20 minute read
News. A round up of what's been happening at the Society and members' news
NEWS
said: “We know from our work in supporting lawyers for over 20 years how difficult it is for lawyers to admit they are struggling with the pressures of work - which often leads them to seek help when they are nearing crisis. We want to change this. Providing legal professionals with resources to enable them to understand and develop key emotional competencies such as emotional self-awareness, self-reflection and better strategies for emotional self-regulation will equip them more effectively for practice, enhance their wellbeing and potentially reduce levels of stress, anxiety and depression.”
Legal mental health and wellbeing charity LawCare and academics at the University of Sheffield and The Open University have launched a new free online resource on emotional competency and professional resilience for the legal community.
The interactive resource, called Fit for Law, is part of an on-going project to promote psychologically and emotionally healthier ways of working within law and was developed based on evidence from focus groups with legal professionals across the UK and Ireland. The course takes 2-4 hours in total to complete but is broken down into smaller sections, and includes videos from legal professionals discussing wellbeing issues as well as a range of interactive activities.
Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare, Dr Emma Jones, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sheffield said: “The course being launched focuses on ‘Managing and Understanding Yourself’ and offers legal professionals practical tips, based on sound evidence, to assist them in developing healthier working practices to enhance their wellbeing. We are also developing a further course on ‘Working with Others’ and a tool kit for employers, to encourage positive organisational and cultural change in the legal workplace.”
The resources are available to everyone studying law or working in the legal profession in the UK and Ireland and could be used as CPD in some jurisdictions. For more information visit www.fitforlaw.org.uk
FLINT BISHOP ENTERS BIRMINGHAM LEGAL MARKET
Following its most successful year to date, Derby-based law firm Flint Bishop, which employs 187 lawyers and support staff, opened its new Birmingham office on the 15 January. This comes after a period of expansion across the full-service law firm with the new office to offer a broad range of commercial services.
Last year, Flint Bishop posted a record turnover of £14.4 m, up nearly 10% on the previous year with profits also rising over the same period. With a substantial number of new recruits, including two partners in the insurance litigation and employment teams over the last 12 months, the firm has received a lot of interest from lawyers working within Birmingham to join the new office.
The new West Midlands operation will be based in the heart of the city’s business district at Grosvenor House on Bennetts Hill, just off Temple Row and Colmore Row. Flint Bishop will have an immediate presence of lawyers working in insurance litigation, commercial litigation and debt recovery followed by further teams in other practice areas. Insurance litigation is the firm’s largest practice area for headcount and revenue, which has significantly grown over the past three years. The team represents clients across government agencies, insurers and companies handling claims such as motor claims, fraud, credit hire, large loss, catastrophic loss and recoveries.
The firm has already attracted candidates from BLM, DAC Beachcroft, Keoghs, Browne Jacobson and DWF. With 36 staff, this makes it one of the largest defendant litigation teams across the region and it is also continuing to expand the portfolio of high quality, complex cases it undertakes.
Flint Bishop’s chief executive Qamer Ghafoor said: “This is a very exciting time for us and the move into Birmingham reflects a period of sustained and significant growth for the firm. The new Birmingham office represents a huge investment for Flint Bishop and forms part of a wider strategy to meet the requirements of our national client base, raise our profile and attract more legal talent from the city. It provides an opportunity for lawyers to work within a gold standard Investors in People accredited law firm where staff are really valued, recognised and rewarded, whilst maintaining the quality of clients and legal work associated with the Birmingham market.” Flint Bishop is recognised as one of the UK’s premier national firms for commercial litigation and debt recovery representing leading brands such as Royal Mail, Autoglass, Sixt, Costcutter and the Food Standards Agency. Ranked in the ‘Top Tier’ for The Legal 500 for both debt recovery and commercial litigation, the firm has also won all three major national debt recovery awards.
“Litigation and recoveries are major growth areas for us - over the past 12 months, we’ve handled almost 50,000 cases at the combined value over £100m. Our Birmingham operation will give us greater scope to build on this strength,” added Qamer.
