Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin - Spring 2022

Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk Spring 2022

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Contents Tel: 0151 651 2776 simon@eastparkcommunications.co.uk www.eastparkcommunications.co.uk Managing Editor: Carolyn Coles Advertising: Simon Castell Key Account Manager: Denise Castell Design: East Park Studio Accounts: Tony Kay Media No. 1111 Published December 2021 Legal Notice © East Park Communications Ltd. None of the editorial or photographs may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. East Park Communications Ltd would like to point out that all editorial comment and articles are the responsibility of the originators and may or may not reflect the opinions of East Park Communications Ltd. Correct at time of going to press.

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Separation, divorce, and Capital Gains Tax - don’t make things worse

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The President Writes

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Council Member Report - Linda Lee

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Marsh - Risk Dimensions Newsletter Issue 5

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Commercialising Software

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How to carry out effective ESG due diligence

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KidsAid - Creative therapy for those in need

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Prevention is protection - tackling conveyancer fraud

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EWI Launch Core Competencies for Expert Witnesses

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Early Bird Entry for British Wills and Probate Awards 2022

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Charitable wills on the rise

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Northamptonshire Law Society Annual Awards details

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Legal Racing Manoeuvres!

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Geodesys drainage and water report for new build homes

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The LSSA announces partnership with For Media Group

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And Finally... Carolyn Coles

Northamptonshire Law Society

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Separation, divorce, and Capital Gains Tax - don’t make things worse Events of the last couple of years have put considerable pressure on many relationships, resulting in an increase in separation and divorce amongst married couples. The tax consequences of separation are often overlooked says Claire Chennells of chartered accountants Elsby & Co. Most separations result in a transfer of assets between the married couple. Typically, these assets would be a family home, buy-to-let properties, business assets or investments. For the wealthy, there can be significant exchanges of capital sums which are likely to have increased in value over the course of the marriage.

In most circumstances, there is no capital gains tax liability when assets are transferred between married or civil partnership couples.

In effect, there is a no gain, no loss position. This being the case, it seems logical that there is no capital gains tax between divorcing couples if they transfer the assets before the divorce is formalised.

Unfortunately, this is a common misconception.

Many couples appreciate that they must pay some capital gains tax on the transfer of assets after the partnership has been legally dissolved. They might not however realise that there could be a capital gains charge on separation before the formal divorce.

Where a couple have lived together at any point in the tax year in which assets have been transferred, the married couple do not have to pay capital gains tax. However, if a couple have separated in the previous tax year, then capital gains tax will be owing on the transfer of assets.

This can have an important tactical, timing impact on separation and divorce agreements and the transfer of assets. It also suggests

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that separating is best done on the 6th of April (earlier in the tax year), rather than the 31st of March (at the end).

There are potential issues for the main home around gifting or selling and exemptions of principal private residence which need to be assessed individually. A spouse moving out of the family home may lose a portion of their principal private residence relief without realising. In short, there are many considerations which have a bearing on the financial outcome.

A tip to consider when supporting individuals is ‘Can assets be transferred in tax year of separation or within 9 months of separation?’ At Elsby & Co, we help answer these questions and have been working closely with solicitors to prepare tax reports, which are often utilised for court proceedings (sometimes with very quick timeframes).

Our aim is to review the capital gains implications of any transfers of assets, additionally considering if there are any mitigations for the tax amounts due. This can maximise the pool of funds available to be shared between the parties. By undertaking this, both parties are jointly aware of the tax implications, allowing for communications to be improved when negotiating the financial settlement. After all this, we then support individuals with their reporting requirements to HRMC once assets have been transferred.

Separation is never easy, but steps can be taken to ensure couples don’t make an awful year even worse. If you need help, advice, or support, we welcome the opportunity to add value to your client relationships and would be delighted to discuss your requirements with you.

Welcome to this edition of the Bulletin...

It has been a busy start to the year and the discussions I have had with members and fellow colleagues have been very positive. I for one can say it has been full steam ahead.

Activity in all areas of law seems to be buoyant and the general consensus has been positive with many firms looking to recruit which has allayed fears of what might be to come after the Pandemic.

The NLS have continued to meet virtually and had managed to get together for a belated AGM Dinner at the Star of India allowing Council Members to engage and share their experiences.

Northamptonshire Law Society Officers & Council Members 2021 President Jabeer Miah

Deputy President Maurice Muchinda

Immediate-Past President Sharine Burgess

Honorary Secretary Ika Castka

Honorary Treasurer Afua Adane

Constituency Member & Past President Linda Lee

Council Members:

David Browne Laura Carter Michael Orton Jones Euan Temple - Past President Edward St John Smyth - Past President Afua Adane Lynsey Ward Sarah Franklin

Society Manager Carolyn Coles

Northamptonshire Law Society The Gatehouse, Stable Lane Pitsford Northampton NN6 9NG Tel: 01604 881154 Email: Sec.nls@outlook.com All Council members should in the first instance be contacted through the Society Manager.

