Local News

Mediator Russell Evans wins 2020 UK Mediation Award

Russell Evans, a Senior Mediator at Resolve UK who works from bases in the South of England & London, has been recognised in the national mediation community, winning ‘Mediation Expert of the Year in the United Kingdom’ – Global Advisory Experts Award 2020.

After training and then working for CEDR as a Mediator & Arbitrator on their dispute resolution panels, Russell has for many years been a leading mediator and arbitrator at Resolve UK a national dispute resolution panel accredited by the Civil Mediation Council.

Russell has judged both national and international mediation competitions and is an expert not only in resolving commercial and partnership disputes but contentious probate, proprietary estoppel and tolata claims.

On receiving the award Russell said: “It is a great honour and privilege to be recognised in the mediation community not only for the dispute resolution work I have undertaken for large companies and government agencies but for charities and the under privileged. As Mediators we strive to help parties find solutions and peace amongst the turmoil of daily life and business. At this time our thoughts go out to all those who have suffered during the pandemic and to the amazing dedicated work performed by our health workers.”

As part of an initiative to confront the Coronavirus epidemic, Russell set up an Online Mediation forum to enable individuals and businesses to resolve disputes from the safety and comfort of their home or office.

Russell is a pro-active mediator who empowers parties to resolve disputes and unlock their future. ■

Guildford’s DR Solicitors shortlisted for prestigious legal award

Local law firm DR Solicitors has been shortlisted for a prestigious Law Society Excellence Award, the highest accolade for law firms in England and Wales.

DR Solicitors has been shortlisted in the category of Law Firm of the Year (Small).

Daphne Robertson, founder and senior partner said “This has been a year of very significant change for our clients (who all work in primary care) and therefore also for DR Solicitors. The 2 main factors have been a total restructure of primary care delivery in England and then, of course, COVID-19. We have been incredibly busy with both of these events, and as a result have seen our revenues and profits increase. The team at DR Solicitors have worked incredibly hard to support our clients over the last year and I am delighted to share this piece of good news with them.”

Law Society of England and Wales president Simon Davis said: “Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted. There are more than 9,000 firms and 190,000 solicitors in England and Wales, so to be shortlisted for a Law Society Excellence Award is to be recognised as being among the very best of the best. The justice system was already under immense pressure prior to COVID-19 and the situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, making the incredible work that is being done by solicitors across the country day-in day-out to support their clients more vital than ever.”

Winners will be announced in a series of online ceremonies from 13-15 October. ■

Moore Barlow appoints new HR and Marketing Directors

Katherine Allison and Tom Newman-Young join the firm’s executive leadership team to drive post-merger, people-led growth strategy

Top 100 UK law firm Moore Barlow has announced two senior appointments to the firm’s senior leadership team – Katherine Allison, who joins as the firm’s HR Director, and Tom Newman-Young, who joins as the firm’s Marketing Director.

Katherine Allison joins the team with an academic background in organisational psychology and more than two decades of HR leadership and change management experience across a number of fast-paced, complex, dynamic global organisations spanning professional services, technology, communications and public sectors. Most recently, she served as HR Director for recruitment technology platform Oleeo (formerly WCN Plc), where she was responsible for setting up the entire HR function

globally. Among her achievements included setting the vision and delivering against the people strategy, supporting a global re-brand to set our Oleeo’s employee value proposition and developing a collaboration-based, high-performance culture. Her previous experience has included roles as HR Business Partner and Senior Change Manager at international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna which was at the time undergoing fundamental and widespread change to its organisation, processes, technology and culture. During her time at CMS, Katherine led strategic projects, across multiple locations, as part of the firm’s business transformation programme. Prior to this, Katherine held senior HR roles at PR agencies Weber Shandwick and NextFifteen Communications Group.

A 14-year veteran of the advertising industry, Tom Newman- Young brings significant experience in building and growing major UK and global brands across the financial services, airlines, telecoms and FMCG sectors - including defining brand positioning, developing marketing strategy and developing highly effective communications programmes. He joins Moore Barlow from AMV BBDO, where he served as a Senior Board Account Director and worked with major global brands such as PepsiCo (Walkers Crisps, Quaker Oats, Tropicana), Mars and BT. Prior to this, he served as Business Director with Leagas Delaney, working with such brands as Patek Philippe, Investec and Deutsche Bank. He also spent nine years at BBH, where his clients included Barclays, British Airways and Vodafone, among others.

