound catastrophic injury claim at the other. Carpenters are a well-established 

modern law firm and currently employ over 600 staff nationally. 

Carpenters are growing at a rapid rate and due to a period of recent expansion we 

are recruiting across all areas of the business to support this growth. It is an 

exciting time to join a professional, dynamic and progressive firm which provides 

endless opportunities for development and progression. 

We are looking for talented individuals to join our team and are recruiting for the 

following vacancies – 

Legal Advisers/Solicitors – Litigation (Liverpool, Birkenhead, Haywards Heath) 

Legal Advisers – Portal (Liverpool, Birkenhead, Haywards Heath) 

Legal Advisers – Fraud/LVI (Birkenhead) 

Legal Advisers – Defence (Liverpool, Birkenhead, Haywards Heath) 

Legal Advisers – Litigation/Recoveries (Birkenhead) 

Claims Advisers (Birkenhead) 

Costs Negotiators/Draftsman – (Birkenhead) 

There is a full list of vacancies on our website 

www.carpenters-law.co.uk/join/vacancies 

For all speculative applications please email your CV and cover letter to 

recruitment@carpenters-law.co.uk

14 LOCAL NEWS 

Hill Dickinson advises Conygar Investment 

Company PLC as it makes two significant 

acquisitions 

Rowlinsons crowned Best 

Conveyancer in the North West 

The Liverpool office of 

international law firm, Hill 

Dickinson has advised The 

Conygar Investment 

Company PLC , on the 

acquisition of two 

development sites in Wales. 

The property investment and 

development group has 

acquired the freehold of the 

former Shell Storage Facility 

site near Rhosgoch, Anglesey 

for a consideration of £3 

million. 

The 203 acre brown field site is 

located approximately 3 miles 

from Amlwch Port and 6.5 

miles from the site of the 

existing and proposed Wylfa 

Nuclear Power Station. 

Hill Dickinson also advised the 

group on the acquisition of a 

9.96 acre freehold serviced 

development site at Cross 

Hands, South Wales from 

Sainsbury’s Supermarkets 

Limited. This site benefits from 

a detailed planning consent 

for a 90,792 gross sq ft food 

store with a 6 pump petrol 

station and 495 car parking 

spaces. 

Pam Jones, partner in the 

property team at Hill 

Dickinson, said: “We’re 

delighted to have worked 

alongside Conygar to secure 

these two significant additions 

to their investment portfolio. 

Both sites provide substantial 

opportunity for development 

that could deliver a sizeable 

return on investment.” 

Robert Ware, chief executive 

of Conygar added: “We are 

delighted to have completed 

these two transactions and I 

wish to thank Pam and her 

team for their excellent 

service in completing these 

acquisitions, which is much 

appreciated.” 

Rowlinsons Solicitors 

enhanced their increasing 

reputation by picking up three 

accolades at the recent LFS 

Gala Dinner and 

Conveyancing Awards earlier 

this month which were held at 

Stadium MK in Milton Keynes. 

The Frodsham based law firm 

received the prestigious 

accolade of Best 

Conveyancer in the North 

West and as a result they 

subsequently advanced to 

compete for the title of 

Overall Conveyancing Firm of 

the Year alongside the other 

regional winners. 

In the final Rowlinsons were 

voted as being the third best 

conveyancing firm in the 

country and received the 

bronze award. 

The firm was also highly 

commended in the Direct 

Conveyancer of the Year 

category. 

Tom Parkinson, Director and 

Head of Property at 

Rowlinsons commented ‘We 

are extremely honored to 

have been recognised three 

times at these awards for our 

conveyancing services. As 

Head of the Property team I 

am particularly proud of the 

entire team's achievement 

which is thoroughly deserved 

and reflects the commitment, 

hard work and effort which 

they have demonstrated over 

the course of the last year.” 

"Winning the LFS awards 

means a great deal to us here 

at Rowlinsons. We may not be 

a city based practice but that 

hasn't stopped us from striving 

to deliver the highest 

standards in property law 

services to our clients. It's an 

ethos that runs throughout 

Rowlinsons and is not confined 

to our property team. Every 

one of our employees has 

contributed to this award and 

we are very proud of their 

hard work and dedication." 

This course will 

provide 

practitioners with an update on 

case law and legislative 

developments over the 

last year. 

 

Company 

Law Update 

 

 

Edwards 

v 

As 

hik 

[2014] 

EWHC 2454 on fraudulent 

misrepresentation 

 

Polypearl Ltd 

v Eon Energy Solutions [2014] EWHC 3045 

on direct and indirect loss 

 

Ramsey v Love 

[2015] EWHC 65 on execution 

of 

guarantees 

 

Thwaytes v S 

otheby's [2015] EWHC 36 on the standard 

of care expected 

of specialists 

 

Barclays v 

Grant Thornton LLP [2015] EWHC 320 on 

disclaimer of l 

iability 

by 

auditors 

 

Watts v Watt 

s (unreported) 21 August 2014 on illegality 

defence 

with Chri 

s Beanland on Friday 20th Nove 

mber 

1.30pm 

- 4.45pm 

CPD 3 Venue: Liverpool Law Society, 

2nd Floor, 

Cotton Exchange, 

Bixteth Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ. 

To 

see more information or to book, visit: 


Andrew Graves, Tom Parkinson & 

Denis Stevenson. 

With over 60 members Atlantic Chambers is able to offer a wide 

range of expertise within our specialist practice groups. 

Civil Litigation including Clinical Negligence, 

Family, Chancery & Commercial, Crime, 

Employment, Proceeds of Crime & Public Law 

4-6 Cook Street, Liverpool L2 9QU 

T 0151 236 4421 F 0151 236 1559 

DX: 14176 Liverpool 1. 

E-mail: info@atlanticchambers.co.uk

LOCAL NEWS 15 

Weightmans Managing and 

Senior Partner re-elected for 

second term 

The Partners of top 45 

national law firm Weightmans 

have re-elected John 

Schorah and Dan Cutts as 

Managing Partner and Senior 

Partner respectively. 

They have been elected 

unopposed for a second 3 

year term commencing on 

the 1st May 2016. 

Dan Cutts, who has worked 

at Weightmans for 15 years, 

commented on the firm’s 

ethos:“John and I both share 

a real passion for 

Weightmans, our people and 

most importantly our clients. 

We will both continue to 

manage and motivate our 

teams in our 11 offices across 

the country, so that we can 

strengthen our business and 

continue to exceed client 

expectations.” 

John Schorah who joined the 

firm in 2002 added: “Dan and 

I are proud to be re-elected. 

For us, the Weightmans way is 

about our people delivering 

expert knowledge, 

outstanding client service 

and quality advice, 

consistently. As a firm, we 

have hired key people, 

expanded in the areas our 

clients have asked us to, and 

are being rewarded by 

excellent rankings, awards 

and client feedback. We look 

to build on our success and 

keep moving forward. 

Exciting times ahead.” 

Weightmans recently merged 

with Leeds firm Ford & 

Warren, and recently 

reported record rankings in 

Legal 500 2015. The firm also 

took home the Excellence in 

Training / Talent 

Management in this weeks 

The Lawyer Business 

Leadership Awards. 

Dan Cutts and John Schorah 

The Keith Jones Partnership 

Solicitors are nationally 

recognised! 

The Keith Jones Partnership is 

a niche legal practice 

specialising in commercial 

litigation and debt recovery 

based in Birkenhead. 

They are very pleased to 

announce their re-entry in the 

Legal 500 2015 for the fourth 

year running. The Legal 500 is 

a definitive guide published 

annually listing the top law 

firms and lawyers across the 

UK and inclusion is limited to 

those who come most highly 

recommended. The practice 

is recommended in the 

Dispute Resolution category 

for the North West, and has 

been particularly praised for 

their "realistic approach" and 

"timely responses". 

In further recognition of their 

hard work they have also 

been shortlisted as a finalist 

for the category, “Legal 

Services Provider of the Year” 

at the prestigious Collections 

and Customer Services 

Awards 2015. This award 

category is open to all debt 

collection agencies or law 

firms offering litigation and 

other legal-based collections 

and recoveries services to 

creditors in the UK. The 

winners will be announced at 

a black tie event on 18 

November at The Midland 

Hotel in Manchester. 

Keith Jones, the Managing 

Director has said “we are 

extremely delighted to have 

been nationally recognised 

and it is wonderful that our 

team’s hard work is 

acknowledged in such a 

way. To be shortlisted with 

other nationally known and 

highly regarded law firms and 

corporations in the same 

categories is an honour for us 

and is no mean feat for a 

provincial law firm on the 

Wirral”. 

Training Contract: 

Specialist family/child care and crime legal aid 

firm Merseyside/Cheshire has opportunity for 

exceptional trainee solicitor. Must have solid 

work ethic and determination to go the extra 

mile. Good academic results important but 

practical experience preferred. 

Please forward Cv to :- Nicki Turtle 

(nickiturtle@bdhsolicitors.com). 

no agencies 

Social Housing Law 

Niche firm acting for RP clients is considering 

a range of qualifications and 

experience to help expansion. 

Excellent opportunity to join small, 

specialist team. 

E-mail cv to c.gasparini@knoxellis.co.uk 

in strictest confidence

16 LOCAL NEWS 

Paul Crowley & Co win ‘Best Property Law Firm’ Award 

Law firm Paul Crowley & Co has won the ‘Best Property Law 

Firm’ Award at a prestigious property event in Liverpool. 

Taking place on Thursday 15 October, the Your Move Property 

Awards celebrated Merseyside’s property market success, 

highlighting the region’s most successful residential and 

commercial projects. 

strong service covering all aspects of property law, so it’s an 

honour to be acknowledged amongst the other shortlisted 

firms and come home a winner.” 

The Best Property Law Firm Award, sponsored by Redrow North 

West, is awarded to a law firm which has delivered a high level 

of professionalism and customer service to its property clients. 

Levels of quality of service were measured by mystery 

shopping with detailed reports evaluated following several 

undercover visits to branches, phone calls and 

correspondence with solicitors. 

Paul Crowley & Co was up against three other Liverpool law 

firms on the evening, including MSB Solicitors, Kirwans Solicitors 

and Cassell Moore. 

Established in 1991 by Paul Crowley, the firm has built a strong 

reputation for providing quality legal advice to the 

communities of Liverpool. 