OPPORTUNITIES IN BIRMINGHAM
Flint Bishop is a multi-award-winning, UK Top 200 law firm with some of the most talented legal experts in the Midlands.
Following our most successful year to date, we are recruiting for individuals to join our Insurance Litigation, Debt Recovery and Commercial Property teams based at our new Birmingham office in the heart of the city’s business district on Bennetts Hill.
The roles will involve working with well-known national and international brands such as Royal Mail, National Trust, Henry Boot, Haven Insurance and global publishing giant, LexisNexis (part of the RELX Group).
For more information and to apply, visit flintbishop.co.uk/careers/ or email Holly Dixon at holly.dixon@flintbishop.co.uk
We are recruiting individuals for the following roles: • Insurance litigation • Solicitor • Paralegal • Recoveries paralegal • Recoveries supervisor • Debt recovery • Debt recovery manager • Paralegal • Commercial property • Partner • Associate We pride ourselves on the calibre of our employees across the firm and offer attractive packages for candidates of all ranges.
NEWS
In January 2019 Kang & Co Solicitors chose Acorns Children’s Hospice as their 2019 charity partner with a goal to raise funds and awareness for the children’s hospices based in the Midlands which provides essential specialist palliative care services to babies, children, young people and their families across the region.
Kang & Co Solicitors has worked tirelessly to promote the charity throughout 2019 and has raised a total of £1,500 in donations for the charity.
Amy Deakin, Partnership Fundraising Manager for New Business & Projects said “We’re extremely grateful for supporters like Kang & Co Solicitors as they help fund our ongoing work providing vital care to children with life limiting and life-threatening conditions. By setting up a Just Giving page linked to Acorns Children’s Hospice, they were able to share this with their clients, suppliers and contacts when encouraging them to support the great cause, and as a result, have achieved the marvellous grand total of £1,500 this year. What a great way to give back to your local children’s hospice at Christmas! Thank you to all those individuals and businesses involved, and especially Kang & Co for enabling this support!”
Acorns provides babies, children and young people aged 0 – 18 years who have life limiting or life-threatening conditions and associated complex needs with a network of specialist palliative nursing care and support. Manjinder Kang, Director of Kang & Co Solicitors said “It’s been a pleasure supporting Acorns throughout 2019. The support and assistance provided to children and their families is crucial, and I am glad that we were able to help by raising donations via our JustGiving page”.
GETTING TO GRIPS WITH ACCOUNTING AND VALUATIONS: FOUR SESSIONS -28/01/2020 08:00 - 29/04/2020 08:00 @ Mazars LLP, 45 Church Street B3 2RT UPCOMING BIRMINGHAM LAW SOCIETY EVENTS
BLS, BTSS & BSG LEGAL EAGLES QUIZ 4 February @ Bank Restaurant, Brindley Place B1 2JB
SOLICITORS ACCOUNTS RULES 25 March 2020 @ Clarke Willmott, 138 Edmund St, Birmingham B3 2ES
ADVOCACY TRAINING 26 MARCH 2020 @ No5 Chambers, Fountain Court Steelhouse Lane B4 6DR
LEGAL AWARDS 2020 27 MARCH 2020 18:45 - 01:00 @ The ICC, Broad Street B1 2EA AGM 28 April 2020 @ No5 Chambers, Fountain Court, Steelhouse Ln, Birmingham B4 6DR
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NEWS
The Birmingham Medico-Legal Society aims to promote medico-legal knowledge and develop contacts and co-operation between the professions of medicine and law. BIRMINGHAM MEDICO-LEGAL SOCIETY
Since 1987, the council members of the Society have organised an annual programme of lectures and social events for legal and medical professionals, and more recently students. This season, the society would like to welcome the newly elected members to council; Rebecca Lawrence (President), Madhu Rai (Vice-President), Tim Muscroft (Immediate Past-President), Kate Campbell-Gunn (Treasurer), Johnathan Hurlow (Honorary Secretary), Arran Kaur, Tony Feltbower and Jenny Tetlow (Council Members).
