North West Law

The Monthly Publication of the Manchester Law Society

May 2014NewsSeven deals for DLA page 6

Another Accolade for Maurice Watkinspage 7

Linder Myers saved in deal with AssureLaw page 8

ABS Status for Express page 11

Report from the Civil Justice Councilpage 14

FeaturesIn ConversationKathleen Wilkinson of the PhiladelphiaBar Association

page 13International Festival for Business

page 27

RegularsManchester Law Society Conferences

page 4Members Reward Cardsee your latest offers... page 18

Monthly CompetitionWin four rounds of golf at NorthendenGolf Club

page 29

Single issue £3.50, 12 month subscription £54.00free to members

Manchester Law Society sign friendship agreementwith the Philadelphia BarAt a ceremony held in theLord Mayor’s Parlour atManchester Town Hall,David Joseph, the Presi-dent of Manchester LawSociety and KathleenWilkinson, representativeof the Philadelphia Barand Immediate Past Chan-cellor signed an historicagreement that seeks toform and develop a work-ing relationship betweenthe two societies.

The signing was witnessedby the Lord Mayor of Man-chester, Councillor NaleemUl Hassan and members ofthe Manchester Law Soci-ety.

Kathleen Wilkinson repre-sents the 13,000 strongPhiladelphia Bar Associa-tion. Founded in 1802, theAssociation is Pennsylva-nia’s largest local bar associ-ation and the oldest barassociation in the United

States.

Kathleen, a partner with Wil-son Esler LLP has earned areputation for defendingcomplex cases involving avariety of products, con-struction, premises, profes-sional liability, medicaldevices and pharmaceuti-cals. A litigator with morethan 30 years of experience,her clients include a majorinsurance brokerage firm,construction companiesand major products manu-facturers.

David Joseph said “This is anhistoric occasion and Man-chester Law Society are de-lighted to welcomeKathleen and Tom to Man-chester. We hope that thisrelationship will help to fos-ter a mutually beneficialworking relationship andprovide us with a betterknowledge of the legal andjudicial systems in the US.

Whilst in Manchester Kath-leen Wilkinson, who was ac-companied by her husbandTom, former President ofthe Pennsylvania State Barattended meetings with theManchester Law Society

and law firms in the city aswell as visiting the Civil Jus-tice Centre, and concludingwith the match at Manches-ter City.

More on page 13

L to R: Louise Straw, Vice President of Manchester Law Society, JeffLewis, Past President of Manchester Law Society, Kathleen Wilkin-son of Philadelphia Bar Association, Councillor Naleem Ul Hassan,Lord Mayor, David Joseph, President of Manchester Law Society andTom Wilkinson

On the 10th April 2013 theMinistry of Justice (M.O.J)published ‘TransformingLegal Aid’, announcing itsintention to reduce by£200 million criminallegal aid spend, includingintroducing Price Compet-itive Tendering (PCT) forlegal aid criminal con-tracts and large cuts of be-tween 17.5% and 30%.

The Criminal Law SolicitorsAssociation (C.L.S.A), Lon-don Criminal Courts Solici-tors Association (L.C.C.S.A),Criminal Bar Association(C.B.A.) and the Justice Al-liance have been active inmobilising and campaign-ing nationally, includinglobbying the public andM.P’s. and the ParliamentaryJustice Select Committee.An online petition with wellover a 100,000 signatureswas obtained. Over 16,000detailed responses repliedto the consultation. The Na-tional Law Society engaged

in a controversial policy ofengagement with the M.O.J.

The campaign was effectiveand in August 2013 the MOJannounced it would aban-don PCT. On the 27th Febru-ary 2014, however, theM.O.J published its final pro-posals. The proposals aredevastating. A 2 phased cutof 17.5% to criminal legalrates. The first cut of 8.75%to solicitor’s fees com-menced on the 20th March2014. Advocates/barristersgraduated fees would becut by at least 6% in spring2014. Cuts of 30% to ‘VeryHigh Cost Cases’ (V.H.C.C),introduced at the end of2013, will remain in force.

A two tier ‘own client’ andthen ‘duty solicitor’ contracttender’ will commence inApril and July 2014. Anytender bid will be based onrates 17-5% below currentlegal aid rates. Duty con-tracts will only be ter-

minable by the M.O.J. Thisscheme will reduce the cur-rent “supplier base” from1200 firms to 525 nationally,only 315 outside of London.There will be 17 duty con-tracts in Gtr Manchester, anarea that stretches fromStockport to Wigan. In Gtr`Manchester alone, up to 80firms will be effected.

Two economic reports com-

missioned by the M.O.J., ‘Ot-terburn’ and ‘KPMG’ statethat the MOJ’s proposals areunworkable. What othervital public service will besubject to such savage cutsand reckless reorganisa-tion? The criminal defencecommunity will be deci-mated. Many firms, small,medium and even largeface the prospect of staff re-

Save Criminal Justice. The Next Steps

continued on page 10

Photograph courtesy of Oliver Gardner

3Manchester Law Society President’s Column

President’s ColumnThe Civil Proceedings Fees(Amendment) Order 2014will come into force on22nd April 2014.

This is the day we see the in-troduction of a singlecounty court and a singlefamily court. For civil, insol-vency, landlord and tenantand family practitionersthere are, in certain situa-tions, substantial increasesto fees for example, fees forclaims issued throughMoney Claim Online thatexceed £50,000 but do notexceed £100,000, are in-creased from £595 to £815and the fee for applicationson notice is increased to£155 from £80. Saying this,there is a concession thatfees payable on filing a di-rections questionnaire andfiling a pre-trial checklist areremoved the intentionbeing that the costs of theseprocesses are now includedin the issue and hearing feesinstead.

I for one cannot help butthink that this is yet anotherblow for access to justice.Many colleagues within theprofession are telling methat a rise last year in thesmall claims limit to £10,000

is having huge implicationsfor small to medium sizedbusinesses. Debtors aresimply not paying debtsunder £10,000 as they knowif proceedings are issuedagainst them and they losethe case, the additional costimplications will be minimalas the successful party is un-able to recover their costsfrom the unsuccessful party.

These points and otherswere put to The Law Societyrepresentatives at a meet-ing in Manchester on 8thApril chaired by the Law So-ciety President Nick Fluck.Various issues were dis-cussed in what appearedtoo me to be a productivemeeting.

Meanwhile, criminal solici-tor groups have taken thefirst step towards a legalchallenge to the govern-ment’s decision to pressahead with cuts to criminallegal aid. Accusing the Min-istry of Justice of carryingout an ‘unlawful’ consulta-tion, the London CriminalCourts Solicitors Association(LCCSA) and the CriminalLaw Solicitors Association(CLSA) have sent a letter ofclaim in accordance with

the pre-action protocol forjudicial review to Mr.Grayling’s Ministry followingadvice from a leading Silk. Iunderstand that the basis ofthe argument is that theMinistry acted unlawfully byfailing to give adequate rea-sons for the rejection of akey finding in the Otterburnreport. In case of an adversecosts finding in the eventthe review fails solicitorsand barristers have beenasked to donate and in 6days £50,000 was raised. Iam pleased to report thatMLS has donated, a vote infavour being passed over-whelmingly by the MLScouncil members.

MLS was pleased to wel-come Kathleen Wilkinson,immediate past Chancellorof the Philadelphia Bar andher husband Tom a formerPresident of the Pennsyl-vanian Bar to Manchesterwhere a friendship agree-ment was signed betweenMLS and the PhiladelphiaBar in the presence of theLord Mayor of Manchester,Councilor Naeem ul Hassan.My thanks goes to the LordMayor and to Judge DavidStockdale QC, the HonoraryRecorder of Manchester and

the Resident Judge at Man-chester Crown Court whoboth gave up their valuabletime to warmly greet ourAmerican guests. I wouldalso like to thank the LegalEducation Fund for welcom-ing us to their event at theMCJC and to Squire Sandersand DWF for hosting pro-ductive meetings at their of-fices.

Finally, a special thankyouto the Court service who al-lowed us to take “the walkof death” on the 10th Floorof the MCJC. You will bepleased to know that we allcame to no harm.

On 1st May I am delightedto announce that togetherwith Manchester Univer-sity’s faculty of Law, MLS isholding a breakfast withShami Chakrabarti CBE, abarrister who has, sinceSeptember 2003, been a Di-rector of the British civilliberties advocacy organisa-tion, Liberty. This promisesto be a most interestingevent and all are welcomealthough the number ofplaces are limited.

On Thursday 15th May MLSholds its first Regulatory

Conference with a first classgroup of speakers includingPaul Philip, Chief Executiveof the SRA, Des Hudson,Chief Executive of the LawSociety and Chris Kenny,Chief Executive of the LSB.The day will conclude with aPanel Debate entitled “Fi-nancial stability – How tosurvive and thrive in 2014,avoiding intervention, pro-fessional indemnity insur-ance.” Again I wouldencourage attendance.

Finally, I would like to pass

on my very best wishes toVicky Ridge who goes onmaternity leave very soonand also to welcome CarlaJones who has just joinedthe team at the MLS office.As Fran says, “listen to Franand ignore the Presidentand you’ll do just fine.”

David JosephPresident

4 Manchester Law Society News

News from Bridge Street CPD ProgrammeRegulatory ConferenceThursday 15th May 2014 The Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester9.00am - 4.30pm - Accredited for CPD by the Law Society – 5 CPD

Topics to be covered:

Key messages from the regulator The future of legal servicesAnti-money laundering – protecting your business from the fraudsters – Bill Jones,JMW LLP and ML Solutions 4UClient care and the consumerPanel Debate – Is OFR working? Has Freedom in Practice been achieved? COLPs andCOFAs – compliance champions or sacrificial lambs? Who will regulate us in the fu-ture?Information securityFinancial stability-the view from the BankPanel Debate – Financial stability – How to survive and thrive in 2014, avoiding intervention,professional indemnity insuranceCost to attend - £90 + VAT per member (£108 Total)£120 + VAT per non member (£144 Total)

Solicitors Account Rules 2014An essential update on Solicitors Account Rules, presented by Baker Tilly

DATE: Tuesday 3rd June 2014 CPD: 2.0VENUE: Baker Tilly, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester, M3 3HFTIME: 08.00 – 08.30 – Registration and breakfast

08.30 – 10.30 – Presentation and Q&ACOST: Member rate - £50.00 + VAT (£60.00)

Non member rate - £70.00 + VAT (£84.00)SPEAKERS: Andrew Baker & Steve Carter, Baker Tilly

Boardroom Bust Ups - Mediations from HellNorth West Mediation Solutions will present a mock mediation displaying the pitfalls,how they can be overcome and the resulting benefits of this form of dispute resolution

DATE: Tuesday, 10th June 2014 CPD: 2.0VENUE: TBCTIME: 5.00 – 5.30 pm – Registration and refreshments -

5.30 – 7.30 pm – Mock Mediation and Q & ACOST: Member rate - £15.00 + VAT (£18.00)

Non member rate - £20.00 + VAT (£24.00)KEY PLAYERS: Roger Broady, John Hewison, Jeff Lewis, Peter Vindell, Tim Wallis, Peter

Whitman and Mark Whittle

Managing ConflictWhether it’s with colleagues or clients conflicting situations can arise at any time.Knowing what to do to control and resolve the matter can be as daunting asthe situation itself! This seminar tackles conflicting situations head on!

DATE: Tuesday, 24th June 2014 CPD: 1.5VENUE: TBCTIME: 08.00 – 08.30 – Registration and breakfast

08.30 – 10.30 – Presentation and Q&ACOST: Member rate - £20.00 + VAT (£24.00)

Non member rate - £40.00 + VAT (£48.00)SPEAKERS: Mike Ode, Potential Unearthed

To book on any of the above coursesEmail: VictoriaRidge@manchesterlawsociety.org.uk

The Legal Services Board(LSB) welcomes the ap-pointment of Sir MichaelPitt as the Chairman desig-nate of the LSB. He will suc-ceed David Edmonds CBEwhose second term asChairman comes to an endon 30 April 2014.

Sir Michael, whose appoint-ment has been announcedtoday by the Lord Chancellorin consultation with the LordChief Justice, will becomeChairman on 1 May 2014.

Lord Chancellor, ChrisGrayling said: “I am pleased toannounce Sir Michael Pitt asthe new Chair of the LegalServices Board, and congratu-late him on his appointment.He brings with him experi-ence which will be invaluableto the LSB as it moves forwardin its important work oversee-ing the regulation of legalservices in England andWales. I wish him good luck inhis new role.”

Current Chairman of the LegalServices Board, David Ed-monds said:“I am delighted towelcome Michael as my suc-cessor as Chairman of theLegal Services Board. He willtake over at a exciting, inter-esting and challenging timefor legal services in Englandand Wales. He will lead an or-ganisation of committed pro-ponents of competition,market liberalisation, and put-

ting the consumer interest atthe heart of regulation. I wishhim well.”

Incoming Chair of the LegalServices Board, Sir MichaelPitt said “It is both an honourand a privilege to have beennominated as the new Chair-man of the Legal ServicesBoard. I know that in succeed-ing David Edmonds I am suc-ceeding an outstandingChairman.

I also know that I will takeover at a key point in the de-velopment of the legal serv-ices market and its regulation.I look forward to the chal-lenge of continuing to driveforward the positive changesfor consumers and new op-portunities for providerswhich the Act has initiated inlegal services in England andWales.”

New Chairman for the Legal Services Board

Sir Michael Pitt

Regeneration of Manchester Crown CourtThe Senior User Group of Manchester Crown Court met recently to discuss the regenera-tion of Manchester Crown Court. Rob Lancaster of Burton Copeland is the representativefor Manchester Law Society. Other representatives were present from the CPS, the Proba-tion Service, the Bar, the Judiciary (HHJ Mansell QC), and GEOamy.

The Court Service are attempting to secure funding of at least £3 million for the regenera-tion of Manchester Crown Court over the next few years. HHJ Mansell QC conducted a tourof the court identifying structural problems with the courtrooms and areas that could befocused upon. Courts 1-6 are in dire need of improvement in terms of modernisation, lay-out, etc to allow the court to continue to handle large serious cases.