Now a six partner firm, the solicitors is continuing to grow from 

strength to strength with the introduction of a new commercial 

arm, PCS Law in 2015, including the appointment of Rebecca 

Fan to Head of Commercial Property. 

Tracy Thompson, operations director at Paul Crowley & Co 

says: “It’s fantastic to be recognised at this prestigious property 

event and win the Best Property Law Firm Award. The team at 

Paul Crowley & Co always endeavour to deliver the best 

customer service to our clients, and the award tonight is 

testament to all our staff and their hard work. 

“The commercial and residential property departments offer a 

Conference For Legal Cashiers & Managers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bennett Williams win Financial & 

Professional Services Award 

Birkenhead law firm, Bennett Williams Solicitors, have won an 

award for financial and professional services firms. On 18 

September 2015, they were named as winners of the Financial 

& Professional Services Award at the Wirral Business Awards 

2015, which took place at Thornton Manor. 

The awards, which were hosted by BBC Merseyside 

broadcaster, Roger Phillips and his daughter, Ellie Phillips, are a 

celebration of business talent in Wirral and Bennett Williams 

were recognised for their achievements in the last 12 months. 

Richard Bennett, Solicitor and Partner at Bennett Williams, said: 

"We are delighted to have won this award and recognition for 

the efforts of our team in the last 12 months. The Wirral Business 

Awards are a highlight of the business calendar and we would 

like to offer our congratulations to all those businesses and 

individuals who were shortlisted and thank the Wirral Chamber 

of Commerce for organising such an enjoyable event." 

Bennett Williams were also shortlisted in the category of 

"Sustainability", an award that was eventually won by 

Birkenhead-based Finsa UK. 

The full list of winners can be viewed at: 

www.wirralbusinessawards.com. 

 

 

 

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18 LOCAL NEWS 

Jackson Canter acquires specialist 

Commercial Law Firm 

Jackson Canter Group, one 

of the region’s fastest growing 

law firms, has acquired Cope 

& Co, a boutique 

commercial law firm with 

offices in Manchester and 

Liverpool. 

The acquisition further 

enhances the Group’s 

expansion strategy 

announced earlier this year 

which will include both 

organic growth of its Liverpool 

and Manchester offices as 

well as the acquisition of firms 

whose culture and ethos is 

closely aligned to its own. The 

acquisition of Cope & Co 

enhances the Group’s 

presence in the Commercial 

sector. 

Paul Cope will be working for 

QualitySolicitors Jackson 

Canter on a consultancy 

basis providing a seamless 

transition for Cope & Co’s 

clients. The acquisition 

coincides with the departure 

of Michael Sandys, 


Sports Injury Claims 

Canter’s current Head of 

Commercial, who will move 

on to pastures new at the 

end of October. Sarah Nolan 

has been appointed to 

replace Michael and will be 

taking over both the 


Canter Commercial 

Department and overall 

responsibility for Cope & Co. 

Andrew Holroyd, CEO of 

Jackson Canter, commented: 

“Cope & Co have a 

reputation for a high standard 

of commercial legal services, 

combining innovative 

processes with no fuss, 

approachable service. Cope 

& Co is a natural fit for our 

customer centric ethos and 

we believe will fit seamlessly 

into our operating model. We 

are delighted to welcome 

them into the Jackson Canter 

Group as we continue to 

aggressively expand the 

business” 

Paul Cope said of the move: 

“I am delighted that Cope & 

 

 

Level: 

update / introductory 

Covering: 

 

Liability of parti 

cipants in competitive sport Phee v Gordon Court 

of Session (Outer House)04 November 2011[2011] 

CSOH 181 

 

Liability of orga 

nisers,Wattleworth v Goodwood Road 

Racing Co 

Ltd [2004] 

EWH 

HC 140 

(QB) 

 

Governing bodi 

es-Watson 

v British Boxing Board o 

f Control 

Ltd 

[2001] Q.B. 1134 

 

Coaches- Goul 

dbourn v Balkan Holidays Ltd [2010] 

EWCA Civ 

372).Anderson 

v Lyotier (t/a Snowbizz [2008] EWHC 2790 (QB) 

 

Vicarious liabilit 

y- Gravil v Carroll [2008] EWCA Civ 

689 

 

Risk Assessmen 

t 

 

Occupiers liabili 

ty- 

Portsmouth Youth Activities Co 

mmittee v 

Poppleton [2008] 

EWCA Civ 646) 

 

Volenti-non 

fit i 

njuria-Anderson 

v Lyotier (t/a Sno 

wbizz) [2008] 

EWHC 2790 (QB) 

 

Contributory Negligence 

on Thursday 

26th November 12.30pm - 3.45pm CPD 3 

Venue: 

Live 

rpool Law Society, 2nd Floor Cotton 

Exchange, 

Bixteth 

Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ. 

To 

see more information 

or to book, visit: 


Co will be forming part of the 

Jackson Canter Group. It is a 

firm that shares our philosophy 

for serving clients’ needs in a 

transparent and clear way. 

Working within a larger 

organisation will enable the 

provision of an unbeatable 

service to our clients”. 

Liverpool law firm, Cassell 

Moore, has expanded its 

successful family team with 

two new appointments. Sarah 

McCarthy joins as a chartered 

legal executive and Renn 

Moucarry joins as a paralegal. 

The appointments further 

strengthen the department, 

which in its first two years has 

received Legal 500 

recognition, including: “led by 

the ‘brilliant’ Pauline 

McNamara, [Cassell Moore] 

covers a range of matrimonial 

and children law cases.” 

Sarah, who qualified with the 

Chartered Institute of Legal 

Executives (CILEx), has 14 

years’ experience and 

received national recognition 

when she was shortlisted for 

Family Law Legal Executive of 

the Year. She specialises in 

financial matters arising from 

divorce and private law 

children matters. 

Renn, who studied Law and 

Criminology at the University 

of Liverpool, completed a 

Graduate Diploma in Law 

and achieved her Legal 

Practice Certificate at BPP 

Law School. She has a keen 

interest in humanitarian work 

and spent the summer in 

Lebanon helping Syrian 

refugees. She is also a 

member of Young Resolution. 

Commenting on the growth 

of the team Pauline 

McNamara, Cassell Moore 

Head of Family, said: “The 

Cassell Moore family team 

has quickly earned an 

enviable reputation as trusted 

family lawyers that you want 

on your side. This is due to the 

hard work and steely 

Andrew Holroyd 

Cassell Moore grows its Family 

Team 

Sarah McCarthy 

Renn Moucarry 

determination of the team 

who always go the extra mile 

for their clients. 

“Presently, we are receiving 

one new instruction every 

day, which has led to the 

growth of the department. 

I’m therefore delighted to 

welcome Sarah and Renn, 

both of whom make a 

fantastic addition to the team 

and further strengthen our 

existing offer.”

YLAL 19 

Young Legal Aid Lawyers Liverpool: 

Inform, Involve and Inspire 

YLAL Liverpool held our first 

meeting of the Legal year on 

15th October at BPP 

University. Aptly named 

“Happy New (Legal) Year”, 

we welcomed some new 

members and reacquainted 

ourselves with others after the 

summer break. All those who 

attended left feeling keen, 

enthused and involved. 

We had three excellent 

speakers. Chris Hoskin spoke 

first; he is the Regional 

Development Officer in the 

North for the Chartered 

Institute of Legal Executives 

(CILEX). He gave members an 

interesting presentation on 

the CILEX route into legal 

qualification. He explained 

the pros and cons of this 

route and also made clear 

how a qualified Legal 

Executive can still go on to 

qualify as a solicitor if they so 

wish, although he explained 

that in the current legal jobs 

market it is no longer 

necessary to take that extra 

step and become a solicitor in 

order to reach the top of your 

chosen area of law. 

Helene Santamera, a trainee 

solicitor and Level 2 IAAS 

Caseworker in the Refugee 

and Human Rights 

Department at Jackson & 

Canter, gave members an 

overview of her route into the 

profession via a GDL and then 

the LPC. She also talked 

about the changes to her 

area of law, Immigration and 

Asylum, since LASPO 

2012.Finally Sarah Griffin, 

Junior Barrister at Exchange 

Chambers spoke. She talked 

about her, “more traditional” 

route into law through the LLB 

and BPTC. She described the 

current issues facing the 

Criminal Legal Aid sector and 

gave members an overview 

of the Criminal Bar 

Association’s stance on the 

Ministry of Justice’s proposed 

changes. Both of the lawyers 

gave very passionate 

arguments as to why they 

chose to practice in the legal 

aid sector. They spoke 

rousingly on the importance 

of young lawyers and students 

continuing to follow their 

passion into the traditionally 

legally aided areas of law but 

were open and honest about 

the difficulties and challenges 

they would be likely to face 

on their journeys. 

Our next meeting, “Human 

Rights in Practice”, is due to 

be held on 3rd December, 6- 

8pm at Liverpool University 

Law Clinic. We have called 

“Human Rights in Practice” 

There has, understandably, 

been an increased interest in 

the Human Rights Act since 

the Conservative party have 

announced the possibility of 

repealing the Act and 

replacing it with a British Bill of 

Rights. This meeting will give 

members an idea of how the 

Act is applied in practical 

terms by lawyers on a daily 

basis. We will also give time 

for questions and answers 

and an open discussion on 

how the proposed changes 

may affect member’s own 

areas of law. We will have 

three speakers who will be 

discussing their roles as 

solicitors in Actions Against 

the Police and Mental Health 

law and are also hoping to 

secure a Liverpool barrister to 

speak. 

Come and get Involved! 

Please visit and like us on 

Facebook for updates and 

further details about events 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

YoungLegalAidLawyersLiverp 

ool 

Sign up to our Google Group 

and mailing list. 

https://groups.google.com/fo 

rum/#!forum/ylal-liverpool 

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20 NEWS 

Cellar Beware! 

In the current market with 

high moving costs; basement 

conversions are no longer the 

preserve of the superheroes 

like Batman. Landlords 

seeking to increase lettable 

space or families needing to 

add extra rooms are 

increasingly looking 

underground for additional 

space. 

If your client simply wants to 

change a cellar into living 

space, this may be regarded 

as a change of use and may 

not require planning 

permission. However if plans 

includes structural works (such 

as a new light well) then it 

may be required. It will also 

be needed if new selfcontained 

accommodation is 

created. Works altering the 

exterior may also require 

planning permission. 