Rebecca Lawrence comments “With a fantastic mix of medico-legal topics, this year’s programme is extremely exciting and we look forward to welcoming new members!” The society are also arranging a mock trial event jointly with the BMI Psychiatry Division in May. Members can claim CPD points by attending the educational events.
An outline of the remaining events in the 2019/2020 program is as follows:
24 Feb 2020 Lecture: Chronic Pain from a Legal Perspective, Miss Fiona Ashworth – Barrister with chronic pain specialism, Kings Chambers
30 Mar 2020 Lecture: The Effect of Medico-legal Reports on Therapy and the Therapeutic Relationship, Ms Debra Gordon – Psychological Therapist, Freedom from Torture
May 2020Mock Trial: BMLS and BMI Psychiatry Division Joint Symposium
Further details about the events, the society and membership can be found at www.bmlsinfo.org/ or by contacting Zoe Reece, BMLS Secretariat secretariat@bmlsinfo.org
24 Apr 2020 Annual Dinner: Black-tie Social Event with after dinner speaker at Edgbaston Golf Club, Dr Frank Farnham – Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist
MAKING TAX DIGITAL IS FORCING FIRMS TO REVIEW THEIR OUTDATED LEGAL IT SYSTEMS
A firm is advised to look at the whole of market and not just take the word of its existing supplier.
Firms invited by their supplier to upgrade are advised to;
1. Understand the time needed to plan for a new system : The average time from an old system to new is 3-6 months - doing nothing is not an option.
Year one of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT (the soft landing period) ends this April. Firms may be using bridging software, provided by their IT supplier, to meet electronic VAT filing requirements. Soft landing was only ever a temporary measure. It does not deal with other elements of MTD like digital record keeping writes Tim Smith, Technical Director at Insight Legal.
Entering year 2 after April, firms can face a financial penalty if HMRC considers a practice has not been making enough of an effort to comply with MTD.
What does this mean for law firms?
Firms operating the oldest systems are most likely at risk of a penalty and may now consider their next steps. Software developers are investing in their current platforms, making them MTD-compliant. A developer would like to migrate all its legacy customers to its current platform, but is that the right decision for a firm?
10 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 2. What’s really on offer from the existing supplier? Ask for a proposal of what the supplier’s deal is. What are the costs, is any ‘special offer’ time limited and what if you choose not to take up the offer?
3. Discuss within the firm your needs from any new IT software Don’t assume your existing supplier knows what’s best. There’s no point paying for great functionality that won’t be used.
4. Which developers offer a migration path from your existing system? Find out about other suppliers with a good track record of migrating from your current system to theirs. With years of historical data, live matters and finance records, it’s inconceivable to re-enter data manually in exchange for successful migration.
5. How can I believe what a software company tells me? Look for third party indicators, like awards or accreditations to support claims about the quality of product and service?
Finally, if you’re unsure about the questions or fearful of understanding the responses, seek advice from a legal IT expert.
To discuss this topic further or the services Insight Legal can offer, please give them a call on 01252 518939, email them at info@insightlegal.co.uk or visit their website; www.insightlegal.co.uk
RISE IN LAWYERS SEEKING HELP OVER BULLYING
The number of legal professionals contacting the charity LawCare for emotional support continues to rise year on year, with 677 people seeking help in 2019.
The charity, which runs a helpline, webchat, email and peer support service for the legal profession received over 900 contacts in 2019 and saw an 8% rise in the number of people seeking help compared to 2018.
The most common problems cited were stress (26%) and depression (12%). The number of lawyers contacting the charity about bullying continues to increase, from 47 callers in 2018 to 80 last year – now accounting for 12% of all contacts. 66% of those who contacted LawCare about this issue said they were being bullied by a manager or superior.
The majority of callers to the helpline were women (67%). 53% of all callers were trainees/pupils, or had been qualified less than five years, and a further 5% were law students.