Rob Lancaster says “Manchester Crown Court is a vast space. The area for advocates is sim-ply too big at the moment, and could be better served by making the areas more accessi-ble for work (i.e. an office away from the office). Secure WIFI may assist in allowing advocatesto work in designated areas, particularly if the courts re-invest in case management sys-tems.”

Manchester Law Society would like to hear ideas and suggestions from members and courtusers and these will be then forwarded on to the Senior User Group.

Please send your comments to FranEccles-Bech@Manchesterlawsociety.org.uk.

Welcome to Carla JonesVictoria Ridge, the Society’s CPD Events Manager will be going on maternity leave from Mayuntil February 2015 and Carla Jones will be covering in her absence.

Carla, 32 previously worked as a conference producer for the Institute of Mechanical Engi-neers. Carla enjoys listening to music and will be attending the Kendal Calling Festival laterin the year. She also enjoys sewing, knitting and baking, and won 2nd prize in the UltimateChocolate Cake competition in 2012.

Carla can be contacted on 0161 831 7337.

Regulatory Affairs Committee UpdateBy the time you read thismonth’s review, MLS will beabout to host its first regula-tory conference on the 15thMay and I am hoping to getan opportunity to meet andexchange views with anyreaders who are able to at-tend what promises to be anoteworthy event with keynote speakers from thefrontline regulators, notablyPaul Philip from the SRA,Des Hudson from the LawSociety and Chris Kennyfrom the legal servicesboard. A full report will be inthe next edition but in themeantime we take a look atwhat has been happeningon the regulatory landscapein our monthly round-up ofthe news….

What does the future hold?The new chief executivePaul Philip promised in hisfirst interview to “funda-mentally review the modelof regulation”, which soundsquite unsettling when thereign of outcomes-focusedregulation is barely 2 yearsold and was itself a productof another earlier funda-mental review.

At this early stage, ratherthan taking a lump hammerto the creation of his prede-cessors, his motivation is toconsider whether or not aone-size-fits-all approach tothe regulation of law firms isappropriate and whether itwill enable the SRA toachieve the regulatoryobectives set out in theLegal Services Act . To kickstart this information gath-ering exercise the SRA isinviting responses from theprofession through twonew consultations.

The first looks at whether ornot there is a need for solic-itors who aren’t practisingbut who want to stay on theroll to go through the an-nual exercise of paying their£20 over to the regulatorand updating MySRA. Theexercise is extremely timeconsuming for the SRA andno-one seems to be able to

remember why anyonethought it was a good ideain the first place. The secondconsultation will be of inter-est to COFAs as it asks forviews on increasing thelevel of residual client ac-count balances solicitorscan donate to charity from£50 to £500. I cannot seeanyone objecting to the re-moval of either of these “redtapes” – we will have to waitand see.

LeO the LionLeO recently published itsstrategy and budget for thenext 3 years and it will comeas no surprise to readers tohear that Adam Sampson’sambitious plans will bemade manifest in 2014 asthe LeO team sharpens itsclaws in preparation for ac-cepting complaints aboutcase management compa-nies. What impact this willhave on the turnaroundtimes for complaints han-dling we can only guess, butLeO is attempting to assureeveryone that it is workingclosely with the MoJ to en-sure that no one drops theball. It will be interesting tosee what, if any, impact thiswill have on the personal in-jury market.

Small victory for the BarCouncilThe Bar Council is patting it-self on the back followingan announcement by theMoJ not to go ahead withcuts to the Advocates Grad-uate Fee Scheme for a fur-ther 12 months. Inexchange, the Bar Councilhas agreed not to go aheadwith any further days ofstrike action or, as NicholasLavender QC put it: “resum-ing normal working rela-tionships with our partnersin the criminal justice sys-tem”, which is a very elo-quent way of avoiding theuse of the word strike.Things have not been quiteas rosy in the solicitors’camp. Criminal practitionerscombined their protest withprobation officers andstaged a 48 hour walk-out

at the end of March.

The Devil is in the DetailHere, we take a moment toconsider the case of SRA vAndersons [2013] EWHC4021 - one of the first im-portant cases dealing withoutcomes-focused regula-tion to be heard by the So-licitors Disciplinary Tribunaland, subsequently, the HighCourt.

The firm was advertisingconveyancing services at ahighly competitive headlinerate. Clients who wanted toavail themselves of thesebargain services were is-sued confusing client careinformation which com-prised of a number of differ-ent documents that bothconfirmed the headline ratebut then went on to de-scribe a range of extra fees(some mandatory and someoptional - including a con-tribution to the firm’s pro-fessional indemnityinsurance premiums), whichin some cases increased theheadline rate first quoted byup to 400%. Confused? Sowere clients.

The SDT found that therehad been a breach of Out-come 1.13 of the Code ofConduct, which states that“clients receive the best pos-sible information, both atthe time of engagementand when appropriate astheir matter progresses,about the likely overall costof their matter”. Initiallyeach partner was fined£1,000 plus costs by theSDT. On appeal, the HighCourt increased these finesto £15,000 for the firm and£5,000 each for the individ-ual partners plus costs! Ifever there was a case to en-courage firms to reviewtheir client care letters, thisis the one!

New Practice NotesThe Law Society draftsmenhave been beavering awayand there are four new prac-tice notes to add to your li-braries:

•Cloud Computing providesa useful summary of the keyissues for those firms whohave embraced or who areabout to embrace the vir-tual world.

• LLP salaried member taxchanges deals with the newtaxation rules which havecaused a flurry of activityamongst the ranks of LLPswhose members can nowbe taxed on a PAYE basis ifthey satisfy the criteria con-tained in a three-part, cu-mulative test applied byHMRC to determine em-ployment status.

•Capital allowances: newpooling requirements willbe of interest to anyonedealing with the sale andpurchase of property in-volving plant and machin-ery.

• Mental capacity: interna-tional aspects considerspractical tips when it comesto dealing with interna-tional issues for vulnerableclients e.g. a client whoowns property overseas andwho loses mental capacity.

And finally…..

Not only cats have 9 lives….

So does the SRA Handbook– apparently - as we nowfind ourselves updating ourlibrary to hold the 9th edi-tion. The primary changesrevolve around changesneeded to reflect the factthat consumer credit is nowregulated by the FinancialConduct Authority, but therevision also sweeps upamendments to the SRAHigher Rights of Audienceregulations and some

changes to the implemen-tation dates for the SRAQuality Assurance Schemefor Advocates.

Michelle GarlickChair Manchester Law Society Regulatory AffairsCommiteeWeightmans LLP

GET YOUR BUSINESS NOTICEDTo advertise in the Messenger please call Julia on 01253 829431

or email j.baskerville@jbaskerville.co.uk

6 Movers & Shakers

You can download a PDF of the latest (and archived)editions of The Messenger at

www.manchesterlawsociety.org.uk

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Listed on the UK Register of Expert Witnesses, an APIL expert, Mem-ber of Society of Expert Witnesses and Expert Witness

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Dr Adedokun accepts instructions from Claimants, Defendants andas a Single Joint Expert.

He covers Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and London.

Other locations and domicilliary visits can be arranged.

Contact Person: Jane Griffiths (Medico Legal Manager)Tel: 0161 485 1881/07946 700859

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TEAM (The EmploymentAgents Movement) hasappointed leading lawfirm Brabners as primarylegal advisor to its mem-bers in the North West andNorth East of England.

TEAM is the largest associa-tion of independent re-cruiters in the UK with a 400plus strong membership.Brabners already has a long-standing relationship withTEAM as the network’s Prin-cipal Legal Advisor plus re-gional advisor to theMidlands and South West.

Paul Chamberlain, Employ-ment Partner at Brabnerssaid: “We are extremelypleased to be appointed by

TEAM as regional advisor tothe North West and NorthEast. It strengthens our wellestablished partnershipwith the network and welook forward to providingan extensive legal servicewhich benefits its mem-bers.”

Liz Longman, Managing Di-rector of TEAM said: “We aredelighted Brabners is ableto support TEAM onceagain. Paul Chamberlain islooking forward to seeingmany familiar faces in theNorth West and North East.”

Kirsty Craig, North West Re-gional Director of TEAMadded: “Paul’s previous con-tribution at our meetings

each quarter was alwayshighly informative andrather entertaining at thesame time…odd combina-tion I know given the sub-ject matter is employmentlaw! It will be a pleasure tosee his unique delivery andstyle at our North Westmeetings again, helping ourmembers to keep up to datewith the ever changingworld of employing people.”

EMW Law, Barlow Robbins,Graeme Quark and HRC Laware panel legal advisors forLondon, South East & Cen-tral, Southern England, East,Technical and Executive Di-visions respectively.

Brabners appointed as TEAM primary legal advisorin the North West and North East

DLA Piper's ManchesterCorporate team have com-pleted seven deals in Feb-ruary and March,including one of the NorthWest's largest IPO's.

The team including part-ners James Kerrigan andJonathan Watkins and asso-ciates, Paul Kelly, Louise Bar-ber and Jennifer Lee, haveadvised on four M&A trans-actions including; the sec-ondary managementbuyout of North West shoesmanufacturer, Hotter Shoes,which saw Gresham PrivateEquity sell its stake to Elec-tra Partners for £85m, thecross-border sale by An-drew Industries of 6 busi-nesses within its filtrationdivision to Lydall Inc for$83m, the sale of GrenadeUK to Grovepoint, and thesale of LAS Claims Manage-ment for £35m.

Alongside these, Partners,Elia Montorio, Stephen De-vlin together with CiaranStone advised online fash-ion retailer boohoo.com onits IPO on AIM, having amarket capitalisation afterthe first day of trading ofover £750m. The e-com-merce business whichfloated last week, will nowlook to grow its marketshare across internationalmarkets. Stephen Devlinand Ciaran Stone also ad-vised Zeus Capital on one ofthe largest corporatefundraising on AIM in recentyears with the IPO of logis-tics provider DX.

This follows on the back of a

number of other transac-tions for a number of otherclients during 2014 includ-ing UPS Group and the re-cent public offering in theUS for shares of Retail-MeNot Inc.

Jonathan Watkins, Partnerin the Manchester Corpo-rate Team stated: "2014 hasstarted off at an incrediblepace.

The whole Manchester cor-porate team have been

heavily involved in beingthese transactions to a suc-cessful close.

"These deals showcase theteam's ability and strengthin depth to advise largePLC's, multinationals, PEHouses, entrepreneurs andmanagement teams, locally,nationally and internallyand helps to cement ourplace in the market as thepreeminent firm for both in-ternational and domesticcorporate transactions."

Seven deals for DLA Piper’s Manchesteroffice in two months

Stephen Devlin Elia Montorio

James Kerrigan Jonathan Watkins

Hill Dickinson has becomethe first law firm to be-come accredited underthe prestigious Investorsin Diversity scheme.

The award is the first to beissued to a law firm, withother awardees includingThe Princes Trust, NorthernRail, and Shepherd Con-struction.

Peter Jackson, ManagingPartner, Hill Dickinson said:“It is a great honour to be-

Hill Dickinson first law firm to receiveInvestors in Diversity Award

come the first law firm to re-ceive the prestigious In-vestors in Diversity Award,which is a reflection of ourambition to ensure HillDickinson is a place wherestaff from all backgroundscan flourish in an inclusiveand supportive working en-vironment.

Ruth Lawrence, who headsup the Insurance BusinessGroup and is a member ofDiversity steering groupadded: “Over the course of

two years, the firm has em-braced the ethos that excel-lence in diversity is notsomething arrived at, but isa value to be continuallystrived for. As such, the Di-versity Steering Group hasbeen integral in capturingimaginations, exemplifiedby a Diversity themed pho-tography competition, andproviding a framework inwhich ideas and best-prac-tice are shared and put intoaction.

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Well known and respectedhousing and regenerationlawyer, Melanie Dirom,has been appointed apartner of Croftons Solici-tors LLP. Joining Croftonsin 2012 from Brabners,Melanie has created thefirm’s Housing Manage-ment and Tenancy En-forcement team and nowheads up a team of fourlawyers.

Announcing Melanie’s ap-pointment as partner,Croftons’ Managing PartnerSimon Leighton says: “Theappointment of MelanieDirom as a partner in ourfirm is an announcement Iam absolutely delighted tomake. Since the first time Imet Melanie, I recognised ahighly talented and ener-getic individual who wouldspearhead the vision wehad to expand our servicesto Registered Providers(housing associations).Clients had told us that theyvalued our property, com-mercial property and hous-ing development expertiseand would welcome abroader range of services,hence the recruitment ofMelanie.”

Described as ‘one to watch’among rising stars by the

legal directories, Melanie isan award-winner having re-ceived the Chief Constableof Merseyside’ commenda-tion for her role in tacklinggang crime and neighbour-hood disputes.

“To say I am delighted to be-come a Partner is an under-statement,” commentsMelanie. “I saw the oppor-tunity which Croftons of-fered to me to createsomething new for clients.As a team, we offer some-thing which I believe isunique in the marketplace:a high quality, affordableservice to help RegisteredProviders create or restoresafe and sustainable com-munities. We work ‘around

the clock’ and we adapt toclients’ own policies whilealso offering the benefit ofmany years’ experience andacting for several dozenRegistered Providers.”

Croftons now has a total of22 dedicated housing andregeneration lawyers, mak-ing it one of the largest andmost comprehensive suchspecialist law firms. Prop-erty and Development,commercial real estate,housing management andtenancy enforcement, andgovernance and regulatorywork are all provided bypeople who have chosencareers in the social housingsector and work full time inthese roles.

Croftons Solicitors appoints latest Partner

Simon Leighton, Melanie Dirom and the HM Team

National law firm Weight-mans LLP has appointedAlison Littley as Non-Exec-utive Director to theBoard. Alison will focus onlong term strategic goals,business growth and mat-ters relating to gover-nance.

Alison is a Non-Executive Di-rector of James Hardie plc alarge US/Australian listedcompany, and sits on theiraudit committee. Her mostrecent executive role was asChief Executive of BuyingSolutions, the public sectorprocurement agency. Priorto that Alison held seniormanagement roles in Dia-geo and Mars.