Where the plan is to excavate 

new underground 

accommodation then 

planning will be a necessity. 

Whatever the requirement for 

planning permission, works to 

extend the property will 

always require Building 

Regulations approval. These 

cover both the structural 

soundness of the extension 

and arrangements for 

continued use (such as fire 

safety arrangements, use of 

potentially toxic materials and 

Electrical safety). Basement 

conversions will often require 

extensive damp proofing 

works (including tanking) 

which will need Building 

Regulations approval. 

Listed Buildings or properties 

within a Conservation Area will 

be subject to extra controls if 

the works affect the 

appearance or character of 

the building. When the interior 

is listed then consent may be 

needed for internal works. 

When basement conversions 

are being planned for a 

terraced or semi-detached 

building; you will need to 

advise your client about Party 

Wall Act requirements. The 

Party Wall Act 1996 sets out 

when an agreement is 

required and the procedure 

to be followed. 

When acting for a buyer you 

should always consider these 

points where the property has 

or appears to have been the 

subject of a basement 

conversion. Standard precontract 

enquiries should 

reveal any works but where 

there is any indication that 

works have been carried out 

or where further information is 

required additional enquiries 

should be raised. You will need 

to see relevant planning 

permissions or (in their 

absence) evidence of why 

they were not sought; building 

regulations approval and 

listed building consents (where 

applicable). Plans should be 

checked to see if any Party 

Wall Act notices were required 

and whether any works have 

encroached onto 

neighbouring land. 

Where it becomes clear that 

relevant approvals or consents 

were not obtained or where 

other defects are revealed 

then Indemnity Insurance may 

be available and you should 

require the seller to obtain this 

or to make allowance for the 

cost of this. Stewart Title 

Limited are able to offer a full 

complement of policies to 

protect a buyer in these 

circumstances and full details 

of these can be obtained 

from us.london@stewart.com 

or 02070107820) 

To discuss the issues raised in 

this article or for any other 

queries you have regarding 

our products, please contact 

Robert Kelly on 07415 240 703 

or robert.kelly@stewart.com. 

Robert Kelly, Commercial 

Business Development 

Manager, Stewart Title Limited 

Robert joined Stewart Title in 

2013 after 25 years of 

experience as a Commercial 

Property lawyer specialising in 

development and portfolio 

management. This experience 

plays a vital part in his role 

working closely with the 

Property industry to use 

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Contact us today to see what we can do for you. 

Call 020 7010 7820 or visit stewarttitle.co.uk. 

© 2015 Stewart. All rights reserved.

16 22 NEWS LAW SOCIETY NEWS 

Council Member’s Report 

There has been no Council 

meeting since my last 

Report in Liverpool Law in 

September. The next 

Council Meeting is 

scheduled for 28 October, 

after the deadline for this 

issue, and so I will report 

upon that meeting for the 

December issue. I did 

attend a Membership Board 

meeting on the 6 October, 

upon which I reported at 

the LLS General Committee 

Meeting on 13 October. 

Issues discussed included 

Veyo, the Legal Sector 

Alliance, Solicitor Brand and 

The Logo, Pro Bono and a 

Pro Bono Guide, and the 

potential for a Civil and 

Commercial Mediation 

Accreditation Scheme run 

by the Law Society. If 

anyone has any enquiry 

points re the above, please 

contact me. 

We also discussed the fact 

that despite the 

announcement by the Law 

Society of the vacancy for 

the Co Council Member for 

Merseyside and District, 

inviting candidates to stand, 

no one had put their name 

forward. When I raised this 

issue, there was a sea of blank 

faces at the table. Upon 

further enquiry it seems that 

the position was adveritised 

on the ( TLS )website, in PU, 

and by email to all Council 

members. For by-elections, TLS 

tend to use the website rather 

than hard-copy Gazette, 

though they do use the latter 

for the ‘main’ annual 

elections. Exploring additional 

and /or alternative media, 

which could be more 

effective for future adverts, 

may be sensible. Any 

thoughts ? 

In any event, I believe the 

Secretaries of the relevant 

local law Societies, Wigan, 

Warrington , Southport and 

Ormskirk , and Liverpool , have 

now been contacted direct , 

and I understand they have 

the situation in hand and that 

there are now volunteers 

available to stand for election 

which is great. A volunteer is 

always better than a pressed 

person, but how anyone 

could be pressed in this 

situation I do not know. 

Incidentally, a by election in 

Yorkshire resulted in the same 

difficulty. 

The awarding of legal aid 

contracts has now taken 

place, and my 

commiserations to all those 

who were disappointed. The 

process has, in my view, been 

conducted in a shambolic 

and farcical way which 

completely shows up the 

MOJ , and seriously calls into 

question their competence. 

Important issues seriously 

affecting peoples livelihoods, 

and deadlines given cannot 

be met. Many people have 

commented elsewhere so I 

shall not belabour my own 

incredulity, but I am conscious 

that if we as lawyers miss 

deadlines, we are in the goo. 

The goo is created by the 

edicts of the MOJ and their ilk, 

but do they need to meet 

deadlines…………..?. It is a 

totally disrespectful shocker in 

my view. 

By the time of the next report, 

the LS Strategy will have been 

announced. Let me have 

your views on it when you 

have read it. Don’t just let is 

pass you by. The profession 

did that with Clementi. This is 

not so fundamental, but it 

affects your profession , so 

please read it and express 

your view 

Charlie Jones 

Weightmans LLP 

Council Member Merseyside 

and District 

Charlie.jones@weightmans.com 

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Gill Payne, Director of Policy 

and External Affairs at the 

National Housing Federation 

(NHF), spoke candidly about 

the challenges faced by the 

housing sector and how 

changing perceptions of 

housing associations is key to 

the future of the sector. 

Sharing her thoughts with over 

200 delegates who had 

gathered at the annual North 

West Housing Conference, Gill 

explained there are differing 

views of the sector across 

Government; at a local level 

relationships are usually very 

good but at a national level 

the social housing sector 

needs to build relationships 

with ministers at the centre of 

Government. She urged the 

sector to concentrate its 

efforts on changing 

perceptions and promote the 

role of housing associations in 

society and the positive work 

they do. 

Gill advised the sector to look 

for ways to promote its proud 

history, adaptability and 

resilience, its strong local 

relationships, its ability to 

deliver over the long term, its 

core charitable purpose to 

house people in need and 

how it supports aspiration. In 

addition, she said there are 

real opportunities for housing 

associations within the areas 

of localism, devolution and 

the development of the 

Northern Powerhouse. 

Gill also touched on the 

impending changes to the 

housing landscape following 

the recent publication of the 

Housing and Planning Bill. She 

told delegates how the NHF 

want to rebuild a relationship 

with Government based 

where possible on delivering a 

shared ambition on supply 

and opening up ownership 

but she warned that there is a 

long journey ahead and that 

the full picture on Right to Buy 

won’t become clear until the 

end of 2016. 

Speaker Matt Jones, Director 

of Customer Operations at 

ForViva, focussed on the 

need to establish better links 

between health and housing 

when he addressed the 

region’s housing community 

at the event. Due to the 

increasing need to cater for 

an ageing population, he said 

social housing providers have 

a real opportunity to put 

strategies in place which 

protect the future of the 

social housing environment. 

He spoke about housing 

associations having access to 

the areas of greatest health 

inequality and how there 

needs to be a shift towards 

services in the community 

with more emphasis on 

prevention and self reliance. 

Matt then went on to say that 

housing associations have to 

be more than landlords and it 

makes business sense to see 

health improvements which 

will result in asset protection, 

income protection and 

income opportunities. He 

suggested collaboration 

between health, social care 

and housing could see the 

housing sector become the 

partner of choice for the 

health sector in the future. 

Attendees also heard a local 

perspective on housing from 

Deborah McLaughlin, Chief 

Executive of Manchester 

Place, a unique collaboration 

between Manchester City 

Council and the Homes and 

Communities Agency formed 

to accelerate the pace and 

quality of housing 

development in the city. 

Deborah spoke about how 

Manchester Place’s role is to 

create a pipeline of private 

and public sector schemes 

and work with developers 

and funders to identify new 

opportunities to help the city 

meet its target of creating 

55,000 new homes by 2027. 

The initiative will also 

collaborate with housing 

associations to develop a 

programme of affordable 

homes/shared ownership. It 

will support developers and 

house builders to access 

public finance, including the 

£300m Greater Manchester 

Housing Fund which is 

available as part of the 

Manchester devolution 

agreement. 

The conference included a 

panel session called 

"Foundations for the Future", 

which featured up and 

coming young housing 

professionals Ben Osu, 

Community Project Officer, 

Your Housing Group; Natalie 

Pryor, Customer Involvement 

Officer (Co-Regulation), 

Liverpool Mutual Homes; 

Danielle Sheldon, 

Neighbourhood Team Leader, 

The Regenda Group; Chris 

Fray, Business Intelligence and 

Customer Insight Manager, 

ForViva; and Michael Arndt, 

Corporate Project Manager, 

The Riverside Group. 

Delegates heard the panel’s 

ideas for the future of social 

housing and their opinions on 

whether social media is a way 

forward for interaction with 

tenants, how housing 

associations can provide in an 

era of austerity and how they 

can make a positive impact 

in order to benefit their 

customers. 

Housing specialists also 

presented a programme of 

workshops, offering practical 

advice on a range of topics 

specific to the sector, 

including improving the links 

between health provision and 

housing, catering for an 

ageing population and 

empowering communities. 

The event was chaired by 

Derek Long, Director, arc4. 

Brabners and Mitchell 

Charlesworth hosted the 

conference at Liverpool’s BT 

Convention Centre with 

support from a project group 

made up of ForViva, Liverpool 

Mutual Homes, Riverside, 

Symphony Housing Group, The 

Regenda Group and Your 

Housing Group – and 

additional sponsorship from 

Procure Plus and PSL Print 

Management. 

Alistair Fletcher, Partner at 

SOCIAL HOUSING 23 

Changing perceptions is key to the 

future of the social housing sector 

Derek Long – arc4, Deborah McLaughlin – Manchester Place, 

Alistair Fletcher – Brabners, Gill Payne – National Housing 

Federation, Matt Jones – ForViva, Paul Wainwright – Mitchell 

Charlesworth 

Brabners, which has one of 

the largest housing and 

regeneration specialist legal 

teams in the North West, said: 

“This was a very timely 

conference. The Government 

has made clear its intentions 

for the sector and this 

conference provided 

delegates with an 

opportunity to consider how 

they should respond. There 

are, as everyone 

acknowledges, many 

challenges that lie ahead but 

there are also opportunities 

for those who are willing to 

grasp them.” 

