October 2007 Archives

BRABNERS Chaffe Street has been appointed to provide advice on environmental regulations to businesses and local councils across Britain.

MERSEYSIDE’S criminal justice system is set to be thrown into chaos as solicitors prepare to defy Government reform of their pay scales.

Law firms across the region are refusing to sign a new contract which will mean a fixed hourly fee for lawyers representing defendants on legal aid.

EMPLOYMENT law specialists in Liverpool are being contacted by scores of companies concerned about staff use of social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Thousands of workers regularly log-on to networking sites – which allow users to create their own profile page, add photographs and chat to friends.

We’re all capable of making a social faux pas. One of my favourite stories is the one about the Eastern European delegate at a UN dinner who finished an after dinner toast by saying “as the English like to say ‘early to bed and up with the cock’.�

Fortunately, I’ve never made one quite so severe. But a recent trip to Dublin was a close call.

Part of the game at this time of year is to guess what the chancellor is thinking and what his intentions are leading up until the final budget next April according to the recent pre budget report.

Once the dust has settled and people stop taking such a reactive stance the professional sector will carefully analyse his proposal, before inevitably saving the day at the eleventh hour when they tell the government how much money they stand to lose in the long-term.

SCOTT Rees & Co Solicitors is living and breathing its new Investors in People status.

The firm has promoted Partner David Byrne to a new strategic role to manage the firm’s core client base and undertake a greater sales and marketing function.

WALKER Smith Way Solicitors already employs 15 staff in the personal injury department in Chester and another 13 over the Welsh border in its Wrexham offices.
Now it has recruited two young Chester professionals to strengthen the team yet further.

A LEGAL professional who used his position to steal nearly £160,000 from clients publicly apologised to his victims as he was imprisoned for two years.

Geoffrey Black, 62, of Grant Avenue, Wavertree, was described as a “thoroughly dishonest man� by His Honour Judge Swift in Liverpool Crown Court, as he was sentenced on ten counts of theft and one of fraud.

We are often appointed to handle disputes which hinge on the same fundamental question: did a contract exist?

In a typical scenario, a contract is under discussion between two companies who want to do business – but commercial imperatives mean they actually start trading before the draft is finalised and signed.

Later on, when there’s a bust up, the parties involved are forced to scramble around, looking at the legal basis of their relationship. That’s when it gets messy.

Clearly, you are much better having the protection of a contract, but it’s amazing how often people proceed without a proper legal agreement that sets out their business relationship.

I don’t expect this situation to change any time soon. The tension between commercial demands and legal security is as old as the hills. When it goes wrong, we are here to pick up the pieces.

THE Liverpool office of law firm Halliwells is celebrating record levels of deal activity.

In recent weeks, the firm has advised on a number of £100 million plus transactions.