John Schorah, ManagingPartner at Weightmans LLPsaid:“The board and I aredelighted to welcome Ali-son to the firm. We knowthat her commercial back-ground, combined with herNon-Executive Director andlegal experience will pro-vide us with expert visionand guidance to achieveour business goals. Not onlydoes Alison have a back-ground in corporate gover-nance, but she is veryfamiliar with our sector, andwe are looking forward tobuilding on the success ofthis year in 2014 and be-yond.”

Alison joins Weightmans atthe end of a year of success

for the firm. With a reported7% growth for the first sixmonths of the financial year,an honorable move up theUK Top 50 list and ambitiousexpansion plans which sawa new office open in Scot-land as a result of a mergewith Semple Fraser. Themerger also included theacquisition of their Man-chester office team.

Alison commented on herappointment:“I am de-lighted to be joining theboard of Weightmans. Thefirm has grown significantlyover the last few years and Ilook forward to playing apart in their continuinggrowth and success.”

Weightmans LLP appoints Non-ExecutiveDirector to the Board

The deadline for the June edition of The Messenger is 16th May

Sports lawyer Maurice Watkins has beenvoted sports and entertainment lawyerof the year at the Who’s Who LegalAwards 2014 in New York.

The former Manchester United director wonthe international accolade in a world-widevoting system carried out by internationallaw firms and their clients.Mr Watkins CBE, head of sport and joint sen-ior partner at Brabners , Manchester said;“To be acknowledged in this way is a proudmoment for me but it is also a tribute to themarvellous sports team here at Brabners.”

The presentation to lawyers from across theUS and many other countries was the tenthanniversary of the respected legal directoryawards.Who’s Who legal editor Tom Barnes said theawards were for “those lawyers and firmsmost widely recognised for their achieve-ments by the global legal market “.

Mr Watkins has shaped the frameworkwithin which professional socceroperates,having played a significant role inadvising on a multitude of key issues at a do-mestic and international level for over 25years.

He holds a number of key sports positions in-cluding Chairman of British Swimming,Chairman of Barnsley FC, Chairman of theGreyhound Board of Great Britain, director ofRugby Football League and a director of Lan-cashire County Cricket Club.

His voluntary roles include ; Chairman ofGovernors – The Manchester GrammarSchool, Chairman of New Islington FreeSchool Project, Chairman of Central Man-chester University Hospitals NHS FoundationTrust Charity and Chairman of the Break-through Breast Cancer North West Appeal.

Another accolade for Maurice Watkins

8 Movers & Shakers

The Manchester office ofinternational law firm HillDickinson continues to in-vest in talent with the ap-pointment of twospecialist legal advisors inits Commercial and Pri-vate Client teams.

James Clayton joins as anassociate in the commercialteam from DWF and willwork alongside Partner,Mark Fitzgibbon to bolsterthe team’s public sector pro-curement expertise, partic-ularly in the healthcaresector. James brings withhim 10 years’ experience inadvising clients on all as-pects of commercial con-tract law, from simple termsof sale to complex outsourc-ing and project agreements.James also has significantexperience in acting forclients on contracts withinthe healthcare sector, prin-cipally for those involved inthe provision of frontlineservices.

James’ specialism in publicsector procurement cou-pled with his expertise inhandling commercial con-tracts further builds on HillDickinson’s reputation asspecialists in commerciallaw for the healthcare sector– an area which looks set togrow as the sector adapts tothe increasing need to be-come more entrepreneurial.

Joining the Manchester pri-vate client team, Jane Lee

brings 11 years’ experiencein advising high net worthindividuals and professionaltrust companies in relationto all manner of trusts, wills,tax planning and residenceand domicile issues.

Jane specialises in estateand succession planning forowner managed busi-nesses, advising on tax effi-cient exit strategies andsecuring smooth devolu-tion of assets to the nextgeneration. Jane also bringsa specialist knowledge ofadvising on cross border es-tate planning, structuringand inheritance tax plan-ning for non UK domiciledclients in addition to advis-ing non UK domiciled sett-lors and beneficiaries ofoffshore trusts on their UKtax position.

On the new appointments,partner and head of HillDickinson’s Manchester of-fice, Geraldine Ryan, said: “Itis fantastic to welcome twohighly specialised legalminds to the firm. BothJames and Jane bring aniche area of expertise totheir respective teams, per-fectly complementing andbuilding on the work ourcommercial and privateclient teams are already car-rying out in the region andnationally. I’m sure ourclients will benefit greatlyfrom their experience and indepth knowledge.”

In addition to the appoint-ment of James and Jane, HillDickinson also welcomesfive new Assistants to theManchester office. Tim Ib-botson, Satte Boporan andSophie Castell join theFraud team, Andrew Jonesjoins the Insurance teamand Rhain Hughes joins theCorporate team.

Hill Dickinson bolsters Manchester officewith two specialist appointments

James Clayton

Jane Lee

The private client team atfull service law firm JMWSolicitors LLP is enjoyingconsiderable success, hav-ing achieved Revenue ofover £1.5 million during2013 and expanded theteam significantly. This ismore than three times theRevenue of 2011.

The department, led byPartner Andrew Garvie, hasnow recruited 6 additionallawyers to cover the ever ex-panding workload, takingthe team to 32 a growth of17 team members sinceJanuary 2013.

The residential conveyanc-ing team has seen an in-crease in activity in thehousing market and havetaken on two specialist Con-veyancing Assistants,Amanda Priest and SarahHill as well as Lindsey Robin-son as a Solicitor to copewith the additional work-load. A further solicitor is toarrive in May. The team iswell regarded in the NorthWest acting for the majorityof City Centre estate agentsand a large number of fi-nancial advisers.

The team has seen an un-precedented rise in instruc-tions especially through theJMW website, returningclients, recommendationsfrom past clients and staffrecommendations. Furthernew work has been gener-ated from excellent relation-ships with many local estateagents as well as nationalcompany Move with Us,Seddons Homes and Pugh& Co auctioneers.

The Trust Tax and ProbateTeam (also part of Privateclient) has also increased its’Revenue by 30%. The Courtof Protection team has re-cruited an additional Solici-tor Ben Tyer from LinderMyers and a further solicitorwill join in May.

This has led to more than2300 clients instructing thedepartment in the first 10months of the year asagainst 1500 in the sameperiod last year, an increaseof 53%.

Head of Private Client atJMW Andrew Garviesaid:“We are delighted towelcome Amanda, Lindsey

and Sarah to our team asthey will help furtherstrengthen JMW’s reputa-tion in residential con-veyancing. We are seeinganother increase in activitywith overall instructions upconsiderably compared tothis time last year. It hasbeen a very exciting year forthe whole of the privateclient team with 10 new re-cruits and billings up sub-stantially. With some furthernew recruits due to start innext 2 months, it is going tobe another exciting year forthe team.”

Substantial growth for JMW’s private client team

Andrew Garvie

Troubled north-west lawfirm Linder Myers hassealed a deal to refinanceits debts, saving 300 jobs.

The deal, claimed to be thefirst of its kind in the legalsector, sees Tony Stockdale,chairman of specialist legalbusiness adviser AssureLaw, become chief execu-tive of Linder Myers. Thefirm’s current managingpartner, Bernard Seymour,takes on the role of seniorpartner.

No details of the refinancingand future strategy weredisclosed, but Seymoursaid: ‘This is a very positiveoutcome for the firm, itsemployees, our clients andbusiness partners. Tony

Stockdale brings significantexperience to Linder Myersand we can look forward tothe future with confidence.’

Tony Stockdale commented“Linder Myers was and is astrong business, but therewere a number of factorswhich contributed to the fi-nancial difficulties. The firmhave expanded fairly rapidlyover the past fews years,and this always createscosts and delays. Addition-ally the firm were operatingin a difficult eceonimic cli-mate, particularly for lawfirms and this led to their fi-nancial difficulties.”

Advisers on the deal in-cluded EY restructuringpartner Tom Jack, who said:

‘The refinancing of LinderMyers represents a verypositive result for the firmand its clients, staff andcreditors and ensures it isnow well placed to begin anew phase in its long his-tory. This innovative refi-nancing solution hasavoided administration andintervention by the Solici-tors Regulation Authority,whilst preserving the jobs ofapproximately 300 partnersand staff. A consensual ap-proach such as this will nodoubt be of interest to asector that continues to ex-perience a number of di-verse and significantchallenges.’

Linder Myers saved in solventdeal with Assure Law

Manchester law firm Berghas strengthened its liti-gation offering with aflurry of new appoint-ments.

Five new starters join theteam, including solicitorsDavid Reilly from BooteEdgar Esterkin and TateChakrabarty, previously ofGateley.

Both will advise clients on awide range of commercialdisputes including breachof contract, professionalnegligence claims, share-holder disputes and bank-

ing and financial claims.

The team has also beenboosted with the arrival ofChristopher Glover and JuliaHoward, both paralegals,along with administratorSam Bramwell. All three willprovide support to the de-partment on a variety of dis-pute resolution cases.

The appointments come ata time when Berg is cur-rently fighting a number ofhigh-profile campaigns as-sociated with mis-sold inter-est rate swaps and widerbanking issues. The firm cur-

rently represents more than200 businesses across theUK which have been af-fected by these issues.

Berg's senior partner,Reuben Berg, commented:“These new appointmentsare a welcome addition toour talented and growingteam of litigators and para-legals, as we continue to ex-pand and develop ourdispute resolution offeringto clients, particularly thoseaffected by the mis-sellingof financial derivatives suchas swap agreements.”

Berg expands litigation team

Back Row (l-r) Tate and Christopher, Front Row (l-r)Julia, David and Sam

“Senior Family Lawyer-Cheshire/South Manchester Purely High Net Worth Private caseload” Salary negotiable

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DLA Piper has advisedHalton Borough Councilon the £600m MerseyGateway Project, a majorscheme to build a new six-lane toll bridge over theMersey between Runcornand Widnes. One of the leading projectfinance mandates in theUK at present, the DLAPiper team advised on theprocurement of a privatesector partner for the de-sign, build, financing, op-eration and maintenanceof the new 1 km longcable-stayed bridge overthe River Mersey andtolling of the crossings.

This major project saw theteam provide advice onplanning, land acquisition,compulsory purchase or-ders, tolling, legislativeframeworks and the imple-mentation of new legisla-tion, as well as providingstrategic advice on the pro-curement process, struc-tural approaches andbespoke documentation forthe bridge.

The multi-disciplinary DLAPiper team comprisedlawyers from the firm's Fi-nance & Projects, IPT, RealEstate and Employmentgroups across its Manches-ter, Liverpool, Leeds andLondon offices.The team, led by partners

Liam Cowell and HowardBassford, has been advisingon the project since 2007and also included Projectspartner, Robert Smith, IPT

partner Lee Brierley andPlanning director KateCreer.

The needs of a procuringauthority in a project of thissize saw the team manage anumber of challenges in-cluding: the negotiationand implementation of sup-plementary secondary leg-islation, dealing withenforcement action againstusers and taking into ac-count the intellectual prop-erty and data protectionconsiderations in the use ofopen road-tolling technol-ogy, working with technicaladvisers regarding landcontamination, advising onbidder and funder require-ments and innovation andwhat mitigation strategiesto employ.

The project is at the fore-front of the HM Treasury’sUK Guarantee Scheme andas a result the team had toadvise the Council on howsuch a scheme might oper-ate contractually betweenprivate sector funding andthe UKGS.

Liam Cowell, Projects part-ner at DLA Piper stated:"DLA Piper has workedclosely with the Council andits other advisers to navi-gate a path through thearray of challenges whilstmaintaining an effectiveprocurement in accordancewith the overall pro-gramme. Our integrated ap-proach and comprehensiveadvice has allowed us to en-

sure that the this projectwas managed timely and ef-ficiently."

Howard Bassford, Planningpartner at DLA Piper added:"It is particularly pleasing tohave been involved in suchan important project fromits very beginning, throughplanning and now into thedelivery phase.What we know from our in-volvement is how muchbenefit the project willbring - to have been in-volved is a real highlight forthe entire legal team."

The project, which reachedfinancial close on Friday,saw Halton Borough Coun-cil and the Merseylink con-sortium announceprocurement savings of£250 million. This meansthat all the 30-year con-tracts between Merseylinkand Halton Borough Coun-cil have been agreed andthe funding committed willenable construction to com-mence immediately and theproject to be operated andmaintained for the nextthirty years.

The procurement was runvia the competitive dia-logue process andMerseylink (a consortiummade up of Bilfinger, Mac-quarie Capital and FCC Con-strucción S.A) wasappointed the Council'spreferred bidder in June2013.

DLA Piper plays a lead role advisingon the Mersey Gateway Project

Stuart Sutton joins TuckersTuckers Solicitors are de-lighted to announce thatStuart Sutton has joinedthe firm as a Senior Solici-tor in the Serious andComplex Case Depart-ment, dealing predomi-nantly with sexual andfraud related matters.

Stuart was previously withRowe Cohen for manyyears and more recentlywith Ward Hadaway.

Stuart brings a wealth ofexperience in dealing withsuch cases and Fitness toPractice matters for variousprofessions, many of whichare for Health Care related.He acts exclusively for theBritish Osteopathic Associa-tion.

Senior Partner Franklin Sin-clair said "In the current cli-

mate where legal aid is being attacked, I feel this is a fabu-lous opportunity for Tuckers to complement the alreadyhigh quality work we do by adding an extra element to thatwork"

Franklin Sinclair, Stuart Sutton and Leigh Wright

10 Criminal Justice

dundancies, closure and bankruptcy. It is obvious there bea significant reduction in the standard and quality of crimi-nal defence and the publics ability to access justice.

National all day ‘training days’ and protests were organisedby both the bar and solicitors and widely reported in themedia. The CBA also adopted a “no returns policy” in thecrown court, with many hearings being adjourned and tri-als vacated. On the 19th March 2014, almost 700 Criminalcontracts holders attended a meeting in Manchester on19th and agreed to oppose the cuts, 2 tier contacts and totake further action.

On the 27 the March the C.B.A brokered a deal with the MOJ,delaying the introduction of advocate graduated fee cuts of6% until June 2015.

The cut of 30% for Very High Cost Cases has not been re-moved. It is clear that the deal was as a result of direct ac-tion by the bar, and in particular the success of the noreturns policy. A ballot of the C.B.A. on the 9th April ac-cepted the deal.