Social housing specialist and 

Partner at Mitchell 

Charlesworth, Paul 

Wainwright said: “We have 

heard speakers talking about 

the significant changes that 

the sector is currently 

experiencing. Despite the 

pressures this will inevitably 

bring, it was pleasing to hear 

the young speaker panel and 

their confidence in the 

sector’s ability to react to the 

changes and continue to be 

a major player in the 

construction and 

management of affordable 

housing in the future. It was 

good to see the strength and 

depth of personnel from the 

various housing providers on 

the panel.”

24 CHARITY & CSR 

Charity and CSR Matters 

Hello and welcome to our 

Charity and CSR Pages! 

I’m Matt Smith from the 

Employment Law team at 

Weightmans and I’ve 

volunteered myself to edit 

this section. Charity and CSR 

has always featured heavily 

in Liverpool Law but we 

wanted to give more of a 

focus to the great things 

you are doing in this area 

and also to tell you more 

about how you can use 

your professional skills to 

benefit the people and 

charities who are most in 

need of them. If you have 

taken part in a sponsored 

challenge, hosted a 

charitable event or done 

some pro-bono work that 

you want to shout about 

then send me an article. 

Equally, if you want to get 

other lawyers involved in 

offering pro-bono advice, 

know of an opening for a 

charity Trustee or want us to 

feature a particular charity, 

then let me know too. 

Finally, for those easily 

offended, apologies for the 

picture of me in shorts 

singing at Weightstock IV! 

Matthew.Smith@Weightmans.com 

Weightstock IV 

Mind the Gap 

Conference 

Liverpool Law Society’s Mind the Gap conference took 

place at the University of Liverpool’s Eleanor Rathbone 

building on 30 September 2015. 

The Conference was chaired by Chris Topping and hosted a 

number of speakers from Law Works, the Law Centres 

Network, CAB, LJMU and University of Liverpool law clinics, 

Jackson & Canter and Hill Dickinson. Attendees heard 

about the areas in which legal aid is still available, what free 

legal advice services are currently available in Merseyside 

and the difficulties that these services face in meeting 

demand. 

The event was attended by roughly 70 delegates and 

resulted in a lively debate as to what more our profession 

could to help fill the gap in services in Merseyside. Following 

that debate, it has been agreed the Liverpool Law’s CSR 

pages will carry volunteer opportunities for those working in 

law firms in Merseyside. So please keep an eye on these 

pages from now on for opportunities such as how to get 

involved in law clinics, provide pro-bono advice to charities 

or even become a trustee of charity. 

For the fourth time in as many 

years the Lawyers and staff of 

national law firm Weightmans 

LLP swapped their computers 

for Amps and their desks for a 

stage in what has become 

the must-see event of the 

calendar, Weightstock. 

Returning to the Arts Club on 

Seel Street for the second 

time, hundreds of staff, 

friends, relatives and 

members of the public saw a 

group of amateur musicians 

entertain the crowd for three 

hours solid. Made up mainly 

of Weightmans staff, the 

bands did themselves proud 

putting on sets that many 

professional musicians would 

be proud of. 

The night started off with 

Funny Boy 3 featuring Partner 

Charlie Jones showing 

everyone how to be a 

frontman and Finance 

Director Tony Cannon 

providing back up on the 

guitar. Their set was a mix of 

all genres, styles and tempo’s 

and won’t easily be 

forgotten. 

The difficult job of following 

them went to State of Flux. 

Led by Finance Manager 

Pete Taggart they cranked 

the volume up to 11 with a 

rousing mix of Rock, Indie, 

Punk and Grunge. They 

finished the night with a 

snippet of the Star-Spangled 

Banner and the incredible 

sight of two drummers playing 

in perfect (and very quick) 

time! 

Turning the volume back 

down from ear-drum 

threatening levels, but 

ramping up the fun were 

Eclectic Nature, featuring 

Gwen Mensah and 

Weightstock newcomer 

Victoria Cargill. True to their 

name their set was truly 

Eclectic, mixing in something 

from pretty much any genre 

you could think of! 

Rounding off the concert 

were Weightstock regulars 

Swimming in Fear. Fronted 

with extreme energy by Matt 

Smith they reeled off some 

truly inspiring tunes, all 

backed up by backing 

dancers from the Liverpool 

Institute of Performing Arts. 

They were cheered back on 

stage for an encore and 

rounded off the night with the 

obligatory confetti cannons! 

The crowd all left happy and 

disappeared into the night, 

already planning their 

calendars for next years 

concert. 

The event raised money for 

the charity Variety, which 

helps children dealing with 

sickness, disability or other 

disadvantages. The final 

fundraising total is still to 

come in with photo’s of the 

event to go on sale soon. 

Alun Evans 

Credit Controller 

Weightmans LLP

CHARITY & CSR 25 

Volunteering Opportunities 

Following the “Mind the Gap” those organisations providing free 

legal advice in Liverpool were asked to provide a detailed “wish 

list” so that Law Society members can contribute their talents 

and resources. Here is their response: 

Legal Advice Centre 

Liverpool John Moores University’s Legal Advice Centre (“LAC”) 

was established in April 2014 and is based in the School of Law, 

Brownlow Hill. The LAC’s clinics advise on family, employment, 

wills & administration and commercial law advice. It also runs 

drop in clinics in family and commercial law. 

The LAC is hoping to pilot a housing drop-in clinic during this 

academic year and would welcome volunteers able to advise 

in this area. Volunteers should be prepared to offer a total 

commitment of ten hours per academic year, to include 

assistance with training our students and supervising and 

advising the clinic itself, which will be based in the University and 

will run twice a month during an initial four month period. 

The LAC is also experiencing a huge demand for family law 

advice and is seeking anyone able to commit to advising at 

one or more of our two hour drop-in sessions. 

Contact: 

Rachel Stalker, Legal Advice Centre Coordinator 

T: 0151 231 3530 

E: R.Stalker@ljmu.ac.uk 

Liverpool Law Clinic 

University of Liverpool, is a well-established Clinic offering a 

general legal advice service (especially employment, family, 

housing, small claims, and occasionally commercial law) and a 

specialist asylum and statelessness project. 

We also have on-going work on criminal appeals and 

Hillsborough Inquests with Broudie Jackson Canter solicitors, and 

work with the CAB focussing on welfare benefits cases. 

The Clinic has identified the following as particular needs at 

present: 

1. Volunteers to supervise in our free legal advice service. The 

time commitment involved is a minimum 5 hours to supervise a 

single case, including a two hour period in the Clinic to 

supervise a client interview. However, the time commitment 

can vary and some complex cases take additional time to 

supervise. Ideally volunteers would be prepared to supervise 

one case twice a year. Volunteers need to be fully qualified. 

2. Case referrals – can you take on a pro bono case once or 

twice a year? Some of our clients using our general advice 

service very much need a legal representative and we cannot 

offer this ourselves; because of legal aid cuts there is nowhere to 

refer them for representation. 

3. Typing – our legal staff members are self-servicing and 

secretarial support would expand our capacity considerably. 

Can your firm offer to type about 20 letters maximum a week 

mostly for our immigration and asylum cases? 

4. Billing – our solicitors conduct around five judicial review cases 

per year, sometimes funded by legal aid, and these matters 

sometimes have a pro bono costs order or a legal aid order and 

require bills to be drawn up. 

5. Funding – can you include us as a recipient of charitable 

funds raised by your firm or money that cannot be returned 

from your client account? Our immigration and asylum work 

involves disbursements for interpreters, medical reports 

documenting torture and psychiatric conditions and expert 

reports on country conditions. Our clients cannot obtain legal 

aid and many are totally destitute. A single case can involve 

many hours of client appointments, and we estimate that the 

cost for interpretation if the client does not speak English is, on 

average, £400. We have some funding for this from the North 

West Legal Support Trust and from the Access to Justice 

Foundation, but are always grateful for more support for this 

work. 

Contact: 

Sarah Woodhouse, Liverpool Law Clinic Director 

T: 0151 794 5782 

E: s.woodhouse@liv.ac.uk 

LawWorks – supporting pro bono 

LawWorks is a charity working to support and facilitate the 

provision of legal pro bono. Pro bono is not, and should not 

become, an alternative to legal aid, but it makes an important 

contribution to enabling access to advice and representation. 

We support a network of independent local clinics across 

England and Wales, and provide assistance for lawyers, 

trainees, law students and others seeking to establish new pro 

bono clinics. We provide information and resources for clinics 

and volunteers, including online materials from our training 

events, and promote pro bono volunteering opportunities for 

our member firms and in-house legal teams. 

Through our Not-for-Profit programme we connect smaller 

charities and community groups with lawyers, from among our 

members, willing to provide advice and support on a range of 

legal issues. These could include, for example, drafting a 

contract, reviewing a lease, updating a constitution/articles, or 

clarifying rights in a commercial dispute. We ask about an 

organisation’s ability to pay for legal advice, and ensure 

volunteer lawyers have the information they need before 

applications are accepted. Further information, and details of 

how charities and communities groups can apply, is available 

on the LawWorks website at www.lawworks.org.uk 

Contact: 

For information about local clinics and LawWorks, including our 

membership, regional events and training, visit our website or 

contact Olga at olga.ivannikova@lawworks.org.uk 

Sanctions & Default 

2015/16 

with Professor 

Domini c Regan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

26 MARKETING 

Bespoke marketing solutions 

for law firms 

Estates and Law was established in 1987 to provide 

progressive law firms and estate agents with high-quality, 

bespoke Client Care Portfolios, totally free of charge. 

During the 1990s the Poulton-Le-Fylde based business 

established a relationship with the Law Society and the Office 

for the Supervision of Solicitors and were instrumental in 

assisting law firms to integrate Rule 15 into the practice as well 

as helping to develop and enhance client care procedures. 

The majority of law firms are aware how both their marketing 

strategy and branding are crucial in generating new clients as 

well as cross-selling legal services to existing clients. The Client 

Care Portfolios, professionally designed and printed to the 

highest standards by Estates and Law provide detailed 

information about the range of services offered by the 

practice as well as providing a practical file for clients to retain 

all their important legal documentation. 