For support call the helpline on 0800 279 6888 in the UK and 1800 991 801 in Ireland, or for more information visit www.lawcare.org.uk or www.lawcare.ie West Midlands law firm Higgs & Sons raised £22,250 for good causes in 2019 with half of the funds going to Higgs’ Charity of the Year and the remainder split between 11 good causes. HIGGS & SONS RAISES £22,250
Charity of the Year 2019 WINGS, Wombourne Special Needs Support Group, was founded by a small group of parents of children with special needs and was presented with a cheque for £11,250.
Simon Lilley of WINGS said: “We can’t thank Higgs & Sons enough for choosing us as their Charity of the Year. WINGS provides a much loved and valued service and this very generous financial support will make a significant difference to our work in the community.”
After announcing the fundraising total, Tim Jones, Partner and Head of the Corporate Social Responsibility programme at Higgs, unveiled the firm’s Charity of the Year 2020 as the Teenage Cancer Trust. He said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with WINGS and getting to know more about the invaluable work they do. As a relatively small organisation I am consistently astounded at how much we are able to raise for our chosen charities. I am looking forward to carrying on that tradition with our new charity, Teenage Cancer Trust, who do such incredible work with teenagers and young people not only here in the Black Country but throughout the UK.”
Louise Walker, Relationship Manager for West Midlands and Oxfordshire at Teenage Cancer Trust said: “We’re delighted to have been chosen by Higgs & Sons as their 2020 Charity of the Year. It’s an exciting time to be involved with Teenage Cancer Trust as we celebrate our 30th birthday and look forward to supporting Higgs with a fun-filled calendar of charity fundraising. With their help we can improve the experience, survival and recovery of young people with cancer in the Black Country and beyond.”
SBA The Solicitors’ Charity is led by the profession, for the profession. Last year, it awarded over £1m in financial support to solicitors in England and wales.
The charity needs you and your firm’s help to continue to support all solicitors in times of need or crisis. You can help by becoming a volunteer, making donations or offering your residual client balances.
Solicitors Benevolent Association Limited, Registered Office: 1 Jaggard Way, London SW12 8SG A charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales number: 6601907 Registered Charity number: 1124512 When it feels like the rest of the world is against you, don’t worry, there is a team that’s got your back - but they need our help. It can sometimes feel like no one’s on your side - you’ve got difficult cases, challenging clients and the stress of dealing with new regulations. It mounts up, pressure builds and worst of all, everyone seems to think, ‘cheer up, you’re a solicitor, it can’t be that bad can it?’. They just don’t get it. They don’t understand how varied and challenging our profession can be. Trust me, I should know, I’ve been a solicitor for over 20 years. The people at SBA The Solicitors’ Charity are different, they stand by your side no matter what and have been doing it well, for over 160 years in fact. This is an invitation to find out how your charity can help you and your colleagues with financial, emotional or practical help and how you can help your charity in its work. After all, you never know when you might need their assistance. Head to www.sba.org.uk/yourcharity now or call the team on 020 8675 6440. Dear every solicitor in England and Wales Re: All solicitors are supported in times of need or crisis
OPINION
FROM HURRICANES TO HIGHGATE Manhattan and the City of London just with more palm trees and iguanas.
I left the UK at the end of 2010. No one had heard of Brexit or Ed Sheeran and even Game of Thrones was still in development. I had been offered a two-year contract in the Turks and Caicos where the draw of Caribbean weather and a tax-free salary beckoned. The Isle of Man did not quite have the same draw. I returned in 2019 as a commercial barrister at No5 Barristers’ Chambers working out of Birmingham and London writes No5 Barrister Alex Heylin.
My four years in TCI ranged from representing several government ministers with my prosecutor being Rob Rinder before he transformed into Judge Rinder. TCI was my first experience of offshore financial centres and like all first loves still has a special place in my heart and made me a huge beach snob after the incomparable Gracebay Beach. I then went to study in New York for a Masters in corporate law and I still feel part New Yorker. Then I moved between Cayman and the British Virgin Islands (interrupted by hurricane Irma) and back again working for a New York law firm.