On the 9th April 2014 the MOJ published an invitation totender for own Client contracts. The tender begins on the25th April 2014 and closes on the May 2. The M.O.J has sig-nalled its clear intention to carry on regardless. The next 3months will be crucial.

Next Steps?

No applications Crown Court Legal Aid Policy.

It is clear that the C.B.A’. s disruption of the crown court waseffective in persuading the M.O.J to delay the advocate feecuts. In response the C.L.S.A. L.C.C.S.A and Justice Alliancehave agreed that from the 7th April 2014 until the 19thMay 2014, rolling nationally across the country, criminalfirms will not apply for legal aid for defendants whose caseis sent to the crown court. Solicitors will not represent de-fendants in the Crown Court. Counsel will not be instructed.H.C.A.’s will not be instructed.

The C.L.S.A and L.C.S.S.A have produced a protocol. It can befound at clsa.co.uk or lccsa.org.uk

A criminal contracted firm is not obliged to apply for legalaid. It is not a contract breach. If the action is successful thenan application for legal aid can be submitted at a later date.If even a significant minority of firms adopts this action na-tionally, it will put considerable pressure on the courts andthe M.O.J. It is clear that this is an M.O.J and Lord Chancel-lor that only responds to direct action and disruption andnot reasoned argument. No lawyer would choose to delib-erately disrupt the criminal courts but is there any otherchoice?

Firms are supporting this action and have adopted the pro-tocol, including Merseyside and London. In Manchester sev-eral very large firms have agreed that if they choose not toparticipate they will not seek to exploit the clients of partic-ipating firms who support the stance taken by their lawyer.Please read the C.L.S.A. or L.C.C.S.A protocol. Please contactthe steering committee to advise if your firm supports thisaction in order that we can coordinate action across the GtrManchester Courts.

Judicial review

The C.L.S.A and the L.C.C.S.A intend to commence a JudicialReview challenging the implementation MOJ proposals.Positive advice has been obtained. The C.L.S.A and L.C.C.S.Aare asking firms and individuals to donate to the fightingfund. The CLSA and LCCSA have asked each criminal firm todonate a minimum of £250.00. Individuals might like to do-nate £20 each or more if they wish. For more informationand to donate please go online to lccsa.org.uk

Work to rule

Without the goodwill of defence lawyers the criminal courtswould not function. This goodwill costs defence lawyerstime and money. Time for waiting for the CPS to find a file,for example, or time waiting for a trial because the courthave listed 3 trials in the same courtroom. Henceforth de-fence lawyers will now ‘Work To Rule’. In Merseyside, for ex-ample, no criminal firm will conduct any courtrepresentation until a legal aid order has actually beengranted. This includes the Saturday courts where legal aidorders are not granted. To obtain further details of the pro-tocol please check lccsa.org.uk or clsa.co.uk. If you wish to

participate please contact the steering group to help us co-ordinate effective action.

C.L.S.A. Membership

The CLSA has campaigned tirelessly to oppose criminal legalaid cuts. The annual membership fee has been reduced to aspecial concessionary rate of £10 to ensure maximum rep-resentation to mobilise the fight the against the cuts andpreserve access to justice. You need a strong C.L.S.A. and theC.L.S.A. needs you. To join go online to clsa.co.uk

The Manchester steering committee

We have arranged meetings, rallies, speakers, and coordi-nated local action at our own expense.

To help us continue to campaign we have organised a local‘fighting’ fund. If you wish to contribute please contact FranEccles at the Manchester Law Society.

If you care about preserving access to Legal Aid and Accessto Justice please act now before it’s too late!

This is an article prepared by the Manchester Steeringgroup committee.

Patrick Harris- p.harris@cj-law.co.ukKerry Morgan-KMorgan@mbcsolicitors.co.ukOliver Garner-Oliver.gardner@howardssolicitors.comHoward Bernstein- Howard@howardbernsteinsolicitors.co.ukMatthew Claughton-matthewclaughton@olliers.comAngela Taylor-angelataylor1@aol.comSonya O’Brien-sonya@nlr-solicitors.co.ukLesley Herman-lesleyherman@me.comJeremy Moore-JeremeyMoore@cosolicitors.co.ukMike Garstang-M.Garstang@garstangs.co.ukSimon Morton- simonmorton@mortons-solicitors.co.uk

Consulting law firmCitadel Law has addedthree clinical negligencespecialists to its expand-ing team in response tothe results of caseload re-views that show manyfirms having low levels ofexpertise and poor riskmanagement.

The new Citadel ClinicalNegligence Panel is alreadyhelping firms that havefound the lack of profit anddemands for substantialcapital demand a far moredetailed look at how theydo things – and evenwhether the department isviable. This includes a casescreening service, becauseestablishing as early as pos-sible whether a claim is vi-able in the key to keepingwasted WIP to a minimum.Joining Citadel Law manag-ing director Lesley Graves,herself a catastrophic per-sonal injury expert, are:

Edel Rome brings over 15years’ experience of a widerange of clinical negligencecases. She is also a DeputyDistrict Judge on the NorthWest Circuit, a GMC investi-gation committee panelmember and a senior lec-

turer at BPP.

Scott Lister was a nurse forseveral years before qualify-ing as a solicitor with IrwinMitchell. He is an AvMA In-formation Line volunteer.

Stephanie Forman has al-most 30 years’ experience oflitigating clinical negligenceclaims in firms such as Pan-none, Irwin Mitchell andAlexander Harris. She is amember of the AvMa andLaw Society panels, a regu-lar speaker, media commen-tator and writer.

Lesley Graves says Citadel’sexperience is that law firmshave taken on clinical negli-gence work in recent yearsas the personal injury mar-ket has changed, and foundthat they have been letdown by staff who do nothave the requisite skills tohandle such cases.

“We’ve carried out numer-ous diagnostic reviews onclinical negligence case-loads and there is a realissue of low levels of expert-ise and poor risk manage-ment. These are having asubstantial impact in keyareas like client care and

billing, and pose a realthreat of professional negli-gence claims. Having beenasked by a number of lawfirm clients for help, we de-cided to put together a di-verse and expert team,unrivalled in the sector.

“It can be all too temptingto look at clinical negli-gence cases and thinkthey’ll be high profit, with-out realising how muchwork and expertise isneeded. Many firms havefound it a real challenge tomonitor fee-earners be-cause it takes time andmoney to establish negli-gence, and staff can ‘hide’for several years before thecracks in litigation manage-ment, cash flow and capitalexpenditure really start toshow. By then there can bedevastating financial conse-quences and client care isnowhere in sight.

“Edel, Scott and Stephaniebring a combined legal andmedical experience of morethan 70 years. This enablesCitadel Law to expertlyguide solicitors through theclinical negligence maze tothe benefit of the firm andits injured clients alike.”

Citadel Law adds clinical negligencetrio to support law firms post LASPO

The fifth Mooting Shieldcompetition final hostedby international law firmDAC Beachcroft has beenwon by a team from BPPLaw School Manchester.

Sixteen teams of law stu-dents competed againsteach other over a six-monthperiod culminating in agrand final between teamsfrom BPP Law School Man-chester and Leeds Metropol-itan University at SovereignChambers in Leeds last week(Wednesday 2 April).

Attended by over forty peo-ple, including students fromsome of the participatinguniversities, the final was arematch of the openingpractice round of the com-petition between the teamsfrom Leeds and Manchesterwith Manchester eventuallyreplicating their initial win.

BPTC students Jasmine

Chan and Ryan Hall from thewinning team were pre-sented with the ‘DACBeachcroft Mooting Shield’by Virginia Clegg, RegionalSenior Partner at the Leedsoffice of DAC Beachcroft.The students were also of-fered a week’s work place-ment at the firm.

Speaking after the final, Vir-ginia said: "The standard ofthis, the fifth year of ourMooting Shield, has beenconsistently high through-out the six-month competi-tion and reflects theoutstanding talent of our re-gion's law students.

"The team from ManchesterBPP Law School won fourmoots to reach the final andall of the finalists demon-strated the commitment,legal analysis and communi-cation skills that will standthem in excellent stead fortheir legal careers as solici-

2014 DAC Beachcroft Mooting ShieldWon By BPP Law School Manchester

Jasmine Chan, Virginia Clegg & Ryan Hall Photography provided by Ant Chippendale Photography.

tors or barristers."

The 2014 final was judgedby Andrew Lewis QC(Deputy High Court Judgeand Head of SovereignChambers), Virginia Cleggand Andrew Marsh (Head ofConstruction and Engineer-ing, DAC Beachcroft, Leeds).

DAC Beachcroft launchedthe competition in 2009 tohelp law students acrossYorkshire, Manchester andthe North East improve theirchances of breaking into thelegal profession by takingpart in moots. Held in acourtroom setting, teams oflaw students competeagainst each other arguingfictitious legal cases. Thecases, devised and judgedby senior lawyers from DACBeachcroft and across theregion, are based on theareas of law in which DACBeachcroft specialise.

Clough & Willis – the Burybased law firm - has onceagain been getting the localbusiness community’s brainmatter working overtimewith the staging of its an-nual quiz which took placelast night at Elton ValeSports Club. Over 100 peo-ple attended - with 34 teamstaking part - from across awhole variety of sectors in-cluding; financial institu-tions, accountants, propertycompanies and media or-ganisations.

Clough & Willis Gets Bury Business CommunityThinking with Quiz & Raises £400 for Grace’s Place

Clough & Willis – whichdeals with both professionaland corporate clients acrossthe North West – has beenhosting the event for over10 years. This year, it alsostaged a collection and £400was raised for Grace’s Placewhich is the new children’shospice due to open onDumers Lane in Radcliffethis September.

Shefali Talukdar – managingpartner at Clough & Willis –said; “Every year, the quiz

just gets more and morepopular which is great tosee. It’s a highlight of ourcalendar and 2014 was extraspecial as we were delightedwith how much was raisedfor Grace’s Place which is setto help families in the localarea.”

This year’s winning teamwas Handelsbanken fol-lowed by worthy runnersup, Moscrops Insurance Bro-kers .

Manchester-based per-sonal injury law firm, Ex-press Solicitors, hassuccessfully converted toalternative business struc-ture (ABS) status.

It was granted an ABS li-cense from the SolicitorsRegulation Authority (SRA)on 1 April 2014, which willhelp the firm drive forwardwith growth plans in thecoming months.

Managing partner at Ex-press Solicitors, JamesMaxey said: “We’re de-lighted to have secured anABS license from the Solici-tors Regulatory Authority,as it will simply put us in astronger position to con-tinue moving forward inwhat is a difficult climate for

the legal sector.

“It will allow us to bringqualified non-legal profes-sionals into the fold to helpus further improve the qual-ity of our services and it alsomakes external investmenta possibility in the future.

“We’ve had consistentlystrong growth in profitabil-ity over the years - last yearreporting a 35% increase infee income to £7.2m for theyear end in 2013 - despitethe changes in law that ac-tually make it harder for per-sonal injury law firms tosucceed. We believe operat-ing as an ABS will keep uson the right track going for-ward.”

Express Solicitors currently

comprises 148 employeesincluding 13 partners and47 earners. The firm spe-cialises in personal injuryand accident claims, med-ical and clinical negligenceclaims and serious injurycases.

Express Solicitors secures ABS license

James Maxey

The deadline for the June edition ofThe Messenger is 16th May

Kathleen Wilkinson is aPartner at Wilson Elser LLPand has built her practicedefending complex casesinvolving a variety ofproducts, construction,premises, professional lia-bility, medical devices andpharmaceuticals. A litiga-tor with more than 30years of experience, Kath-leen is regularly entrustedby clients with their mostdifficult cases, frequentlyinvolving death and se-vere injury and exposuresof up to $20 million. Herclients include a major in-surance brokerage firm,construction companiesand major products man-ufacturers. Well versed inthe substance and sub-tleties of insurance poli-cies, she also serves as atechnical writer for self-in-sured municipalities.

Kathleen also serves as ajudge pro tem and discov-ery master in state and fed-eral court, earning therespect of the bench andbar. She served on WilsonElser’s Equity Partner andAssociate Focus Commit-tees and has been instru-mental in the firm’simplementation of part-time policies for its attor-neys.

Kathleen has been the re-cipient of many awards andaccolades, including thehighest award presented byby the Pennsylvania Bar’s

Whilst in Manchester Kathleen Wilkinson, Immediate Past Chancellor of thePhiladelphia Bar spoke to Julia Baskerville about her career and a relationship withthe Manchester Law Society

In Conversation...Women in the ProfessionCommittee. This award ispresented to a woman at-torney who has had a sig-nificant professional impactin Pennsylvania, demon-strated leadership in herprofession and community,participated in mentoringactivities and engaged insignificant activities on be-half of women in the pro-fession. Kathleen was also afounding member of Vil-lanova University's Schoolof Law’sInn of Court, be-coming its first womanPresident in 2004. In 2013,she was honored by the Vil-lanova Law Alumni Associa-tion and received theAlumni Association Awardfor Service to the lawschool.

Kathleen Wilkinson waselected chancellor of thePhiladelphia Bar Associa-tion in January 2013 and isonly the 6th woman in over200 years to lead the 13,000member organisation.Whilst she was Chancellor,husband Tom was the Pres-ident of the PennsylvaniaBar Association, with amembership of 30,000lawyers. Incidentally it wasthe law that brought Kath-leen and Tom together,meeting on their first day atVillanova Law School over35 years ago. And that loveof the law continues ontothe next generation as theirdaughter Lindsey now at-tends Villanova with plans

to become a lawyer. She isalso fluent in French andworked last summer for alaw firm in Lyon, France.

The Philadelphia Bar hashad a strong connectionwith the Lyon Bar for over15 years, and a meetingwith David Joseph, Presi-dent of Manchester Law So-ciety and Past PresidentsJeff Lewis and Such Amin atthe Entree in Lyon set inmotion interest in a rela-tionship between thelawyers of the two cities.

Kathleen says “I was im-pressed with ManchesterLaw Society and while I wasChancellor, I thought afriendship agreement be-tween both bars could offeropportunities for both par-ties to work together, shareinformation and develop arelationship. Commerciallaw is globalising and lawfirms have to do the same. Arelationship will present op-portunities for lawyers inboth cities. There are al-ready many US firms whichhave offices in London,Manchester and other UKcities, and similarly some UKfirms have offices in loca-tions throughout the USand I suspect this trend willcontinue. Although many ofthousands of miles apartthere are many similaritiesbetween Manchester andPhiladelphia - including theweather.”