To date, Estates and Law have worked with over 2000 law firms 

around the UK. Steve Cunningham, the company’s Managing 

Director says “The legal profession in 2015 is very different from 

that of twenty years ago, and as the profession has 

developed, we too have had to enhance and develop new 

products and services to meet the ever-changing needs of the 

modern law firm.” 

With this in mind, Estates and Law have added website 

development and design, web hosting, social network 

creation, SEO and a design and print service to their portfolio 

of products for the legal profession. 

If you are interested in discovering how 

Estates and Law can provide your firm with a 

range of bespoke marketing solutions please 

call 01253 892111 or 

visit www.estates-law.co.uk 

Steve Cunningham adds “As the legal profession has evolved, 

so has Estates and Law. We recognise that law firms are facing 

tougher regulation and competition and we can assist proactive 

law firms to gain that competitive edge.” 

Need an expert in medical or 

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Refer to us. City : Allerton : Garston 

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Liverpool Law Society Employment 

Conference 

LOCAL NEWS 27 

Liverpool Law Society’s Employment Law Conference took 

place on 14 October 2015, attracting a wide variety of 

employment law practitioners. In addition to representatives of 

local private practice firms, we were joined by lawyers working 

in-house, in the public sector and within fixed fee practices. 

We were thrilled to be joined by Judge Brian Doyle, President of 

the Employment Tribunals, who gave the keynote address. 

Judge Doyle provided a unique insight into the impact of 

recent developments such as the introduction of tribunal fees 

and early conciliation on the Tribunals, as well as a round-up of 

future proposals for reform. 

Next up was Ed Morgan of 9 St John Street Chambers, who 

provided a comprehensive review of data protection issues, 

followed by Nicky Benson and Adrian Fryer of Bermans who 

presented on the use of settlement agreements when the 

employment relationship breaks down. Louise Mensah of 

Complete Counsel rounded off the morning’s proceedings with 

some useful guidance on issues relating to illegal work and 

migrant workers. 

After lunch, Liverpool Law Society President Emlyn Williams of 

Weightmans LLP provided an engaging round-up of the key 

employment law reforms included in the manifestos for the 

recent election. Nigel Porter of 11KBW Chambers was next to 

take the stage with a detailed review of the 2013 reforms to 

whistleblowing legislation and gave a summary of interesting 

case law on the topic. Our final speaker of the day was Simon 

Gorton QC of Atlantic Chambers who provided useful 

guidance on key developments in the application of the 

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection from Employment) 

Regulations 2006, which has caused many a headache for 

practitioners in the past. 

As well as providing a useful update on employment law issues, 

the conference gave practitioners a great opportunity to 

exchange views and experiences with each other and our 

speakers and it’s safe to say everyone learned something new, 

not least the speakers’ favourite limerick or poem, the day’s 

obligatory opening question! 

Sophie Fulwell, 

Bermans 

Merseyside Christian 

Lawyers 

We extend a warm invitation to all, to join us for our 

informal meetings at the Liverpool Law Society, 

Cotton Exchange between 1 & 2pm on: 

Thursday, 10th December 2015 

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The Here and Now 

ZebraLC TM is the leading 

technical due diligence, 

audit and consulting 

specialist to the UK legal 

sector. 

Zebra LC’s innovation has 

driven a paradigm shift in the 

understanding of risk, value 

and opportunity for businesses 

operating within the legal 

industry. Delivering projects 

with a unique and distinct 

market approach, clients 

include leading law firms, 

banks, insurers, investors, 

funders and new market 

entrants. 

With the swathe of changes 

within the sector, and the 

growing need for law firms, 

banks, insurers and funders to 

ascertain closer ‘comfort and 

confidence’ about the 

assessment of WIP value, 

indemnity and operational risk, 

ZebraLC has a unique offering. 

At the helm, Zebra’s Managing 

Director, Zoe Holland, is 

pragmatic and commercial, 

using her background as a 

lawyer, together with 

management board 

experience, to provide an 

innovative business 

proposition. 

The industry recognises that 

the lifeblood of legal 

businesses of the future is in 

their quality, expertise, low 

operational risk, financial 

management and healthy 

asset base (profitable work and 

highly valuable WIP). ZebraLC 

has identified and filled a gap 

in the market that is now very 

much in demand. 

Zebra is now established, in its 

third year. The business has the 

leading edge in methodology 

and benchmark data owing to 

involvement in ‘first sector’ 

deals such as M&A by Fairpoint 

Group PLC. ZebraLC carried 

out technical and WIP due 

diligence in Fairpoint’s 

acquisition of both Simpson 

Millar and Colemans CTTS. The 

latter involving a due diligence 

review on Colemans large 

volume conveyancing arm. 

In early 2015, Zebra received its 

first international new enquiry 

to advise on an M&A deal in 

Perth, Australia and this month 

has been advising a US client. 

This year the business also 

achieved ISO9001 

accreditation 

Technology & Innovation 

Founder Zoe Holland has a 

keen eye on technology to 

drive innovation in products, 

services and operational 

performance. Key KPI’s were to 

get to a paperless audit and an 

online cloud based business 

collaboration platform by end 

2014. 

May 2014: Zebra Hub 

colloborative platform in place. 

This is an online and on 

demand service that works 

across all platforms including 

iPhone and android. 

August 2014: bespoke online 

cloud-based audit system 

implemented to provide 

project flexibility and the ability 

to track risk trends during a 

large scale due diligence 

process.

ZebraTD is a personal injury focussed business 

offshoot of ZebraLC. It brings a sector first: an 

online and on demand knowledge share, and risk 

outsourcing service in complex areas such as clinical 

negligence, industrial disease and serious injury. 

Why a business offshoot? 

Whilst ZebraLC has technical coverage in all areas of 

legal service, a number of the business’ major M&A, law 

firm diagnostic and bank funding projects have been 

within the personal injury sector. This provides a 

unique insight into the risk, value and opportunity in 

legal businesses operating within this specialist sector. 

For injury litigation of the future, ZebraTD supports 

legal businesses in the successful delivery of profitable, 

efficient and risk aware personal injury legal services. 

The offshoot is supported by a national cohort of 

experienced technical and commercially focussed 

injury experts with a proven track record. All technical 

experts are trained under Zebra’s core methodology 

and individually selected. 

The team works in a collaborative buddy system – 

sharing knowledge and enabling ‘best of breed’ 

technical development. 

White labelled risk outsourcing 

ZebraTD offers a ‘white labelled’ outsourcing service in 

complex litigation areas such as industrial disease, 

clinical negligence and serious injury. Experienced 

experts form an unrivalled outsourcing team. Already 

proven as ‘excellent’ in an existing large volume clinical 

negligence contract, the team where required, can 

work remotely via a law firm’s Proclaim system. 

"Specialised injury cases such as clinical negligence and 

industrial disease carry an inherently higher risk to the 

business than other types of litigation. A detailed and 

formal assessment of risk at the outset is paramount to 

make a decision as to whether or not to accept a case, and 

if so, on what terms. In these specialised cases a dynamic 

approach to risk assessment is required with on-going 

continuous risk assessment or a formalised process of risk 

assessment at key stages. 

We offer a truly unique and bespoke risk assessment 

service to law firms, insurers and any business with an 

interest in identifying and managing risk in these 

specialised cases. Supported by its Technical Advisory 

Board, ZebraTD has access to an unparalleled resource in 

terms of industry leading technical specialists in the fields 

of clinical negligence, industrial disease, personal injury 

and costs. " 

Vicki Acres, Head of Technical and Risk Outsourcing 

Technical development 

Zebra’s expertise in due diligence provides us with 

invaluable risk management, business improvement 

and valuation profiling data. This sets the background 

for us to offer clients a different perspective in training 

and technical development under the umbrella of 

ZebraTD 

Our approach is to concentrate on improving technical 

excellence, productivity, efficiency and fee earning 

capability to increase profit. 

Example specifics 

• Clinical negligence risk outsourcing for one of the UKs 

leading clinical negligence firms 

• Implementation & training of injury focused 

assessment & sifting of multi-track personal injury cases 

• Risk management training surrounding potential 

brain injury cases 

• Guidance on training around risk assessments and 

case selection within complex areas such as industrial 

disease and clinical negligence 

• Sharing data with NatWest on risk & valuation 

profiling of clinical negligence caseloads 

• Risk delegation for a leading ATE insurer for bespoke 

areas including industrial disease & clinical negligence 

PI Knowledge Hub 

Zebra’s knowledge platform provides a totally unique 

offering to the personal injury sector. All clients are 

invited into our specialist Knowledge Hub.This is a 

bespoke collaboration platform to enable clients to 

have multi interface access to our team of specialists. 

Whether via a webrowser, tablet, iPad, iPhone or 

Android, clients can collaborate, knowledge share and 

support each other with instant interaction. In a rapidly 

changing legal sector, our Knowledge Hub is a 

significant value-add to clients. 

“We have an unrivalled team of technical experts within 

the team. Clients have the benefit of sharing 

experience, seeking advice and having support from 

industry leaders. Our collaborative Knowledge Hub is a 

unique way of offering clients a value added platform. 

Delivering knowledge share via innovative technology 

has been a key driver in establishing ZebraTD." Zoe 

Holland, Managing Director, Zoe Holland 

Technical Advisory Board 

The Vision 

Zebra is an innovative, young entrepreneurial business. 

In keeping with that spirit, Founder Zoe Holland had 

the vision to bring together industry technical experts 

to support the business in a high-level advisory 

capacity through a Technical Advisory Board.This is an 

exciting development for the business, leading to the 

inaugural meeting of the Board on 29th October 2015. 

With a host of leading names including Dominic Regan, 

Andrew Twambley and Terry Lee, this was a fantastic 

opportunity to debate hot topic industry issues. 

The Technical Advisory Board provide non-binding 

strategic direction and advice around technical legal 

developments and injury sector trends to both ZebraLC 

and the personal injury arm ZebraTD. The Board are not 

involved in any project or client delivery, but sit as a 

thought leadership structure. 

Composed of carefully selected accomplished technical 

legal and industry experts offering technical skills, 

market knowledge and specialist insight such as trends 

in new CFAs, fixed fees for clinical negligence, 

indemnity risk trends, regulatory issues specific to the 

injury sector, impact of the political landscape, case law 

development and guidance on what constitutes quality 

legal service. 