As a litigator the offshore world is fascinating with the work being very international and with a lot of zeros. Highlights included rolling up a $300 million Ponzi scheme for the victims as well, as acting for the late Prince (of musical not Megxit fame).
There a lot of myths about the offshore world but the reality of Cayman was that it was very similar to Clients would range from Insolvency Practitioners chasing money down for creditors, New York hedge funds to Russian Oligarchs who had fallen out with their business partners.
The Financial services court in Cayman and Commercial Court in BVI were very similar to the English high court whether in Birmingham or London (often with the same judges) and some of the best lawyers in the UK and elsewhere were often involved in the cases that not infrequently ran into the billions of $.
So why come back? I am now back at the English Bar again ten years after I left it. Ultimately there is only so many boats you can go on and dark and stormy’s you can drink. Despite some of the toxicity about Brexit it has got people engaged again to think about the good and bad of our country with a much overdue refocus on the Midlands and North.
The fact is despite nine years and five countries I will always be British and there are many wonderful things about this country; and I missed it. As for losing the tax-free salary well no one enjoys paying taxes, but it is the price for living in a civilised and caring society.
As a commercial barrister at No5 Barristers’ Chambers I am plugged into one of the great commercial centres of the world with English common law as the number one choice for international commercial disputes. Brexit is not going to change the fact the English High Court whether sitting in Birmingham or London has some of the best judges in the world both learned in the law and incorruptible.
From these locations I can offer my experience and expertise on disputes from all over the world to be determined in our courts, which are much in demand.
A LAWYERS' GUIDE TO MORTGAGES BY SARAH DEACON AT WESLEYAN, A SPECIALIST FINANCIAL SERVICES MUTUAL FOR LAWYERS.
Many in the legal sector aren’t aware that their professional status can be an advantage when it comes to making mortgage or remortgage applications.
Recent application figures from Wesleyan Financial Services show that the average mortgage advance given to lawyers is 52% higher than the national average* when compared to lending figures from the Bank of England.
We've outlined three key tips to help you stay ahead of the game.
LOOK ATTRACTIVE ON PAPER
When assessing your suitability for a mortgage, lenders don't just look at your monthly income. They also have a duty to assess whether you can afford to keep up with the re-payments after your monthly outgoings are taken into account.
If you’re a newly qualified lawyer, you may have debts to repay such as student loans which will also be considered.
Producing a household budget detailing your monthly income and expenditure can help to build a strong mortgage application and demonstrate to lenders that you’re making a realistic application.
Clearing any outstanding debt such as credit card bills can also support the process and give potential lenders the opportunity to lend you that bit more towards your dream home.
HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR CREDIT SCORE
It’s better to identify any unexpected results in your credit score before you make a mortgage application rather than try to rectify them during the process. Many lawyers believe the gravitas of a career as a professional will outweigh their credit score. In fact, your credit score can often take you by surprise if, for example you’ve shared an address or postcode with someone with a poor credit history or remain linked to a previous partner with whom you made a joint credit application.
In some cases, you may be able to amend inaccuracies on your credit file; however it’s important to check your credit score before you put pen to paper. There are many credit services available, at no or low cost.
UNDERSTAND WHAT’S ON OFFER
To help consumers make the right choice for them, all UK lenders must display the overall cost per comparison percentage, also known as Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APRC), alongside the interest rate.
The APRC is quoted as a percentage of the interest payable on the total amount of credit. It takes account of all fees that may be payable including the interest rate at the start of the mortgage and after the rate period has ended, any application or product fees as well as redemption fees.
When looking at the APRC you should bear in mind that the calculation assumes you will stick with same product and provider for the duration of the mortgage, which can be up to 40 years in today’s market.
To find out more information on how to find the right mortgage for you visit: www.wesleyan.co.uk/mortgages/personalmortgages
Your mortgage is secured on your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