Access to Justice is also aglobal issue, one affectingboth UK lawyers and thosein the US. Kathleen says thatthey are finding it increas-ingly difficult to findenough volunteer lawyersto undertake pro bono workand in response to this thePhiladelphia Bar Associationhas launched an Access toJustice Initiative to increaseaccess to counsel and legalassistance for those peoplewho are unable to affordlawyers in civil matterswhere basic human needsare at stake.

Similarly law students in theUS, like their counterparts inthe UK, are finding it evermore difficult to find jobs atlaw firms. To qualify as alawyer, a student has tocomplete a 4 year degree,followed by three years atlaw school and at the end of

this could find themselveswithout a job and in excessof $100,00 in debt. Kathleensays that the American BarAssociation are carrying outa study into this problemand many law schools havebeen reducing their intakeof law students. Kathleenadds “After 7 years of educa-tion students can set uptheir own law firm, but theyhave no practical trainingand don’t know how to dealwith clients. We would liketo see a more practical ap-proach to the training of ourlawyers.” The PhiladelphiaBar Association recentlylaunched The Chancellor’sLeadership Programmewhich offers advice and ed-ucation to young lawyers aswell as running networkingevents and has a YoungLawyers Division which runs“young lawyer boot camps”and continuing legal educa-

tion programmes. Kathleenhopes that in the future itmay be possible for youngUS lawyers to spend timewith law firms in Manches-ter and vice versa, similar tothe strong relationship theManchester Law Societyand the Philadelphia Bar As-sociation share with theLyon Bar.

Tom and Kathleen Wilkin-son enjoy spending time inCape May, New Jersey, withtheir three children, Lindsey,24, Lauren, 22 and Michael15. The family enjoys thebeach, tennis, golf, andtravel. Kathleen says “ CapeMay is the oldest seashoreresort in the United Stateswith lovely Victorian homes,charming tree lined streets,wonderful restaurants, andexcellent beaches. “

Kathleen Wilkinson, Councillor Naleem Ul Hassan, Tom Wilkinson and David Joseph

13Feature

14 Feature

The introduction ofamendments to the civillitigation process createdwidespread debate bypersonal injury practition-ers. Indeed the last twelvemonths has been a testingtime for the legal profes-sion as a whole, with onlythe most innovative andcommercially consciousfirms having managed toadapt sufficiently to re-main profitable.

For the last few monthsmany litigators have beenforced to progress mattersin the knowledge that thefull extent of the Jackson re-forms remained untested.And then there wasMitchell.

The case of Mitchell v NewsGroup Newspapers con-cerned the late service of acosts budget, which theClaimants lodged 6 daysafter the deadline. TheCourt decided that therewas not a reasonable ex-

cuse for the failure and sosanctions were put in place.The Court of Appeal upheldthis decision, which saw asmall firm lose approxi-mately £500,000 in costs[with the potential of beingover £1,000,000 at conclu-sion].

Whilst it would be difficultto not feel empathy for MrMitchell’s solicitors, in prin-ciple it has to be correct thatsanctions be placed onthose who fail to adhere tocourt deadlines. The Jack-son reforms had already re-iterated the need forsanctions in such cases,highlighted by the re-word-ing of Civil Procedure Rule3.9. The Mitchell case sawthe judiciary strictly applythe ‘spirit’ of the Jackson re-forms, and unfortunately forlitigators this applies to allcourt orders and not just forcosts budgets. Sanctionswill ensue if any breach ofcourt orders is consideredto be more than merely ‘triv-

ial’, with the most severe,but realistic, sanction beingthe striking out of a party’scase.

So whilst this gives some in-dication as to the extent ofJackson’s reforms, some am-biguity still remains. Howdoes one define “trivial”, andhow are litigators expectedto know when a breach ismerely so. Listed below is aselection of court decisionswhich have been madepost-Mitchell:

• A claim was struck out onthe first day of trial as thebundle had only been deliv-ered the day before, insteadof three clear days before.The judge confirmed thathe had received and readthe bundle, but that thecase would not continuedue to the Claimant’s nonecompliance.

• A costs budget was disal-lowed in court as the state-ment of truth was

As the dust settles on Mitchell

Andrew Lord

surrounded by squarebrackets.

• A claim was struck out asthe Claimant failed toarrange a telephone confer-ence for a routine courthearing, despite the courtnotice not having the cor-rect reference or partynames on it (This was over-turned on appeal, but theadditional costs and pro-ceedings slowed down theclaim significantly).

Therefore a claim can andwill be struck out on thebasis of a technicality, with-out any consideration of themerits. It will be thrown outnot because it is just to doso, but because the rulesstate that technically itshould be.

Whilst the above illustratesthat justice is not always sojust, we must rememberthat failure to act upon anopponent’s mishaps wouldnot be in our client’s best in-

terests. If an application forsanctions is not submittedwhen possible then we our-selves could face being neg-ligent.

Following the Mitchelljudgement there will un-doubtedly be an influx ofapplications to deal withtechnicalities, and practi-tioners must accept thatthey are facing a new anduncertain era in litigation.One in which we must par-take in satellite litigationthat has no bearing on themerits of a claim, whilst alsoensuring that our costs re-main proportionate to theoverall outcome. This is theunfortunate contradictionof the Jackson reforms.

Perhaps Pliny the Elder con-cluded best when he pro-claimed “In these mattersthe only certainty is thatnothing is certain.”

Andrew Lord is a traineesolicitor in the personal

injury department atQualitySolicitors AbneyGarsden. The firm offers acomprehensive range oflegal services. Since 1994the firm has developed aniche market in childabuse compensationclaims and now has theUK’s largest dedicatedChild Abuse compensa-tion claims department.He can be contacted on0161 482 8822 or by emailat andrew@abneys.co.uk

I was invited, as a member of the Executive of CLAN(Commercial Litigation Association), to attend lastmonth's Civil Justice Council conference, the purpose ofwhich was to review and debate the impact of the Jack-son reforms almost exactly one year on from their incep-tion.

On a bright London morning, after making my way to thevenue in Victoria, it was a pleasant surprise to see a num-ber of other lawyers from Manchester, including solicitors,barristers and members of the judiciary.

But once the pleasantries were over, and we were down tobusiness, it was clear that many of the attendees were ex-ercised about some of the implications and consequencesof the Jackson reforms of one year earlier.

Lord Justice Jackson himself addressed the conference. Herecognised that many of his reforms were unpopular but in-sisted that many of the criticisms of them were borne out oflawyers' dislike of change. He believed that time wouldprove his reforms to have been beneficial to the objectiveof reining in excessive costs and promoting access to justice.He called on all present to work together to make the re-forms work.

Concern was expressed by many lawyers about a number ofcommon themes, notably the unattractiveness of Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs). One speaker likened DBAs toyetis: "Everyone knows that they exist, but no-one has everseen one!”. Jackson LJ himself stated that he saw no reasonwhy CFAs and DBAs should not be allowed to operate to-gether (a kind of 'no win low fee' DBA). Acknowledging thatconcerns had also been expressed regarding the applicationof the indemnity principle, he added that, in his Final Report,he had already put the case for the abolition of the indem-nity principle.

Costs budgeting was met with a wide range of opinions.Many expressed concern about the very concept of costsbudgeting, whilst others had embraced costs budgeting

more willingly and for whom the requirement to file costsbudgets had not proved as onerous as they had anticipated.Many felt the need to revise or refine some of the detail; inparticular, the Precedent Form H met with some criticism,some felt that the problem was inconsistency of approachfrom different Courts, and others felt that it was the timingthat was wrong (and that exchanging costs budgets beforethe first CMC was too early in the process to be of maximumbenefit). Mr Justice Ramsey addressed the conference onthe subject of costs management, stating that, althoughthere were a number of "teething problems" with budget-ing, these would be ironed-out over time.

Predictably, the loudest chorus of criticisms of the reformswas reserved for the new rules on relief from sanctions andfor the Court of Appeal's decision in Mitchell. Jackson LJ'sposition on the former was unequivocal: he said that, dur-ing the consultation phase of his review, both sides of thepersonal injury divide had implored him to introducetougher and more effective sanctions for parties whobreach Court Orders.

Many of the papers submitted by practitioners in advanceof the conference had commented that the "hard line" ap-proach adopted in Mitchell had led to unjust results, andcertainly many of the people I spoke to throughout the dayhad anecdotal evidence of where the new regime had ledto an unjust or disproportionate outcome. There was a gen-eral view amongst those in the plenary session I attendedthat co-operation between lawyers had all but disappeared,as parties were now less willing than previously to agree ex-tensions of time, because of the windfall potentially achiev-able as a result of one side's default. However, Lord DysonMR cautioned against parties using Mitchell as a tacticalweapon and expressed confidence that the Rules Commit-tee would shortly approve an amendment to the rules, al-lowing for "buffer orders" permitting parties to agree toextend dates in directions by up to 28 days.

The conference covered a number of other topics too, notthe least of which was the increase in problems created as

a result of cuts in the Court's resources.

As I travelled back from Euston I reflected on how much civillitigation had changed over the last year - and wonderedwhat the next 12 months held!

Jeff LewisHead of Litigation - ManchesterBrabners LLP

Report from Civil Justice Councilconference on the Jackson reforms

15Outsourcing

In the Fertile Crescent,around 4000 years ago,groups of hunter gather-ers developed the firstfarming societies. Asthose societies began toproduce food surpluses itallowed their members tobecome expert in tasksother than the productionof food. These potters, tai-lors and (eventually)metal smiths were soci-ety’s first specialists.

As “civilisations” grow anddevelop, and become moreand more complex, roleswithin those societies be-come more and more spe-cialised. Today, some rolesare so specialised that asmall number of people canbuild national or even inter-national reputations as spe-cialists in that role.

What has this got to do withoutsourcing … well bearwith me!

Most lawyers recognise thisphenomenon. Even in my20 years in the profession,the drive toward specialisa-tion has increased. For ex-ample, when I started as alitigator 20 years ago, most

litigators would turn theirhand to personal injurywork, and I did my fair shareof trips and slips. Latterlyhowever I passed on per-sonal injury work to otherfirms who specialised inthat area.

Increasing complexity haspersuaded more and moresolicitors that it is almost im-possible to be a generalpractitioner, and most firmswill pass on work in whichthey recognise they have noexpertise.

So why do firms continue tocarry out non-core activitiesthemselves? Few solicitorswho specialise in buyingand selling property woulddream of conducting litiga-tion. When I bought myhouse, I instructed a friendto do the conveyancing. Sowhy do solicitors continueto run their own IT depart-ments, finance teams andHR departments, when fewhave skills and experiencein these specialised areas(told you we would comeback to outsourcing eventu-ally!)

Being a solicitor is hard. The

vast majority of us are dili-gent professionals whowork long hours on ourclients affairs, dealing withcomplex and often sensitivematters. To do the job wellrequires experience anddedication. On top of thatwe are expected to run abusiness, in an increasinglychallenging environment.

As lawyers, everything wedo which does not directlyincrease the number and/orquality of instructions re-ceived, or doesn’t improvethe service to our existingclients, is a task that can bedelegated to somebodyelse. And let’s face it, dealingwith the law, and interact-ing with clients, is whatmost of us enjoy mostabout what we do. Fewlawyers want to be account-ants, HR Professionals, or ITmanagers.

And of course many firmsemploy non-lawyer in theseroles. But not all firms canafford that luxury, and notall lawyers want to manageor supervise these profes-sionals. And that’s whereoutsourcing comes in.

An outsourcing providercan take your non corefunctions and do them foryou. Almost anything that isnot key to your business,and that of your client’s, canbe carried out by somebodyelse, working as part of yourteam, but as an employee ofanother organisation.

This has many advantages:

• The job is done by a spe-cialist in that role. Your firmwill accordingly benefitfrom industry expertise. Ifyour outsourced provider iscarrying out the same rolefor a number of firms, theywill refine their processesand systems, taking bestpractise from each of theirclients, to improve theirservice overall.

• Your outsourced supplierwill also manage that ex-pertise. As well as the imme-diate service provision, youroutsourced supplier alsotakes on the quality assur-ance, training and any com-pliance issues. In additionyou won’t need to worryabout supervision/manage-ment, holiday cover, orcover for sickness absence.

•And finally, an outsourcedsupplier will usually chargeless than employing theequivalent resource inhouse.

But most importantly of all,it lets you focus on the tasksthat add value to your busi-ness.

Somebody once said to methat only 3 functions in anybusiness add value – salesand marketing, product de-velopment, and customerservice - everything else iscost. While this is perhapssomewhat simplistic, thereis little doubt that, in a lawfirm, practice development,the exploration of new serv-ice areas, and excellentclient service are funda-

mental. If outsourcing non-core (but still important)functions help you spendmore time in these threeareas, then that must begood be a good thing.

David Calder

David Calder is ManagingDirector of The CashroomLtd. The Cashroom pro-vides an outsourced LegalCashiering and FinanceDirector service to lawfirms throughout the UK.Contact David ondavid.calder@thecash-room.co.uk, or visitwww.thecashroom.co.uk.

Specialisation in the Legal Profession Increasing complexity has persuaded more and more solicitors that it is almost impossible to be a general

practitioner, and most firms willpass on work in which they

recognise they have no expertise.

alphabiolabs

17Forensic Accountancy

Slater Heelis LLP PartnerRebecca Sharp has be-come known in the firm’sManchester and Cheshireoffices as the Lawyer inLycra, thanks to her dedi-cated training programmeto run the LondonMarathon on 13 April2014 to raise funds forMacmillan Cancer Sup-port after battling cancerherself.

Since being diagnosed withcervical cancer in May 2006,Becky, 28, has been fightingthe disease and is now in re-mission.

Throughout her treatmentand recovery she receivedextensive support fromMacmillan Cancer Support,and the Macmillan nurseshave helped her and herfamily though a very diffi-cult time. Becky is now de-termined to run themarathon to fundraise forMacmillan to help ensurethat other cancer sufferers

are also able to benefit fromthe support and care ofMacmillan nurses.