The new appointments to the firm’s executive leadership team come shortly after the official launch of the recently merged Moore Barlow in May 2020. The merger established a new regional powerhouse firm with a significant geographic footprint across the South East, serving clients across the UK and internationally. The firm boasts some of the largest and most comprehensive teams of legal advisors in areas such as private client, personal injury, clinical negligence and property.

Ed Whittington, managing partner of Moore Barlow, said: “Katherine and Tom are a welcome addition to our senior leadership team, and join us at an opportune and pivotal time, as we continue our journey post-merger. They each bring a wealth and depth of experience that will help drive and steer our ambitious people-led strategy and growth plans over the next few months and years ahead. The importance of both people and brand for Moore Barlow cannot be underestimated, particularly in such a highly competitive marketplace.

“Katherine and Tom represent exactly the sort of world-class talent that we seek to attract. Working alongside our existing and dedicated team, we look forward to their contributions and leadership as we continue on our exciting journey.” ■

The University of Law adapts to life during the Coronavirus Pandemic

On Wednesday 18 March the University of Law suspended face to face teaching at all its campuses and moved its teaching online. Whilst a daunting prospect, the University of Law has over ten years’ experience of delivering online programmes and so the transition was remarkably seamless.

Lectures and workshops were streamed live to ensure that students had an opportunity to ask questions of their tutors. However, in order to ensure that students would be able to access teaching, even if they were unwell or out of the country and so in a different time zone, the University decided in addition to record lectures and workshops. Later feedback from students was very positive on the transition.

It was not just the teaching sessions which were moved online. Personal tutor meetings, careers appointments, welfare and counselling appointments were moved onto virtual platforms. Assessments too moved online and took the form of either open book courseworks submitted via the Turnitin platform or live examinations invigilated by the online invigilation service, ProctorU.

Understandable anxiety in the student body quite quickly transformed into acceptance of the new normal. Students increasingly engaged with online employability workshops, employer talks and competitions including a summer Commercial Awareness challenge.

In May there was an online quiz for all students from the Guildford and Reading campus. We had 8 rounds of 10 questions, a double points joker and a picture round. Each round was contributed to by 2 or more different staff members collaborating. Teams had 8 minutes to answer the 10 questions in a round and were allowed to confer privately via WhatsApp. We had about 110 participants and 10+ “crew” on the night but next time hope for more. The evening was a great success.

In June we also moved our mooting competition final online using two tutors to judge. One tutor asked the questions and the other kept notes and time for the first mooter, then they swapped roles for each student. The standard was exceedingly high and the students coped professionally despite the strange online environment. Interacting with your audience is a different skill online and they were not fazed. All four finalists have a real chance of obtaining pupillage in the future.

It has been possible students to book three hour study slots on the University of Law’s own campuses during the easing of lockdown. This was particularly important for students who are in digital poverty or find it difficult to find a quiet place to work at home. Now that we return of face to face teaching in September the University has introduced at its campuses various measures to ensure the safety of students and staff. These include social distancing markers, thermographic cameras on entry, hand sanitiser stations, Perspex screens at reception desks in Student Information and the Library as well as requiring staff and students to wear face coverings.

In the event that Government guidance changes and the University is not able to remain open, the University’s Study Guarantee means that sessions will be streamed until such time as we can return to campus. If University campuses are open but a student is unable to attend (perhaps because of travel restrictions or concerns about coming to campus) then they will be able to access their sessions online until they are able to switch to face to face teaching.

We are incredibly proud to have continued the education of hundreds of students to a successful completion in the summer, and to welcome even greater numbers to our campuses this September. Our outgoing undergraduates gave us 100% overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey, and we aim to achieve the same standard of service across all of our courses. ■

Morrisons Solicitors’ Court of Protection team expands into welfare work

Morrisons Solicitors LLP have an established and market leading team who represent the interests of vulnerable adults, both in the everyday execution of their affairs, and in the protection from and prosecution against abuse, coercion and exploitation.