The Board is chaired by Zebra’s Head of Technical and 

Risk Outsourcing, Vicki Acres and will be delivering 

quarterly industry thought leadership to Zebra, its 

clients and the wider sector. 

Technical Advisory Board 

Dominic Regan 

Dominic Regan - “The most 

knowledgeable person in the 

country on Part 36,” - Costs Judge 

Campbell "The leading expert in the 

field of civil procedure and adviser to 

the top judiciary on law reform'-His 

Honour Judge Simon Brown QC." 

Tracey Graham - Tracey “highly 

recommended” in Legal 500 & 

Chambers & Partners noted as, 

“..well known for her experience 

with industrial disease claims. “ 

Chris Fry - Founder of niche 

practice, Unity Law specialising in 

Occupational Illness and Equality 

Act Claims. Editor and author of 

the APIL Guide to Noise Claims. 

Terry Lee - clinical negligence and 

serious personal Injury specialist. 

Known for ground-breaking case 

law decisions such as Joyce -v- 

Wandsworth Health Authority. 

Kevin Latham – Kings Chambers - 

As a specialist Costs Counsel Kevin 

has been at the forefront of costs 

challenges facing the personal 

injury sector. 

Claire Green - Policy and 

Development Officer at ACL and 

current member of the Hutton 

steering committee developing 

the format for the new Bill of Costs. 

Andrew Twambley - welldeserved 

‘Lifetime Achievement 

Award’ at the Claims Innovation 

Awards (2013). One of the 

personal injury industry’s most 

well known personalities. 

Cathie Delaney - Leading clinical 

negligence solicitor with extensive 

medical background. Law Society’s 

specialist Clinical Negligence 

Specialist and APIL Senior Litigator. 

www.zebratd.co.uk 

@zebra_td 

www.zebralc.co.uk 

@zebralc 

0161 635 0213

30 Local CHAMBER News NEWS 

Access your free membership at the 

Chamber of Commerce 

Did you know Liverpool Law Society members can apply to 

become affiliate members of Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of 

Commerce? 

The affiliate membership package entitles Law Society 

members direct access to a host of Chamber services, 

completely free of charge. 

The membership includes: 

• Basic profile on the Chambers’ members directory 

• Free hot-desking facilities at the Chambers’ city centre office 

• Discounts on Chamber events, including networking events, 

workshops and panel discussions 

• Free access to HR & employment advice, including 

templates, telephone hotline and document reviews. 

What’s coming up? 

130 events. 4902 delegates. As a Chamber member, you’re 

well connected. 

Meet & Eat: 

Wednesday 18th November, 12:15-14:15, The Exhibition Centre, 

Kings Dock 

60RUM in Southport: “Marketing your business successfully from 

the beginning” 

Friday 20th November, 09:00-10:00, Moore & Smalley, Hoghton 

Chambers, PR9 0TB 

60RUM: “How to make corporate hospitality pay for itself” 

Friday 27th November, 09:00-10:00, Liverpool & Sefton 

Chambers of Commerce, No. 1 Old Hall Street 

Charity Networking 

Wednesday 2nd December, 17:30-19:30 

The Chambers’ Annual Dinner 

Thursday 3rd December, 18:30-late, Liverpool Anglican 

Cathedral. 

Bootle Business Breakfast 

Tuesday 8th December, 07:30-09:00, Hugh Baird College, Balliol 

Road, Bootle, L20 7EW 

Commenting on the partnership, Rich Daly, Commercial 

Manager at Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of Commerce said 

“Liverpool is home to a thriving professional services sector, of 

which many are successful and expanding law firms. As an 

integral part of the city’s economy, we’ve designed an affiliate 

membership package so that Law Society members can 

access business support services to grow their contact base, 

showcase their success and raise their profile. Following the 

development of our brand new membership packages 

alongside our vibrant events programme across both Liverpool 

& Sefton, the Chamber has never been better positioned to 

support the growth of city region businesses.” 

Emlyn Williams, President of Liverpool Law Society, said “the 

Society is delighted to confirm it has, once again, secured a 

free 12-month affiliate membership (worth £150) of the 

Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of Commerce for member firms 

and organisations of the Society as a benefit of annual LLS 

membership. This benefit has been offered to Liverpool Law 

Society members since 2011 and many firms have taken up the 

offer since then. The Society is pleased to have close relations 

with the Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of Commerce which it 

values greatly and encourages member firms to sign up to this 

offer.” 

Affiliate Membership of the Liverpool & Sefton Chambers of 

Commerce entitles you to attend the Chambers’ free events 

and other paid events at the reduced member rate. Affiliate 

membership does not include all member benefits as some are 

reserved for full members only. For further information on the 

Liverpool & Sefton Chambers see 

www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/ 

To apply for your free membership, email 

membership@liverpoolchamber.org.uk or call 0151 227 1234. 

Commercial Property rty For 

The 

Advisor 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

FEATURE 31 

Justice, Malaysian Style 

I’d never heard of Isabella Bird 

till I found one of her books in 

a charity shop – The Golden 

Chersonese, about her trip to 

Malaysia in 1879. She was one 

of those indefatigable 

Victorian women travellers; 

she visited remote parts of 

Persia, Kurdistan, Tibet, Korea, 

and China, and wrote them 

up in books which are still 

available as e-books, usually 

free. She was in Malaysia for 

only five weeks, but described 

it in such detail to her sister 

that it filled a whole book. 

For instance: 

In the day’s journey I counted 

one hundred and twenty-six 

differing trees and shrubs, fiftythree 

trailers [hanging 

creepers], seventeen 

epiphytes [plants growing on 

other plants] and twenty–eight 

ferns. 

She noted a local delicacy, 

but did not try it. 

It is made by tramping a mass 

of putrefying prawns and 

shrimps into a paste with bare 

feet. This is seasoned with salt. 

She particularly liked the 

colour and vivacity of Canton, 

except when she came to the 

prison, whicb was as bad as 

the mind can conceive. I give 

no details. 

If crime, vice, despair, 

suffering, filth and cruelty can 

make a hell on earth, this is 

one. 

Then she came to the hall of 

justice, where a single 

Malaysian judge, quite a 

young man, richly robed, sat in 

an ebony chair. On a clear 

day one can distinguish 

between him and most 

judges in the QE II. 

He spoke loud and with much 

rapidity and emphasis, and 

often beat impatiently on the 

floor with his foot. 

A civil case took a long time, 

and was adjourned, and the 

aged claimant was so 

exhausted with kneeling 

before the judge, that he was 

obliged to be assisted away 

by two men. 

That was followed by criminal 

cases. 

Then a guard led in by a chain 

a prisoner, heavily manacled, 

and with a heavy stone 

attached to his neck, who 

knelt with his forehead 

touching the ground. There 

was no Counsel, and no 

witnesses, and the judge asked 

but one question as he beat 

his feet impatiently on the floor. 

“Are you guilty?" 

Isabella continues, 

There is no regular legal 

process, no jury, no one 

admitted to plead for the 

accused, and owing to the 

way in which accusations are 

made and the intimate 

association of trial with bribery, 

it is as certain that many 

innocent persons suffer as it as 

that many guilty escape. 

It made Isabella’s heart bleed. 

She noted: 

Severe flogging with the 

bamboo, rattan, cudgel, and 

knotted whip successively, is 

one of the most usual means 

of extorting confession; and 

when death results from the 

process, the Magistrate reports 

that the criminal has died of 

sickness, and in the few cases 

in which there may be reason 

to dread investigation, the 

administration of a bribe to the 

deceased man's friends 

ensures silence. 

If justice was ever done, it was 

probably by accident. She 

added: 

it is possible in some cases for a 

criminal who is fortunate 

enough to have rich relations 

to procure a substitute; a 

coolie sells himself to death in 

such a man's stead for $100, 

and for a week before his 

surrender indulges in every kind 

of expensive debauchery, and 

when the day of dying arrives 

is so completely stupefied by 

wine and opium, as to know 

nothing of the terror of death. 

So much for Malaysian justice 

during the Victorian era. 

But in the 1960s the BBC 

published Tales from the South 

China Seas, edited by Charles 

Allen, in which people who 

had lived in Malaysia during 

the last days of Empire, gave 

their own accounts of life 

there. One District Magistrate 

had only one failing. When he 

conducted a trial, he was 

supposed to provide an 

account of the evidence and 

his findings. But if the accused 

was found guilty, he simply 

noted “Pleaded Guilty,” which 

saved a lot of paperwork. 

Another District Magistrate had 

an experience which I quote 

as a Cautionary Tale, against 

the time when court 

proceedings are televised. He 

sat at a table covered with a 

green baize cloth, which 

reached to the ground. One 

very hot and sticky day he 

had an insufferable itch in his 

nether regions. He undid the 

top button of his trousers and 

had a quiet scratch. The itch 

persisted; he undid the 

second button, and repeated 

the performance. Bliss. Finally 

he undid the third button, and 

was just enjoying a really 

luxurious scratch when he was 

aware that little boys inside the 

court were dancing up and 

down, shrieking with glee. The 

Clerk of the Court turned 

round, and with a face of 

horror told the District 

Magistrate that the green 

baize cloth had been taken 

away for cleaning. 

Justice should not only be 

done, it should be seen to be 

believed. 

Dick Hamilton 

Isabella Bird 

Contract & Commercial 

Update 

 

 

This course will 

provide practitioners with an update on case 

law and legislativee 

developments over the last year. Covering: 

 

Edwards v Ashik [2014] 

EWHC 

2454 

on 

fraudule 

nt 

misrepresentation 

 

Polypearl Lt 

d v Eon 

Energy Solutions [2014] EWHC 3045 on 

direct and indirect 

loss 

 

Ramsey v Lo 

ve [2015] EWHC 65 on execution of 

guarantees 

 

Thwaytes v S 

otheby's [2015] EWHC 36 on the 

standard of 

care expected of specialists 

 

Barclays v G 

rant Thornton LLP [2015] EWHC 320 

on 

disclaimer of liability 

by auditors 

Watts v Watt 

s (unreported) 21 August 2014 on illegality 

defence 

on Friday 

20th 

November 1.30pm - 4.45pm 

CPD 3 

Venue: Liverpool 

Law Society, 2nd Floor Cotton Exchange, 

Bixteth 

Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ 

To see the 

full seminar details or to book, visit: 

www.liverpoollawsociety.org.uk

Liverpool 0151 236 7191 

Preston 01772 254 764 

www.orielchambers.co.uk 

Media 

Round-Up 

New for 2015, Liverpool Law hopes 

to include information where the 

Society and/or members have 

been featured in the press, 

broadcast and social media, and 

some of our favourite tweets... 