Becky says: “Being diag-nosed with cervical cancerwas a real shock and, likeanyone who receives thatdiagnosis, I had a millionquestions and worries. I feelincredibly lucky to now bein remission and also tohave received the supportof the Macmillan nurseswho were there with practi-cal and emotional help andadvice whenever I neededit. Everyone should be ableto access this level of careand I wanted to show myappreciation for all that theyhave done for me by run-ning the London Marathonto raise money for Macmil-lan Cancer Support andtheir amazing nurses.”

Head of Private Client ChrisPartington said: “Everyonein the firm is so very proudof Becky and her fight toovercome her cancer; her

tenacity and drive is truly in-spiring. Becky’s determina-tion to stay strong and fitand beat her illness hasnever wavered and weknow she will prove herselfyet again when she runs theMarathon. We’ll all bewatching the TV and cheer-ing her on!”

A keen runner before her di-agnosis, Becky also believesthat exercise is what hashelped her to stay well andstrong, both physically andmentally, and has kept up astrict training regime for thepast year, even running onChristmas Day! Becky willbe cheered on at theMarathon by members ofher family and is hoping tobeat her target time of 4hours and 45 minutes.

Donations to Becky’s Lon-don Marathon fund can bemade at http://uk.virgin-moneygiving.com/Beck-Sharp

Lawyer in Lycra beats cancerDLA Piper held a UK-wideCycle Challenge on Wednes-day 19 March 2014 to raisemoney for UNICEF, theworld’s leading organisationfor children . The firm's Man-chester office raised £3,605with all of DLA Piper's UK of-fices raising a combinedtotal of £31,189. All moneyraised until 21 March will bematched by the firm andwill go towards UNICEF'sChild Justice Project inBangladesh.

The Cycle Challenge tobenefit UNICEF involved 34teams competing on exer-cise bikes in each of thefirm's seven UK offices. Eachteam had up to 10 cyclistswhich included futuretrainees of the firm, clientsand DLA Piper staff. PureGym, a national supplier ofthe firm, donated the bikesfor the event.

The challenge was to com-plete the furthest collectivedistance possible as a teamon one shared bike be-tween 10am - 4pm, with aprize for the team that cy-cles the furthest and theteam that raises the mostsponsorship donations forUNICEF.

The winners of the chal-lenge were the freewheel-ers from the London office,who cycled an incredible310.2 km in six hours.

Liam Cowell, Office Manag-ing Partner of DLA Piper'sManchester office, said: "Asan office we support manylocal charities, but our part-nership with UNICEF allowsus to make an impact on aglobal scale. The teams andmyself are always up for achallenge and knowing thatthe money we raised willhelp to strengthen childprotection in Bangladesh,

made it very worthwhile.We encourage all of ourstaff to get involved in ourCorporate Responsibilityinitiatives and it was brilliantto see so much support forthis cycling challenge, bothfrom the Manchester officeand across the UK."

In April 2013, DLA Piperlaunched a three year part-nership with UNICEF tostrengthen the protectionof children around theworld. During the partner-ship we will also provide probono assistance throughthe UK Committee forUNICEF to the value of £3million. In addition, we aremaking a donation of £1million to UNICEF’s globalchild justice programme.

Tony Angel, Global Co-Chairman at DLA Piper, said:"Through this partnershipwe will combine ourstrengths with UNICEF’s toachieve a step change inchild justice. Our success re-lies on the commitment ofeveryone at DLA Piperworking together to pro-vide UNICEF with the fullbreadth of support thatonly we can give them." Commenting on DLA Piper’sefforts Catherine Cottrell,Director of Fundraising forthe UK Committee forUNICEF said: "It is fantasticthat DLA Piper’s staff andclients have put on such anenergetic display of pedalpower to raise vital funds forUNICEF. Their generous sup-port will contribute toUNICEF’s child justice work

DLA Piper Cycle Challenge raises£31,189 for child justice

Tuckers Solicitors held a quiz in Spinningfields in Manchester on March 20th to raisemoney towards buying a Glucose Monitoring System for Manchester Children's Hos-pital.

Due to the adversity of diabetes or specifically type 1 diabetes this can affect every majororgan in a child's body including the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.

There is a huge waiting list for this piece of equipment in Manchester as the Children's Hos-pital have just one of these systems.

A great night was had by all, with some great prizes being won. There were 17 teams tak-ing part including law firms and barristers chambers and collectively we managed to raise£1825, which is just £450 off buying the equipment.

Tuckers will be continuing to raise money in the next few weeks to try and reach this goal.

Following on from the quiz, on Sunday March 23rd 20 intrepid Tuckers employees bravedhailstones and general unfitness to run between 1 and 3 miles for Sports Relief.

All looked resplendent in their company T Shirts. Many brought their children along to par-ticipate.

Franklin Sinclair commented “Of course we may well soon be running for "Legal Aid Relief"if things carry on getting worse. However, and more importantly, we raised £500 for SportsRelief.”

Tuckers raise much need cashfor two charities

19Feature

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l Forensic consultation in relation to DNA and body fluids evidence

l Expert witness services for prosecution or defence, including case review, reinterpretation of evidence and provision of expert testimony at court

l Training and guest lecturing services in forensic awareness, DNA profiling, sexual offences investigation, case assessment and interpretation, forensic quality systems or bespoke courses to meet your requirements. Courses are suitable for all audiences including legal professionals, law enforcement personnel, medical practitioners, forensic experts, students or other interested parties

l Quality systems consultancy to ISO 17025:2005, laboratory auditing services and quality investigations

l Scientific article writing

Contact us to discuss your requirements or for a free initial consultation.07796 546 224

sue.carney@ethosforensics.comwww.ethosforensics.com

An innovative new serviceaims to provide vital busi-ness support to the Cre-ative, Digital and MediaSector by dealing withlegal, HR, financial,growth, training andfunding issues all underone roof.

The new venture, called“BackOfficeUK” is the resultof a collaboration betweenaccountancy, HR and ITbusiness Summ.IT, BermansSolicitors’ Creative Indus-tries Team, NatWest and re-cruitment and executivesearch specialists RowanPartners.

The team includes:

• Steve Kuncewicz, Head OfIP & Media at Bermans andone of the North West’smost high-profile IP andMedia Lawyers as well as arecognised expert on thelegal issues involved in so-cial media and allegedlyManchester’s most-fol-lowed lawyer on Twitter,

• Erica Ingham, Head ofSumm.IT’s Digital and Cre-ative Team an experiencedFinance Director who has

extensive blue chip experi-ence at GovToday, BBCRadio, M&S, Chello Media,20th Century Fox and MTV,

• Jayne Sanderson-Brown,Managing Partner and Headof HR at Summ.IT, is a lead-ing HR and learning profes-sional with extensiveexperience in providingstrategic and board-levelsupport to her clients,

• Mike Malone, RelationshipDirector, Telecoms, Mediaand Technology at NatWestand a rising star in the NorthWest Banking Sector whohas already helped clientssuch as Fatsoma and GreatFridays secure additionalgrowth funding and scaleup their businesses; and

•Paul Waite, a specialist inworking with progressiveprivate equity-backed andprivately-owned SME busi-nesses to “future-proof”their growth.

BackOfficeUK will offer afully- integrated approachto managing business is-sues and leverage the ex-tensive experience of theindividuals involved and

their considerable networkof contacts to help Creative,Digital and Media Busi-nesses thrive in an increas-ingly complex, fluid andrisky business environment.Based in the already-iconicvenue The Landing in theheart of MediaCityUK, Back-OfficeUK will roll out a seriesof drop-in sessions and sur-geries as well as a calendarof events on topics of cru-cial importance to the Cre-ative, Digital & Media Sectoras well as getting on withthe main reason for theircollaboration, meeting keystakeholders in the Sectorto tailor their offering towhat is actually needed bytheir clients and offer a ho-listic solution to their chal-lenges.

Steve Kuncewicz said thisabout the opportunitiespresented by BackOfficeUK:“Creative, Digital and MediaBusiness have been collabo-rating with each other foryears and enjoyed somefairly spectacular success inwinning more high-profileand profitable projects thanthey could ever hope to in-dividually. The ProfessionalServices sector has pre-

BackOfficeUK Launches Innovative “One Stop Shop” Providing KeyProfessional Services To Creative, Digital & Media Sector

dictably moved moreslowly, often having looseaffiliations with members oftheir little black books butstill working within tradi-tional constraints. We’rehoping that BackOfficeUKwill give us an opportunityto offer a genuine multidis-ciplinary service in innova-tive ways for the benefit ofour clients, who are at theheart of everything we do.We want this to be a tailoredfit to their needs rather thanus telling them what theyshould be wearing at a costthey can’t afford. It’s a veryexciting prospect.”

BackOfficeUK is supportedby MediaCityUK, CreativeEngland and The Landingand is holding an interactivelaunch event at The Landingon May 6th featuring akeynote address by CarolineNorbury, Creative England’sCEO, on the “State of TheUnion” of the Creative In-dustries in the North Westand the challenges theyface. Tickets are free andavailable now fromhttp://www.backoffice.uk.com/

Steve Kuncewicz

Anti-Money Laundering Compliance for Law Firms and Estate AgentsThe Money Laundering Regulations 2007 apply to law firms and estate agents. The Regulations place compulsory obligations on regulated organisations tohave in place compliant systems and procedures to help prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.These include requirements for the appointment of a Money Laundering Reporting Officer, procedures for reporting suspicious circumstances, customerand transaction due diligence and the training of staff.

For the purpose of the Regulations law firms are supervised by the Law Society and estate agents by the Office of Fair Trading. Both these supervisors havepublished guidance on how firms should comply with their anti-money laundering obligations. Failure to comply with the Regulations is a serious businessand could amount to a criminal offence. Despite this there are still many law firms and estate agents who are not taking their responsibilities seriously.There is growing evidence that supervising bodies are beginning to come down hard on non-compliant firms so now is the right time for firms to re-visittheir AML policies.

Regulation 21 states that firms “must take appropriate measures so that all relevant employees are (a) made aware of the law relating to money launderingand terrorist financing, and (b) regularly given training in how to recognise and deal with transactions and other activities which may be related to moneylaundering or terrorist financing.”

There is no doubt that training, within firms, plays a vital part in any AML policy. Staff need to know what their statutory obligations are under the Pro-ceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000. They need to understand in what circumstances they should report suspicious circumstances to theirMoney Laundering Reporting Officer and what the consequences are for failure to report. Of equal importance they require training on a regular and on-going basis on how to recognise and deal with suspicious transactions. Sophisticated criminals are constantly changing their methodologies.The Home Office estimates that serious organised crime in the UK alone generates approximately £20 billion pound a year. Property acquisition continuesto be a common method used by serious organised criminals to launder the proceeds of crime. It is of particular important therefore that law firms and es-tate agents understand the extent of the money laundering risks to their businesses and the ever changing techniques being used. Effective training is thekey to protecting your firm and its employees from the undesirable consequences of becoming involved in money laundering or related activity.The Law Society AML Practice Note specifies that law firms must provide training at regular and appropriate intervals and that training can take manyforms including face to face seminars and completion of on line training sessions. These requirements also apply to estate agents.

So how do firms go about effectively training their staff? Well ML Solutions4U Limited (“MLS”) appears to have come up with a very modern and innovativesolution. MLS is a member of the Manchester Law Society’s Advantage Group and it is the recommended supplier of AML services to both the ManchesterLaw Society and the National Conveyancing Association.

MLS is about to launch its new Anti-Money laundering “app” which will help regulated firms to comply with their obligatory requirement to provide AMLrefresher training.

Licensed users will be able to access the training material from their I Pad, IPhone, Android or their desktop/laptop computer. The AML training materialwill be updated regularly and users will receive push notifications informing them that new articles and video content are available for viewing or reading.The “app” will work alongside an intelligent training management platform that will allow firms to manage and organise their AML training programmesand produce valuable management reports to monitor user performance and demonstrate regulatory compliance.

Bill Jones the Chief Executive of ML Solutions commenting on the new “app” said: “For some time now we have been pro-viding formal AML on-line training to the legal and other professions. From talking to our existing customers it becameapparent that there was a need to come up with a training solution that catered for the required on-going AML refreshertraining. Our aim was to provide a regularly updated product that could be accessed at any time from any modern view-ing platform. Lawyers and estate agents struggle to keep up to date with legal training and the new “app” will make lifemuch easier for them and at the same time help firms to comply with their training obligations”

For more details contact Bill Jones at info@mlsolutions4u.co.uk or by phone on 0161 828 1937.

Management MattersThis column is now into its fifth year and feedback is still good. We would still like to receive observations and ideas for futureissues. Please mail Bill Kirby at billkirby@professionalchoiceconsultancy.com or the publisher Julia Baskerville atj.baskerville@btconnect.com

22 Feature

I did warn you in February

"April Fool" – Risk of Attack

As of Tuesday 8th, circa 25% of firms have security holesin their network which is creating opportunities for hack-ers and breaching compliance!

“On 8th April 2014, Microsoft will cease to support Win-dows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003. This means afirm will be vulnerable to security threats and compli-ance risks unless you have updated your software”

This is now recognised as a national issue with busi-nesses already under attack affecting security and com-pliance http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26884167

MLS Advantage member Converge TS has a dedicatedlegal division and in a traditional time hosting your ITand bringing Microsoft up to date that way and havingthe necessary protection from Cyber attacks would be agreat solution.

In response to the massive volume of enquiries beinggenerated at this almost too late stage Converge TS hasset up a help line 0845 872 4407 so that members, or as-piring members of Manchester Law Society can getsome immediate advice – this will include if wanted afree audit of licensing -for short, medium and long termfixes or as previously for this or more general advice con-tact aaron.naisbitt@convergets.co.uk

Potential ClientsA major theme in this column over the last few years hasbeen trying to encourage great handling of inbound en-quiries – we had the Mystery Shopper report sponsoredby Matrix 247, extracts from Ian Coopers report on con-version, the utilisation of workflow from out PMS sys-tems at contact level, culture improvements and a wholeconference about it in March.

One of my network of consultancies - Legal Mentors of-fers advice and training to many law firms in improving

business process and training. You may be regular recip-ients of their regularly published “Tips”

In April they included "Prospective clients are like gold-dust, potentially really valuable to us. People who phoneup and ask for a quote just want to hear how much wecharge - right?"