In recent years, the Court of Protection has seen a surge in welfare applications with the court being asked to make health and welfare decisions on behalf of people who lack capacity to make these decisions for themselves.

Given the natural crossover between health and welfare and property and financial affairs work, the vision for the team at Morrisons Solicitors is to provide a holistic service to its elderly and vulnerable clients by broadening its advice and support beyond property and financial affairs into matters involving the client’s health needs, community care and general welfare.

To support this growth, Morrisons have hired Kate Churchouse into the team as a Senior Associate Solicitor. Kate previously headed up a Court of Protection team at a firm in Hampshire which specialised in assisting and representing vulnerable people in applying to the Court of Protection in matters relating to their health and welfare. Within her previous role, Kate was regularly instructed by the Official Solicitor and Independent Mental Capacity Advocates to represent clients who were subject to a standard authorisation granted under Sch. A1 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (DoLS) and who wished to challenge their care regime which amounted to a deprivation of their liberty.

Kate also has experience representing local authority legal departments and is also able to offer advice to local authority social care departments and public health boards on matters concerning community care and mental health services with Morrisons acting as an agency firm for these organisations.

The addition of Kate’s expertise to the team will place Morrisons within the very small cohort of specialist leading firms in Court of Protection and Mental Capacity Law in England.

Holly Chanter, Partner and Head of Morrisons Private Client and Court of Protection department, commented “Given the rapid and ongoing growth of Court of Protection work, I am delighted that we are now able to offer specialist health and welfare advice for our clients. Kate brings a wealth of experience and we will be supporting her to develop her expertise further”.

Kate added “Holly and the team at Morrisons have an excellent reputation for the service they provide to their vulnerable clients. I am looking forward to expanding the service to include the provision of welfare advice and representation to our existing clients and to go further to develop a specialist team of advisors able to provide advice and representation to professional bodies and individuals within the welfare sector. It is a very exciting opportunity for both myself and the firm”.

The growing success of Morrisons’ Court of Protection team has seen a marked increase in clients referred to the firm who require a deputy to look after and manage their property and financial affairs. Holly Chantler is a panel deputy appointed by the Court of Protection and currently acts as a professional deputy for approximately 80 clients who lack capacity to manage their financial affairs.

Health and welfare decisions made by the Court on behalf of people who lack capacity, known as ‘best interests decisions’, include where the person should live and how their health and care needs should be met. Often, where the person who lacks capacity is subject to a care regime which amounts to a deprivation of their liberty, the Court is asked to make more complex best interests decisions based on a range of matters based on the particular needs and circumstances of that person. ■

Stowe Family Law has opened an office in Guildford

Stowe Family Law (Stowe) has opened an office in Guildford taking the firm’s national presence to 25 offices and reinforcing its position as the country’s largest specialist family law practice.

The new office will be headed up by Managing Partner, Emma Newman and supported by Senior Solicitors, Niamh McCarthy and Sarah Hodges, both of whom bring a wealth of family law knowledge to the town.

The team specialises in all aspects of family law including divorce, separation, cohabitation issues, nuptial agreements, arrangements for children and financial settlements.

As with all the firm’s offices, Guildford will have access to a network of over 70 specialist family lawyers, together with its in-house Forensic Accountancy team who examine financial disclosure specifically within divorce proceedings.

Southern Regional Director, Andrew Miller, said: “The addition of the Guildford office enhances Stowe’s national footprint and prominence in the family law sector. We now have more specialist family lawyers than any other firm in the country, enabling us to provide the very best legal knowledge and experience to our clients.”

He continues: “I am delighted we are opening an office in Guildford as part of our continued growth nationally, and particularly that we are now able to provide more locally-based family law services in Surrey.”

Managing Partner, Emma Newman said: “I have practised family law in Surrey for over 20 years, and I am thrilled to head up the opening of the Stowe office in Guildford. Niamh and Sarah are talented and empathetic lawyers and dedicated to achieving the best outcomes for their clients so that they can move forward with their lives. We are looking forward to welcoming clients to our new office soon.” ■