June 2008 Archives

MADONNA'S recently-announced divorce proceedings from film director husband Guy Ritchie has made waves across the city's legal offices.

Here's what two of Liverpool's top divorce lawyers thought about the a-list break-up.

A recent report commissioned for a number of bodies including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) by the ex-head of the Office of Fair Trading, has recommended that HIPs become voluntary.

SOLICITORS in Chester are teaming up with a leading cancer research charity to give local people the chance to make or update a will free of charge.
Fifteen solicitors are now offering Cancer Research UK’s Free Will Service to people aged 55 and above in the Chester area

THE bite of the credit crunch is fuelling a boom in demand for employment law advice, Liverpool solicitors are reporting.

Businesses feeling the financial squeeze are looking to save costs and cut overheads.

And as the spectre of redundancies looms ever larger, the city’s law firms are seeing big increases in companies seeking advice.

A TEAM of daredevil Liverpool lawyers took to the skies for a charity skydive.

The eight-strong group from Brabners Chaffe Street jumped from 10,000ft above the Cheshire

Plain to raise more than £1,000 for the New Children’s Hospital Appeal, the firm’s chosen charity for 2008.

Kimberley Strickland, one of the first to jump, said: “It was a truly exhilarating experience and we were very lucky with the weather. The views were fantastic.

Desperate legal moves were taking place behind the scenes tonight as ministers worked to secure the use of anonymous witnesses.

Officials were in a race against time to plug a gap in legislation ripped wide open by a controversial House of Lords ruling last week.

Top police officers and prosecutors want the use of anonymous witnesses to be enshrined in law before Parliament rises for the summer recess.

If a solution cannot be found in the next 28 days, courts could face a deluge of appeals at a potentially huge cost to the taxpayer.

MERSEYSIDE'S Criminal Justice Board (CJB) has seen the largest increase in offences brought to justice than other like-for-like urban areas.

Since 2002 more than 45,800 offences resulted in the perpetrator being convicted in court, formally cautioned or receiving a penalty notice for disorder.

That is 1,627 more than the target set by the Government.

A BARRISTER who talked a 15-year-old girl down off a motorway bridge has been named Merseyside Woman of the Year 2008.

Sue Sherman, a children’s care procedures specialist, spent 20 minutes with the teenager on the M60 before suggesting they should go back to her car to warm up.

The girl hugged her and allowed Sue, who had been driving home from a training conference in Bolton, to lead her away from danger, much to the relief of the police officers at the scene.

Five lawyers at Liverpool-based Quinn Barrow and Quinn Melville have been promoted to partners.

Paul Thomas, who specialises in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, and family law expert Jenny Walsh, join the partnership team at Quinn Barrow.

Ian Till, Clare Fletcher and Lionel Greig, who all specialise in criminal work, have received partnership at sister firm Quinn Melville.

A LIVERPOOL lawyer is set to take centre stage in one of the highlights of the city’s Capital of Culture programme.

Elspeth Christie, a solicitor at DLA Piper, will join the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir in three performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.

She will travel with the choir to Cologne’s Altenberg Abbey for the performances.