Wrong If you simply respond by answering their basicquestion and fail to use the opportunity to establishsome rapport, and promote your strengths and expert-ise, then they will compare your services against anotherfirm based on price alone and they are likely to buy thecheapest.

So you must find ways of helping them to understandthe quality of your service and expertise, and not just thecost or your hourly rate. In fact, do you really want towork for people who want things on the cheap? Surely,you want clients who will appreciate the quality andvalue of your work.

Our experience is that many law firms don't handle newenquiries well, don't know how many enquiries they re-ceive, how they are actually handled and how many callsare lost the competition”

What was particularly attractive about this issue was theoffer to conduct a Mystery Shopper exercise for any lawfirm to discover how your firm rates for handling en-quiries they will conduct their Mystery Shopping'process. This includes a confidential Enquiry HandlingFeedback Report. For as little as £600. Contact MikePorter mike@legal-mentors.com

Residential Conveyancing – Increasing Profit Semi-nar

Whilst mentioning Legal Mentors they and MLS Advan-tage member ETSOS the fast growing property searchaggregator that is CQS compliant, are holding a CPDseminar 'How to increase profit in residential conveyanc-ing'. The course was recently held in London and re-ceived great feedback from Partners. The seminar will beheld at JMW in Manchester on Thursday 15th May and is£49+VAT for 3 hours CPD. For more information emailPaul Coombes pcoombes@etsos.co.uk

Whilst on a related topic in March approximately 2,000automated quotes were given by estate agents and IFAson behalf of law firms using the QRS system from ETSOS.It all fits with an increasing number of law firms captur-ing and converting prospects well and early.www.etsos.co.uk

DR and Continuity for client calls

Again I frequently write about how essential businesscontinuity and disaster recovery is for IT and telephonyand this affects not only compliance but also businesssurvival particularly in the commercial space.

MLS Advantage member Moneypenny has offered firmsa strong supplementary service to their BC and DR plansfor a number of years.

The culture of high profile Manchester firm TurnerParkinson believes ‘everything and everyone matters’and works hard to deliver a high quality service, provid-ing a professional and efficient receptionist service is cru-cial. In Autumn 2013 the practice lost all telephone landlinesdue to an issue with its telecoms provider it was a seri-ous problem that could have had major implications.

Managing Partner Mark Openshaw-Blower explains: “As

a result of the fault there was a sudden outage and ourISDN 30 connections went down. Fortunately, we had re-tained Moneypenny’s Business Continuity and DisasterRecovery service for a good while prior to this happen-ing, so we made a call to them and within 20 minutes wewere up and running again with Moneypenny Recep-tionists seamlessly taking and redirecting all our callsuntil the problem was resolved almost a day and a halflater. As far as our clients were concerned it was businessas usual”.

Since the well handled crisis the relationship betweenthe businesses has further developed …

“We were so impressed that Moneypenny is now takingoverspill calls for us for those times when our own recep-tionists need support. This is proving particularly usefulfor very busy periods and to cover staff absences andholidays and ensures that we are never missing a call”.

Again we have covered this issue quite extensively overthe years Potential clients calling in can be as high as20% of inbound calls. We had an example a year agowhen 2,000 calls into a firm generated 416 new enquirieswhich is a great number. In most cases that 416 will callthe next firm if the calls are not taken effectively. Withclients also one of the biggest complaints is about howbadly their telephone enquiries are handled.

Legal Eye – Quality Standard Kite Mark

Many of us like out badges to demonstrate our compe-tence and assist our marketing – for example Lexcel andCQS, then IIP and ISO 9000 and of course more recentlyISO 27001.

There is now a new one that is available and that is fromLegal Eye www.legal-eye.co.uk for compliance and qual-ity achievement and operation. At time of writing this ar-ticle there are 19 firms that have achieved the standardwith a further 50 currently going through the assess-ment process. Imagine that haunting and penetratingeye looking out from your web site

Another marketing tick in the box.

Bill Kirby is a director of Professional Choice Consul-tancy offering advice to firms on business issuesfrom strategy, planning, business development, theeffective use of IT applications and IT hosting forcompliance, business continuity and DR. He can becontacted at billkirby@professionalchoiceconsul-tancy.com

MYSG NewsThe MYSG has over 1,000 mem-bers and we invite qualified so-licitors up to 10 years PQE(excluding Partners) from inand around Manchester to joinour group. We arrange socialevents for solicitors, networkingevents with other professionalgroups in Manchester includingbankers, accountants and sur-veyors, educational and CPDseminars, and other eventswhich we think will be of interestto our members. Membership isfree and the costs of our eventsare met by sponsors. If youwould like to join the MYSG andyou do not currently receive ouremails, please email us atinfo@mysg.org.uk, or contact usthrough our website,www.mysg.org.uk or via ourFacebook page, "ManchesterLawyers".

Thank you to everyone whocame to our mixer with theMTSG, RICS, MYPN and MCAS.As you can see from the pho-tos it was a very popularevent and one we hope to re-peat in May.

Since then we’ve had thepleasure of hosting a charitybeauty and style event in aidThe Birdhouse Fund, a localcharity which supportwomen who have fallen onhard times either throughlack of qualifications, a de-prived background or even aviolent relationship. TheMYSG are really proud to beinvolved with such a worth-while charity. Held at St JohnsBuildings and sponsored byMichael Page, this was theperfect opportunity for ourmembers to be pampered

and preened for a good causeand we thank you for coming.

Next on the agenda is ourSpring Social, which will takeplace at the end of April andin true Easter fashion. Detailsare to be confirmed but it willbe another chance to net-work and a great opportunityfor all newly qualified solici-tors to attend their first MYSGevent.

In other news, the MYSGSports Rep, Simon Gerrard, isnow taking registrations fromall those interested in linkingup with other professionals inManchester through sport, beit football, netball, golf,squash or one you can sug-gest we haven’t thought toname. For more details in-cluding of our upcoming

events please visit our web-site: www.mysg.org.uk.

23Local News

MTSG NewsThe nights are getting lighterand we can all finally look for-ward to the summer we’repromised. Whilst the commit-tee are feeling optimisticabout the weather, the Sum-mer Ball plans are underwayand we’re looking forward toenjoying part of the eveningal fresco. Douglas Scott Re-cruitment and our ball secre-taries Helen, Nina and Kellyare keeping the details top se-cret, but keep an eye out for a‘save the date’ email comingsoon.

Meanwhile, members had agreat time at the bowlingevent at Dog Bowl. We’regrateful to Michael Page LegalRecruitment and Wesleyan fortheir support with the event.See below for a photographof our secretary Natalie in ac-tion!

Back to business and mem-bers were de-stressing at ourLaw Care seminar at JMW lastmonth. Drinks and nibbleswere provided whilst mem-bers learnt about the indica-tors of stress; stress and timemanagement tips and learn-ing to say ‘No’. We welcomeany feedback from membersas to how their supervisorsfelt when they ‘just said no’ totheir work requests!

Hays Legal Recruitment alsoput on an educational eventfor our members last monthwith their hotly anticipatedtalk on the local legal market.It seems that Manchester isbooming and members areencouraged to contact Haysfor support in finding newroles, if necessary.

Finally, we are very excited toannounce our exclusive‘Women in the Law’ Eventwhich will be held at DWF.Leading female solicitors inManchester are being gath-ered onto a panel to provideguests with their tips for suc-cess in law and life. Maleguests are welcome; youshould know what you’re upagainst!

Further details will be emailedto members of the MTSG,MYSG and the local lawschools. We encourageprompt responses as with allour events - it’s a sell out year!

Raana AfsarpourExpress SolicitorsChair 2013/2014

The Manchester Trainee Solici-tors Group provides social, ed-ucational, sporting andnetworking opportunities forjunior legal professionals inand around Manchester. If youwould like to join us as a para-legal, prospective trainee,trainee or newly qualified solic-itor, please visit the ‘Join Us’ sec-tion of our website:www.mtsg.org.uk

Jackson/LASPO – do you know yourATE from your BTE, your DBA from youCFA, and where ADR is after PGF?

Apologies for the less than concise title,but if you have anything to do with theworld of litigation you cannot help butbe familiar with most of these acronyms.As a professional mediator and formerlitigator I will concentrate on the last twoand outline some reasons why Alterna-tive Dispute Resolution and mediation,although not prominent in the reforms,are likely to become increasingly popu-lar in the new environment.

First, Lord Justice Jackson (love him orloathe him) has built ADR into the newinfrastructure. He said, and this has beenrepeated by Mr Justice Ramsey (who hasbeen implementing the reforms):

“The aim is that, in general, no case should come to trial withoutthe parties having undertaken some form of alternative dispute

resolution to settle the case.”

Negotiation and joint settlement meetings are fine, but where they don’t work you need toconsider alternatives. This is the template the judiciary are working from. Bear in mind that“The Jackson ADR Handbook” (Amazon £34.99) is the judicial bench-book that has beenissued to judges and will be on the bench when ADR is discussed at case management con-ferences.

Secondly, the Court of Appeal has laid down an important marker in PGF v OMFS [2013]EWCA Civ1288. The court found that failing to respond to an offer amounted to a refusalto mediate which attracted a six figure costs sanction. Briggs LJ added:“The court’s task in encouraging the more proportionate conduct of civil litigation is so im-portant in current economic circumstances that it is appropriate to emphasise that mes-sage by a sanction which, even if a little more vigorous than I would have preferred,nonetheless operates pour encourager les autres.”

Thirdly, it seems to me that legal arguments about the new touchstone of proportionalitywill often conclude with a suggestion that mediation is an appropriate approach. For ex-ample, where it becomes clear from the figures in precedent H at a cost management dis-cussion that the proposed costs give rise to a proportionality issue, the court will want toknow what settlement avenues have been considered and are proposed. A general inten-tion to negotiate may not suffice and failure to give thorough, knowledgeable considera-tion to ADR will give rise to a risk of cost sanctions. The judiciary are now a good deal moremediation “savvy” than they were back in the days of Halsey and it was demonstrated in thePGF case at first instance that glib arguments that the case was not ready for mediation, atthe stage it was proposed was met with short shrift from the bench. The judicial retort tothis argument was that one of the functions of mediation was earlier settlement and it wasnot necessary to have a trial bundle to settle or mediate.

Fourthly, you might be “Mitchelled”.  It is not hard to think of a case developing in such away that both parties might have potential CPR 3.9 problems.  One solution is to arrange amediation to settle damages and costs – this puts the parties, not the court, back in controlof the case. A variation on this theme is to consider mediating before commencing proceed-ings.

Fifthly and finally, and perhaps most importantly, mediation works in most cases and clientslike it.

I conclude by noting that when Professor Dominic Regan recently considered whether nowwas the right time for practitioners to look at ADR again his conclusion was that the argu-ments for doing so are “unanswerable”. I will finish, as I started, with acronyms: if you havea case where you are thinking about ADR contact NWMS.

Tim WallisNorth West Mediation Solutionsand other mediation organisations.He is also a solicitor, independent Chairman of Claims Portal Limited and the Association ofBritish Insurers’ GTA Technical Committee on credit hire and was a founder member of amember of the Civil Justice Council.

Contact Peter Whitmanpeterwhitman@nwmediationsolutions.co.uk01254 720278 (m) 07774 694964www.nwmediationsolutions.co.uk

24 News

The family law team at Slater & Gordon have recently published Family Law MadeSimple. The book sets out in simple impartial terms the steps you need to takeduring a relationship breakdown and guides you through the legal maze of fam-ily law.

The book was launched to a packed room at The Milton Club in Manchester where in-tegral figures in the family legal sphere rubbed shoulders whilst listening to Sally Har-

Family Law Team at Slater & Gordon launch “Family Law Made Simple”

rison QC. Sally spoke ani-matedly about the publi-cation about how sheviewed it as an invaluableaid for anyone consideringdivorce or relationshipbreak-up.

The book was written col-laboratively by the Slater &Gordon Family Law teamwith Principal LawyerSarah Thompson, as themain contributor. Theguide covers a range oftopics on separation anddivorce including divisionof family assets, mainte-nance, making arrange-ments for the children,property disputes, how tonegotiate a settlementand what happens if itdoes end up in court.Whether you are experi-encing a family and rela-tionship dispute rightnow, or simply preparingfor the future, Family LawMade Simple is for anyonewho wants to make lifeafter marriage a lot lessdaunting.Amanda McAlister, Andrew Newbury, Sally Harrison QC & Sarah Thompson

27

International Festival for BusinessThe International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014 is the largest global concentration of business events during 2014. The 50-day festival runs across 7 weeks in June and July and will attract business delegates and trade intermediaries from around the world to Liverpool and the North West. In themonth’s leading up to the IFB, The Messenger will be bringing the latest news on events and activitiesaimed at the professional sector.

The Law Society has re-vealed its programme ofevents it will host as part ofthe International Festival forBusiness (IFB), held in Liver-pool this summer.

Revealed last week at thelaunch of IFB’s dedicatedProfessional & FinancialServices Week, held atDWF’s offices at CapitalHouse, London, the eventswill draw high profile speak-ers from business, legal andgovernment sectors.

Taking place throughoutthe 50-day global festival,the programme includesthe Society’s flagship ‘Busi-ness Ethics, Human Rightsand Rule of Law’ which willbe held at the Liverpool’siconic Anglican Cathedralon the 19 June.

The Society’s other eventswill run throughout Juneand July, with many concen-trated during the IFB’s Fi-nancial and ProfessionalServices Week. These in-clude:

• The Single Market –Looking back and Look-ing Forward – 18th June

• Business Ethics, HumanRights and Rule of Law –19th June

• 21st Century Legal Tech-nology – 25th June

• Welcome to Liverpool:Options for foreign lawfirms and lawyers in Eng-land and Wales – 2nd July

•Red Tape & Business In-terference – Guiding SMEsthrough the maze – 3rdJuly

• Negotiating a ChangingWorld – 8th July

• Rule of Law and Business– Anti-bribery and Corrup-tion: a global perspective– 9th July

• Why is the path to part-nership increasingly un-appealing for women? –15th July

• International Develop-ments in the field of ADR -17th July

While seminars, lecturesand workshops will be tak-ing place at various venuesacross the city, the coreevents space for the festivalwill be the IFB Hub, locatedat Mann Island and over-looking the city’s world-fa-mous waterfront; a UNESCOworld-heritage site.