November 2015 

Appearance by Liverpool Law 

Society’s Public Relations Officer on 

Radio Merseyside Drive Time about the 

VW emissions scandal on 3rd October 

2015 

On Twitter 

LiverpoolLawSociety 

5p for plastic bags! -we are giving ours 

away FREE (along with other goodies) 

at today's Employment Law 

Conference 

NWLST 

Team @LpoolLawSociety at the start of 

the #Liverpool #legalwalk raising funds 

for #accesstojustice! 

Top 10 

membership 

benefits 

Liverpool Law Society offers its 

members many services and 

benefits. Here are our Top 10: 

1.Have your interests represented at 

the highest level – both locally & 

nationally 

2. Raise your profile in the local legal 

and business community and make 

a difference 

3. Take advantage of links with other 

professional associations and the 

region’s economic bodies 

4. Meet your peers, gain knowledge 

and expertise, discuss topical issues 

and make your voice heard by 

joining the Society’s specialist 

committees 

5. Interact with senior members of 

the judiciary, and civic and business 

leaders from the Liverpool City 

Region 

6. Take up free associate 

membership of the Liverpool and 

Sefton Chambers of Commerce 

7. Receive referrals from members of 

the public searching for legal 

advice who contact the Society’s 

office or visit the website 

8. Enjoy reduced prices on training, 

business networking and social 

events 

9. Free subscription and the 

opportunity to contribute to 

‘Liverpool Law’, the monthly 

members’ magazine 

10. Free access to the University of 

Liverpool Law Library 

To apply online for membership, visit 


News from the 

Family Law 

Sub-Committee 

We had our recent meeting on the 14th 

October 2015, and we had a lot of the 

usual standing items including a number 

of dates from the various committees to 

take place at Court, there was 

information about protocols and pilots 

that had been set up in the Merseyside 

area. 

This includes a new pilot that is going to 

be implemented based upon the clock 

scheme which is to deal with litigants in 

person at conciliation hearings and 

involving JMU students on a supervised 

basis. There was an update from Elaine 

Richardson who is a member of the 

National Law Society Family Committee 

as to what the Law Society is looking at 

nationally in relation to family matters. 

The Committee had a number of key 

issues that they would like to be raised 

at the MPs meeting that is coming up at 

Liverpool Law Society including Legal 

Aid, Access to Justice, the increasing 

number of LIPS in family proceedings 

and more recently the Court closures. 

The Committee is well attended on a bimonthly 

basis and we would still seek 

new members from practices with large 

family departments within the city which 

are still not represented on the Family 

Law Sub-Committee. 

Adele Schofield 

The Berkson Globe Partnership 

Did you know networking 

opportunities are available 

at our Local Chambers of 

Commerce? 

For more information on membership 

and events visit; 

www.wirralchamber.co.uk 

www.liverpoolchamber.co.uk 

www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/home/ 

sefton-chamber 

www.sthelenschamber.com

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34 REGULATION 

Regulation Update 

Did you know that November 

means "ninth month" and yet 

it is the eleventh month in the 

modern calendar. Confused? 

It was also known as the 

"blood month" when animals 

were sacrificed and 

slaughtered for preservation 

through the winter. 

Back in the regulatory world, 

the Legal Ombudsman’s 

decisions recently have been 

as confusing as the definition 

of November and whilst there 

has been very little blood spilt 

this month, the SDT has been 

enjoying slinging quite a bit of 

mud and criticism at the SRA 

for their handling of some 

disciplinary matters. 

The Legal Ombudsman 

I reported in last month’s 

column of the confusion 

which arose over the new 

European directive on 

alternative dispute resolution 

(ADR) and the chair of the 

legal services consumer panel 

Elisabeth Davies has now also 

predicted that this confusion is 

set to continue. 

She is of course looking at it 

from the consumers 

perspective and feels that 

because law firms will have to 

signpost to an additional 

Chartered Trading Standards 

Institute (CTSI)-certified ADR 

provider even though the ADR 

Directive is voluntary for 

businesses and so may not 

even use the service, the 

legal sector will now not have 

just one body to signpost to, 

which risks confusion for clients 

and lawyers alike. 

What is certain is that you 

should have revised your 

complaints signposting 

wording by now to comply 

with the EU Directive. 

The LeO has also announced 

that it is recruiting more 

Ombudsmen to triage 

complaints at the outset. 

Currently the Ombudsman 

only sees a case at the end 

after an investigator has 

looked into the case and 

where the case cannot be 

resolved informally. 

According to figures, 38% of 

complaints now go to a final 

Ombudsman decision which 

is higher than the LeO 

wanted or anticipated so 

clearly there is a feeling that 

the investigators are not 

managing to achieve an 

early resolution as often as 

the LeO would like. 

Under the new regime, 

Ombudsmen will screen 

complaints at the front end of 

the process with the intention 

that there is a clear steer from 

an ombudsman rather than 

an investigator as to whether 

a resolution is capable of 

being achieved. It is hoped 

that this will improve the 

quality of the decision 

making rather than the 

emphasis being upon speed 

of response. 

In theory it could be a good 

thing but only time will tell as 

to whether the 

quality/consistency of 

decision making will improve. 

An Ombudsman reviewing 

the case at the outset might I 

am sure set out with the 

intention of achieving an 

early resolution in the same 

way as a LeO caseworker 

would do but that does not 

mean that complainants will 

not want to get a formal 

decision after all the facts 

have been considered. 

Speed of response is also still 

important and it is ironic that 

the LeO is not achieving its 

targets set by the LSB in 

relation to timeliness, when 

delay is one of the main 

complaints directed at 

lawyers! 

SRA – A Question of Trust 

The SRA has launched its ‘A 

question of trust’ national 

campaign to give everyone 

a chance to have their say 

about action taken against 

those solicitors who fall short 

of the expected standards. It 

will run until the end of 

January 2016 and if you 

haven’t looked at the survey 

already, it is well worth a 

quick look. Those taking part 

are given short scenarios and 

asked to vote on how 

seriously they view the 

different situations where 

solicitors have failed to 

uphold professional standards 

at work or in their private 

lives. It covers scenarios such 

as conflicts, lying on a CV 

about expertise, drink and 

drug abuse, mis-use of client 

money, and false or overcharging 

and is certainly 

thought provoking. Solicitors 

as well as the public can take 

part in it and it only takes a 

few minutes to complete. 

There is a formal consultation 

on it aswell so any comments 

you may have, please feed 

back to me. All feedback will 

apparently help the SRA build 

a reference framework, 

which will support decision 

making and transparency. 

That can only be a good 

thing (if it works!) given the 

current lack of consistency 

and transparency in the way 

the SRA deals with disciplinary 

matters. 

Which brings me nicely on to 

the SDT and criticism which it 

seems to be taking some 

pleasure in dishing out to the 

SRA in recent months! The 

most recent one criticised the 

SRA for its drafting of a 

statement of facts and 

suggested outcome which 

according to the Tribunal was 

“insufficient to allow any 

tribunal to conclude that the 

sanction proposed was the 

correct one”. This led to the 

solicitor involved being fined 

a higher amount by the 

Tribunal than had been 

agreed with the SRA which 

was certainly unfortunate for 

the solicitor involved. 

Another recent case involving 

allegations of forgery against 

a non-admitted fee earner 

was thrown out because the 

SRA had insufficient evidence 

to substantiate the very 

serious allegations. In a rare 

finding, the SRA was ordered 

to pay costs too with the SDT 

issuing a warning to the SRA 

that it should reappraise 

cases in light of the 

respondent’s evidence and 

monitor cases generally. 

Unfortunately, the process for 

referral to SDT is frighteningly 

opaque and the Compli 

team see more and more 

instances of practitioners 

receiving a one-line letter 

advising them that they will 

be heading to Ludgate 

Circus (home of the SDT) at 

some point in the future. 

There is no right of appeal 

against a referral to the SDT 

and the number of cases 

where the SRA has decided 

to rescind its decision to 

make the referral is very rare 

indeed. It also seems from the 

SDTs comments that when 

deciding whether or not to 

certify that there is a case to 

answer, the SDT panel has 

sight of the SRA’s statement 

of allegations, but not the 

response. The task of 

reappraising the decision 

following receipt of the 

respondent’s evidence 

therefore falls to the SRA. 

Surely, the regulator is 

conflicted here because not 

only is it unlikely to change its 

mind all of a sudden, it has 

often incurred – during the 

course of its investigation - 

significant costs which it is 

unlikely to recover without an 

order from the SDT. 

An objective assessment, or 

at the very least an 

assessment of the position 

once the respondent has 

submitted their evidence, 

would plainly be a fairer 

system. Lets hope we see 

some improvement going 

forward. 

Michelle Garlick 

Weightmans LLP

S Code 

Date 

Time 

November 2015 

Speaker 

CPD 

S3727 

10th 3. 

30 - 4. 45 A view from Live 

rpool Family Courts: Update on the latest 

d evelopments in Chil dren Cases 

S3767 

10th 10 - 11 Wills, Probate 

, Forgery & Undue Influence 

Judge Margaret 

De 1. 5 

H aas QC 

Charles 

Smith 

Machin & Jonathan 

1 

S3663 

11th 9. 

30 - 12. 45 Want To Get Ahe 

ad? Get A Strategy 

in conjunction with 

Professional Liverpool 

S3752 

17th 9. 

30 - 12. 45 Commercial Prop 

erty For The Advisor 

S3547 

18th 9. 

30 - 4. 45 Conference For 

Legal Cashiers & Managers 

2015 

S3768 

20th 10 - 11 Cy ber Security 

For Law Firms: Are You 

S3518 

20th 1. 

30 - 4. 45 Contract & 

Commercial Update 

S3597 

26th 12. 30 - 3. 45 Sports Injury Cla 

ims 

Ready? 

S3657 

25th 9. 

30 - 4. 45 Advising The Sus 

pect At The Police Station 

The Complete Novice 

Various 

Various 

Various 

S tephen Robinson 

Chris Beanland 

Colin Beaumont 

Nicky Carter 

3 

3 

5.5 

1 

3 

6 

3 

S Code 

Date 

Time 

December 2015 

Speaker 

CPD 

S3753 

2nd 9. 

30 - 4. 45 *N EW* Comm 

e rcial Litigation Conference 

V arious 

5. 5 

S3622 

4th 1. 

30 - 4. 45 New Cases In 

Wills & Trusts 

Martyn Frost 

3 

S3764 

4th 9. 

30 - 12. 45 Cost & Funding 

Update 

Professor Dominic Regan 

3 

S3766 

4th 1. 

30 - 4. 45 Sanctions & De 

fault 2015/16 

Professor Dominic Regan 

3 

S3664 

9th 9. 

30 - 4. 30 Occupational Disease 

Conference 

*ACCREDITED by APIL Training* 

S 3494 

15th 9. 

30 - 12. 45 

Flooding 

Frack 

ing 

& Other Environmental Issues 

S3496 

15th 1. 

30 - 4. 45 Boundary Issues 

Including Adverse Possession 

Various 

Richard 

Snape 

Richard Snape 

5.5 

3 

3 

S Code 

Date 

Time 

January 2016 

Speaker 

CPD 

S3668 

20th 

5 - 7 

 

 

 

 

Various 

1.5 

S3751 

26th 

9 

.30 

- 11 Feeling Left 

Out? 

Capacity, Estoppel and 1975 

Act 

Claims 3 Topics 

of Interest 

to Those who want 

to 

Challenge Wills 

Matthew Hall, 

Richard Lander & 

Nathan Smith 

1.5 

S3712 

27th 

9 

.30 

- 12.45 

Commercial P 

roperty 

Update 

Richard Snape 

3 

S3769 

27th 

1 

.30 

- 4.45 

10 Tricky 

C 

ommercial Lease 

Problems & Solutions 

Richard Snape 

3 

S3782 

29th 

9 

.30 

- 10.30 

Introduction To 

Medico Legal Medicine 

Dr Andre Brittain 

-Dissont 

1 

S3792 

29th 

12 - 2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance related aspects of the 

Deregulation 

Act 

2015 (lunch included) 

David Holt 

1.5 

S 

Code 

D 

ate 

Time 

February 2016 

Speaker 

CPD 

S3708 

2nd 1 

.30 

- 4.45 

Short Term Re 

sidential Tenancies 

Paul Butt 

3 

S3730 

3 rd 9 

.30 

- 12.45 

First Class Clien 

t Services 

Jo Morris 

3 

S3755 

5 th 

9 

.30 

- 12.45 

*NEW* Excellen 

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www.facebook.com/ m/LiverpoolLawSociety 

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@LpoolLawSociety

36 MJLD 

News from the MJLD 

Drinks and Nibbles at Fazenda 

What better way to introduce all the new starters at firms 

across Merseyside and seasoned MJLD event-goers than 

with drinks at nibbles. On 24th September, the MJLD held 

this popular event, kindly sponsored by Wesleyan, at 

Fazenda. We had a fantastic turnout and Fazenda sure 

didn’t disappoint! 

huge success. A massive thank you to the Breakout rooms 

for being so accommodating and making the night so 

enjoyable. 

It was a brilliant team building exercise and we all worked 

together to solve the puzzles and escape the rooms which 

apparently is unprecedented for group bookings so well 

done everybody! The event wouldn’t have been possible 

without our kind sponsors Ascent Medico Legal so a massive 

thank you to them.’ 

Wesleyan Talk 

Following on from meeting Wesleyan at Fazenda, they also 

hosted a financial talk at Hard Days Night Hotel on 8th 

October. Attendees received Wesleyan’s top tips for getting 

on the property ladder and effectively managing their 

finances. 

Wesleyan provides tailored financial advice and products to 

professionals. Its legal sector financial consultants are 

trained to truly understand the needs of those working in the 

legal sector. For more information, please visit Wesleyan’s 

website: http://www.wesleyan.co.uk/. 

On the night, a representative from Zoë’s Place gave an 

insightful presentation into where all the money kindly 

donated by the MJLD’s members will go. 

We then held a raffle to raise funds for Zoë’s Place with 

many fabulous prizes! Our social rep, Rosie Spencer, was 

delighted to win a Champagne meal for two at Fazenda! 

Breakout 

Liverpool Legal Walk 

Members of the MJLD took part in the Liverpool Legal Walk 

on 8th October 2015 to raise money for The North West Legal 

Support Trust, who distribute funds to organisations that 

support those who need legal help but cannot afford it. 

MJLD were joined by teams from firms and organisations 

throughout the Liverpool and Merseyside area. 

Team MJLD raised over £100 in aid of The North West Legal 

Support Trust to help them to continue their vital work. 

On 1st October 2015 a group of MJLD members attended 

the annual Small/Medium firm event. The event, arranged 

by Rachael McLean and sponsored by Ascent Medico- 

Legal Consultancy, was held at the Breakout Rooms in 

Liverpool. 

The members were split into mixed-firm teams of 5 and 

‘locked’ into rooms. The teams then had to solve a 

sequence of puzzles to escape the room using a 

combination of brain power and team work. 

The evening was enjoyed by all and Rachael McClean, 

Small & Medium Firm Representative said; 

‘I would like to thank the people who attended the event 

from various firms across Merseyside to make the night a

WLD 37 

News from the WLD 

October has been a very busy month for WLD members: 

Pamper Night @ Beauty Bazaar – Friday 2nd October 2015 

On Friday 2nd October 2015 the WLD arranged a pamper 

evening at Beuaty Bazaar, Harvey Nichols, Liverpool One. 

The guests were greeted with a glass of prosecco on arrival 

and were made to feel very welcome by all members of 

staff. As well as mini treatments there was a cockatil class 

and nibbles on the night. We sold a number of raffle tickets 

at this event and we are pleased to report that we raised 

£118 for the Whitechapel Centre. Beauty Bazaar were also 

kind enough to donate a huge raffle prize which contained 

many beauty essentials! 

WLD would like to thank Beauty Bazaar for hosting such a 

great event. We would also like to say thank you to the 

sponsors Kingsley Associates, legal recruiters and Wesleyan 

for Lawyers, financial advisors for Lawyers. 

Whitechapel Charity Sleepout 

On Friday 9th October 2015, WLD committee member 

Emily Pullan volunteered to participate in the Whitechapel 

charity sleepout with one of her friends. The sponsored 

sleepout is designed to increase awareness of 

homelessness in Liverpool and to raise much needed 

funds. Impressively Emily raised over £250. The Whitechapel 

Centre’s website identifies how fundraising can help: 

£5 pays for a cooked breakfast for 10 rough sleepers 

£15 provides an advice session with one of our skilled 

workers, securing accommodation for someone who 

would otherwise sleep rough. 

£25 provides a tutor and materials for a structured training 

session, giving homeless people essential life skills. 

It is not too late to donate. You can visit the website at: 

http://www.whitechapelcentre.co.uk/donate.html 

Or you can donate using your mobile. Text WHIT00 £5 to 

70070 or to donate £10, text WHIT00 £10 to 70070. 

Well done Emily!! 

Liverpool Legal Walk 

On Thursday 8th October 2015 WLD participated in the 

annual Liverpool Legal Walk. 

DATE FOR THE DIARY: Next Event 

Pudding Club is back by popular demand… Thursday 26th 

November 2015!

38 AND FINALLY... 

Almost Irrelevant 

A humorous look at life in the law.... 

Halloween 

Halloween appears to have become a fixture in the 

social life of many lawyers. The Merseyside Junior 

Lawyers Division organized for its members a pre- 

Halloween evening of fun, and the firm of Lees, solicitors, 

entered into the spirit of Halloween by organizing an 

outing for its partners and staff to “Shiverpool”, which 

describes itself as the historic ghost tour of Liverpool. 

But for US lawyers, Halloween is not typically a time for 

revel making but a time for bringing and defending 

legal claims. US lawyers’ websites are full of advice on 

how to ensure that homeowners avoid claims from “trick 

or treaters” accessing their homes with menacing 

demands for tricks. Homeowners are advised that “trick 

or treaters” are their guests, even though they may be 

of the unwelcome variety, and so are owed a legal 

duty of care. The advice includes: 

• clearing your lawn of obstacles they could walk into; 

• filling in holes in paths; 

• removing hazardous decorations. 

The message is: be careful to ensure that Halloween 

does not become a legal nightmare for you! 

The Leaving of Liverpool (FC) 

Brendan Rogers was not the only high profile departure 

from Liverpool Football Club in October. 

Natalie Wignall, who had been working as inhouse 

general counsel to Liverpool FC since 2009, also left the 

club in October. Natalie, a native Liverpudlian, is a 

graduate of Liverpool John Moores University and has 

held a number of inhouse legal positions but she has in 

the past described her role at Liverpool FC as her 

“dream job”. 

She has certainly experienced interesting times during 

her stay at Liverpool, with the club undergoing a 

number of changes of ownership and indeed of team 

manager during her incumbency. Natalie oversaw the 

change in ownership of the club from Tom Hicks and 

George Gillett to its current owner, Fenway Sports 

Group. She also handled a number of claims against the 

players, most notably Louis Suarez, who faced charges 

of racial abuse of Patrice Evra in 2011 and of biting 

Branislav Ivanovic in 2013. 

Whether her departure is linked to other changes at the 

club, including the departure of Brendan Rogers as 

manager, remains to be seen. 

Landmark Divorce Decision 

There has been much publicity lately about the recent 

decision of the Supreme Court allowing the courts to reevaluate 

a divorce settlement where it can be shown 

that one of the parties lied as to his/her financial 

situation in the original divorce proceedings. 

Representing one of the successful ex-wives in the 

Supreme Court was Liverpool barrister, Sam Hillas. Sam 

lives in Birkenhead and is based at St John’s Buildings 

Chambers in Liverpool. Sam and her team took on the 

case on a speculative basis with no guarantee of 

payment. Sam told the press that she took the case on 

because of what she perceived as the huge injustice 

which the ex-wives of lying husbands were suffering. Her 

legal skills have resulted in what many will see as justice 

served. 

Please feel free to send me your comments, observations 

or photographs to ai@liverpoollawsociety.org.uk

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