Max Steinberg, chair of IFB,

said: “We’re delighted to bereceiving the support fromyet another industry leader. “The International Festivalfor Business will have a lotto offer the UK’s legal com-munity this summer. Notonly have we lined-up alarge selection of world-class events, many of whichhosted by the Society, but itwill also provide a once in alifetime opportunity tobroaden networks on aglobal scale.

“Showcasing the best ofBritish business, across allsectors, is at the core of ourincentives for IFB. With onlya few weeks to go, I stronglyurge the UK’s legal commu-nity to consider how theycan help us to promote thismessage and to considerthe benefits that they cangain by getting involvedthis summer.”

The announcement followsthe launch of the IFB’s Busi-ness Club initiative, whichaims to set up 5,000 meet-ings for UK businesses withpotential new customers,partners and suppliersthrough a bespoke businessbrokerage service.

Companies which join theIFB Business Club, whichlaunched in February, will

be able to access a range offacilities and services duringthe festival, including thebrokerage service. To join the business club forfree, simply visitwww.ifb2014.com to re-sister your details.

Members will have the op-portunity to gain businessadvice via one-to-one ap-pointments and businessbrokerage sessions withspecialists in particular sec-tors and markets.

Advisors will come from arange of key bodies, includ-ing UKTI, CBI, British Cham-bers of Commerce, themanufacturers’ organisationEEF, and the Federation ofSmall Businesses.

Conversion rate optimisa-tion has been something ofa buzzword recently, and agrowth area for many onlinemarketing agencies.

And no wonder - in a nut-shell, it means boosting thenumber of site visitors whogo on to buy the product,register their details, ormake an enquiry. It's all verywell bringing people to asite through marketing, butif those clicks don't convert,it's wasted money.

So how does it work?The starting point is deter-mining what constitutes aconversion for your site, andcollecting this data effec-tively. In a service-based in-dustry it may be yourcontact form or an email ad-dress, which can be set up asconversions or goals inGoogle Analytics.

This data then requires care-ful analysis – comparingconversion rates for differ-ent goals and landing

pages, looking at how thesevisitors entered a site, find-ing the most common pathsto a goal, and looking at themost common exit pages,where people are leavingthe site.

Next comes diagnostics.Why are certain pages or vis-itor sources not converting?Putting yourself in the shoesof the visitor and goingthrough the process is thesimplest way of doing this. Alarger focus group may alsohelp bring issues to light.

Solving problemsSome of the most commonproblems addressed in con-version rate optimisation in-clude:

• Speed – Nobody likes aslow site; many visitorsabandon their journey if apage takes more than a cou-ple of seconds to load. Simi-larly, there should be a swiftand simple path from enter-ing the site (however yougot there) to converting.

• Functionality – If there'ssomething broken on yoursite, it ruins the experienceand puts people off convert-ing. Furthermore, do yourbuttons and contact formswork the way they should?This is the final hurdle toconverting, but is so oftenoverlooked.

• Design – The layout, visualsand text on a page can havea huge impact on whetherpeople convert. Commontools here include click map-ping to show where theusers are focusing, and ABtesting to ascertain whichversion of a page is more ef-fective over time.

In short, CRO boils down tomaking your website workbetter. It's something everybusiness should consider,because the ultimate goal isthat the same amount ofmarketing effort goes in, butmore leads come out.

Boosting leads with CRO

Law Society reveals IFB offering

28 Lifestyle

Don’t Miss This!For the past 3 months, we’ve been tearing up the rule book on getting ripped (guys) and lean,shaped & toned (girls).

We’ve just finalised new, upgraded, specific personal training protocols aimed at achievingthese goals, and we’re releasing them for testing and data collection (before we committed ourlives to getting people looking and feeling great, three sixtyº founders Matt and Dee had suc-cessful careers designing and managing global clinical studies).

All we need now are two groups of volunteers who want to get in the shape of their lives.

The first group we’re looking for are men who want to lose fat and gain muscle, achievingabdominal definition.

The second group we’re looking for are women who want to lose fat, get lean, and gaingreat shape and ‘tone’.

All applicants must be:- Non-smokers- Men must be 16% body fat or lower- Women must be 22% body fat or lower- Willing to train 3 times per week for 12 weeks with us at our exclusive personal

training gym on Bridge St- Be strictly compliant with our training, nutrition and lifestyle protocol- Be willing to undergo our screening process to gain entry to the study

Study Design and Criteria:- Screening process / entry criteria will involve completing questionnaires and

attending the gym for a free body fat test (skin fold calipers), blood pressure

test, and brief (and very friendly) interview- Each protocol will run continuously for 12 weeks, you must be available for 3

sessions (1 hour each) per week, every week for 12 weeks- Data collection (body composition, photo record and health assessments) will

be carried out at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks- Defined nutrition protocol for all subjects- Defined supplement protocol (heavily discounted) for all subjects- Mandatory allocated time in our infrared sauna

While we would love to trial these protocols for free, the amount of time involved meanswe cannot – we have, however, reduced our fees to the minimum possible, and also dis-counted our supplement protocols to the minimum possible. Further details regarding costsassociated with these protocols will be provided to applicants.

One thing’s for sure, you’ll never have a better opportunity to get into the shape of your life forthe time and financial investment involved in taking part.

Places on each study protocol are strictly limited and are not exclusive to Manchester LawSociety Messenger readers – by the time you read this, many places will already have gone, soif this sounds like the ideal opportunity to get in the shape of your life, act now, emailmatt@360personaltraining.co.uk

three sixtyº Personal Training is based on Bridge St and is a unique, private personal traininggym dedicated to taking care of Manchester’s busy professionals.

For more information visit www.threesixtypersonaltraining.co.uk, call Matt on 07971 192357, oremail matt@360personaltraining.co.uk

Manchester Law Society Members receive a 10% discount on regular personal training uponproduction of their Benefits of Membership Card

Monthly Competition

To win four free rounds of golf at Northenden Golf Club, please answer the following question:

Q: In which year did Northenden Golf Club rebuild its greens?and send to FranEccles-Bech@manchesterlawsociety.org.uk no later than 16th May 2014. The winner of the Lucha Libre competition was Ashi Arora, Chartered Legal Executive AssociateDavis Blank Furniss

Northenden Golf ClubNorthenden Golf Club is conveniently situated on the south side of Manchesternext to the River Mersey; and this location, combined with the many trees andshrubs, provides a splendid picturesque setting in which to play golf. Golfers alsohave the pleasure of relaxing at the ‘19th hole’, the clubhouse, which offers a newlyrefurbished lounge, bar and dining area. The club’s catering staff are pleased tosatisfy players’ food requirements with a variety of delicious meals and snacks.

Northenden’s golf course offers a major playing benefit to members and visitors.All 18 greens were rebuilt to USGA standards in 2006 to provide excellentdrainage, which allows continued use throughout the year. The absence of tem-porary greens has attracted much praise for the club, and is especially appreci-ated during the winter months.

Last year Northenden Golf Club celebrated its centenary. Over the last 100 years,many visitors have enjoyed the experience of playing the course; and the clubaims to maintain that level of satisfaction for visitors over the next 100 years.

The W according to Fran

rld 29Lifestyle

Well, Jacko returned fromhis holiday in Benidorm,safe and sound, and sadlyhe hadn’t lost his woollybobble hat - see photo.

He also hadn’t lost hispassport, insurance docu-ments, wallet, phone orkeys which for Jack is re-ally good.

I picked him up from hisDads, along with his dirtywashing and a large bottleof Baileys which surpris-ingly he had bought backfrom Benidorm for me. Iwas worried that he haddone something terriblywrong and that was whyhe was bringing me a gift.But that was not the case -I was very touched (andsobbed a little bit!) - this isthe first sign of affectionhe has shown me since2005 when he made me a

calendar for Mothers Day!I keep it in my dressingtable so that I can look atit every day and remem-ber that he did profess his

love for me once.

I was worried about himgetting burnt. I needn’thave worried. When I col-lected him from his Dadshe looked slightly embar-rassed. I thought that wasbecause I had come topick him up, but no, thatwas the suntan! He hadobviously spent a fairamount of time in the barsand clubs of Benidormwith his Dad and therewas mention of somebodycalled ‘Sticky Vicky’ but theleast said about that thebetter. Not something youshould really share withyour Mother, but that’sJack for you.

I am actually sat in theblazing sunshine at theholiday home in RibbleValley Country and LeisurePark (which is really a

static caravan on the Lan-cashire/North Yorkshireborder), typing this ondeadline day again. I havetaken a few days off beforeVicky goes on maternityleave and the madnessstarts.

I came in the car withDaisy the dog, all theclothing, all the food, allthe dog food, all the bed-ding, all the towels, all thewine, all the proseco andeverything else that weneeded for the week.Whilst Peter popped onhis motorbike and had aleisurely ride here. He was

very pleased with himself.I said that I would put thephoto of him messingaround in his “motorbikeundergarments” taken justbefore he left for hisleisurely ride in The Mes-senger to teach him a les-son.

PETER BECH CONSIDERYOURSELF TAUGHT.

Jack wasn’t very amusedthat we were comingaway and leaving him tofend for himself he be-

rated the fact that hewould have to wash hisown clothes, make hisown food, keep the houseclean and get up withouthis alarm clock Mother,but mainly that he wouldhave to feed himself. Hesaid that he would have tolive off take-aways for aweek which is very bad forhis health and its all myfault. I left him a note onthe side in the kitchen say-ing “Jack, your dinner is inthe fridge”. The fridge was empty

apart from a £10 note I lefton the shelf. Needless tosay I haven’t heard fromhim.

Fran Eccles-BechChief Executive

Expert Witnesses

Commercial Property Locum Solicitor available. Computer lit-erate. Recent experience includes a year’s CommercialProperty Locum work for a lead-ing commercial practice. PhonePaul Bryson at 01457 763340 ore-mail paul.bryson@virgin.net

Senior residential and commercial property Solicitorwith over 4 years continuousLocum experience offers you costeffective solutions for holidaymaternity and sickness cover .NoAgency fees to pay. Please contact Martin Libman on 0161485 1240 or 07939 508543.

18 years as Locum Solicitors inthe North West. Tel JohnBradley/Lynda Greenwood 07790612906 Available to deal withConveyancing and Family.

WHY PAY AGENCY FEES?Senior Residential Property Solicitor with over 30 years coveyancing experience (29 yearsas a sole practitioner) availablefor holidays, maternity and sickness cover. Reasonable rates.If I can help, please telephoneDavid on 07896 617287 (or emaildavidswann8491@hotmail.co.uk) further details and availability.

DUAL QUALIFIED, very experi-enced criminal specialist advo-cate with higher rights. Crimework and Crown Court work.Very resonable rates, short termlocum contract considered. Please contact Christine on01772 741816 or 07967 530138

Mark Mattison, a Mediatorbased in South Manchester is

available for commercial mediations and for training on

all forms of ADR.

07831 302797mark@markmattison.co.ukwww.markmattison.co.uk

Solicitor with 23 years experience in such matters

available on an Agency basisto assist firms who wish to

keep clients in-house. Please contact by email

harryrosenblum@hotmail.co.ukor telephone/fax: 0161 445 1850

Shareholder Disputes

Classified DirectoryCEDR Mediation

Contact us....THE MANCHESTER LAW SOCIETY64 Bridge Street, Manchester M3 3BNTel: 0161 831 7337 Fax: 0161 839 2631www.manchesterlawsociety.org.ukEditor: Fran Eccles-BechE-mail: FranEccles-Bech@manchesterlawsociety.org.uk

Publisher: Julia Baskerville Publications25 Southworth Way, College Farm, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 2WWTel/Fax: 01253 829431 E-mail: j.baskerville@jbaskerville.co.uk

Advertising enquiresj.baskerville@jbaskerville.co.ukwww.baskerville-publications.co.uu

All rights reserved, reproduction in whole or part without written permission from the Publisher and Manches-ter Law Society is not permitted. Photographic material and manuscripts are supplied at owners risk, neither thecompany not its agents accept any liability for loss or damage.

The Society welcomes articles and letters from members on any topic and items should be sent to the above ad-dress

The views and opinions expressed in the Manchester Messenger are those of the individual contributors and notof the Manchester Law Society

Locums

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well-established (since 1984)& experienced

tel: 0797 332 9791

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seeks position (full time or part time).

Over 30 years coveyancing experience

(29 years as a sole practitioner) Anywhere in the Greater

Manchester area.Email: davidswann8491@hotmail.co.uk

or telephone David on 07896 617287

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Couriers

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Contact 0161 272 7576 Mike or Steve.

Easedale is a delightful rural retreat set in several acres of wooded hillside groundswhich are graced with the presence of many different varieties of birds, badgers,deer and red squirrels - one in particular who regularly visits the tree right outsidethe front door!

There are some well-known walks from the door including Alcock Tarn, Loughrigg,Fairfield and the Rydal Round. Grasmere village is only a short walk down the hill,where you will find a wealth of shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs and the famousGingerbread shop. Dove Cottage and Grasmere lake are also only a short walkaway.

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To check availability please email petershrigley@hotmail.com or call07810 793649

Grasmere in the Lake District Autumn and Winter breaks from £200

To place an advertisement inThe Messenger please call Julia Baskerville on

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www.baskerville-publications.co.uk

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GET YOUR BUSINESSNOTICED

To advertise in the Messenger please call Julia on 01253 829431

CONVEYANCING AND PRIVATE CLIENT PARALEGAL WANTED

Working at our Walkden and Whitefield offices in Manchester, therole will suit a paralegal with 1–2 years experience in dealing witha mix of residential conveyancing, Wills and probate matters.

The successful applicant will join a busy team and provide support to Solicitors in these areas of work, maintaining the highest standards of client care, case progression and file management.

You should be a highly motivated individual and have an understanding and experience of billing, work throughput, client retention rates and return on investment. You will need to be results orientated with good commercial awareness. A possibletraining contract, competitive salary and other benefits for theright candidate.

Please send your CV and contact details tojames.paradeda@berryberry.co.uk