We welcome Pathfinder Legal as a new corporate member which has bolstered our membership numbers and the Society continues to grow and I plan to meet with Managing Partner’s soon re-introducing the Manging Partners lunch in a bid to increase membership and participation.

We are also currently looking at introducing a form of student membership and expanding the website to include details of Locums and Training Contract availability.

opportunity to share our experiences with the President and have invited the President to our dinner and do hope she will attend subject to her availability and we wait to hear if she can visit us on her national tour.

The Patrons continue to support the Society and their invaluable contribution to the Society does not go a miss.

It was also a pleasure to be invited to attend the “Employability Boot Camp” event at the University of Northampton advising students on a career in law and I do feel this is a relationship the NLS can build upon and of great benefit to future of the profession and I am always willing to volunteer and assist as a former student too.

It has been a busy start to the year and it was a pleasure to be invited by Stephanie Perraton the President of Birmingham Law Society to participate in the judging of their Legal Awards due to take place on 31st March 2022 and to judge the awards at St Phillips Chambers and I look forward to their Dinner and Dinners at Derby and Nottingham in the coming months.

I do thank our Vice President; Maurice Muchinda for attending a community event and representing the NLS and presenting a prize at the Northampton Bangladeshi Association Annual Awards.

I do feel the NLS can play a pivotal role in local communities and would be pleased to assist any local groups / organisations where members feel we can assist.

It is with pleasure I announce that the NLS will be holding our Annual Dinner and Awards on Friday 23rd September 2022 at the Marriott Hotel, Northampton.

Please do save the date and look out for the both the reservation forms and nomination forms coming soon and we look forward to seeing as many people there as possible given we have not had a dinner for over 2 years due to the Pandemic.

The NLS has responded to the SIF closure consultation and Linda Lee our Constituency Member has fought hard to ensure our views were expressed and we now look to the future and ask members if there are any concerns or training needs they do get in touch so we can consider the same.

As always the Dinner supports a Charity and I have this year chosen Kids Aid a local charity providing therapeutic support for children and young people who have suffered trauma. It would be greatly appreciated if we could start raising funds in readiness and undertaking fundraising activities to support the same and a fundraising page will be launched soon. Further details about the charity can be found at: www.kidsaid.org.uk and I must thank our Patron; Joy Pinkham of Chartlands Chambers for introducing the charity to me and I look forward to meeting with Joy and Rebecca CaswellFox the Charity Director soon.

I was also able to attend the Leicester City Football Club Hospitality Event with the National Law Society President; I. Stephanie Boyce and it was an honour to attend once again and be able to meet the President and other local Law Society President and guests. I had the

The NLS continue to provide courses virtually and we are planning the next series and hopefully these will be in person and if anyone has any ideas please do get in touch.

I am still keen to engage new members and local non-member firms and I would be pleased to hear from such with any suggestions or an invitation to meet.

I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Easter and hope to hold a networking event soon so we can meet in person.

I can be contacted at jm@shepherdandco.com Best Regards

Jabeer Miah President, Northamptonshire Law Society

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Northamptonshire Law Society

It is a pleasure to be able to present to you the first edition of the Bulletin for 2022.

Northamptonshire Law Society

Council Member’s Report, Apr.‘22 At the time of writing, there was no announcement from the SRA regarding its decision in relation to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF). However, the SRA had reported that it had received over 300 responses to the consultation, which was unprecedented and as a consequence, it is likely that the SRA decision will be delayed.

However, there was no suggestion from the SRA that its response is likely to be positive, despite what appears to be overwhelming opposition to the closure of SIF including from the Legal Service Board’s Consumer Panel. The Legal Service Board itself does not appear to object to the closure of SIF and still intends to review the operation of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) market across all legal services.

The Council for Licenced Conveyancers (CLC) consultation regarding a review of the PII arrangements for licensed conveyancers closed on 25 February 2022 and the outcome is awaited.

The options under consideration include their position regarding run off and post six year run off cover (PSYROC).

At present, after the six-year period of run-off cover, clients with a claim can apply to the Compensation Fund managed by the CLC and funded by its regulated community and there have been only a small volume of claims from firms that have ceased. It will be interesting to see how the CLC decide to address PSYROC for the future and how the LSB will respond to the CLC decision.

Rule changes on health and wellbeing at work The SRA launched its consultation on health and wellbeing at work and this closes on 27 May 2022. The SRA state that the purpose of the proposed changes is to make it clear that those it regulates must treat colleagues with respect and dignity, and that if they fail to do so, the SRA will act, where necessary, to protect the interests of clients and the public.

The SRA are also considering rule changes to support its ability to take ‘appropriate and proportionate action’ where necessary to deal with concerns over practitioners’ health affecting their fitness to practise.

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Treating colleagues with respect and dignity: Under the current rules, the SRA say they will take regulatory action where there is: • abuse by an individual of their position of authority, or behaviour that amounts to discrimination, victimisation or harassment • a pattern of the abuse of authority by senior staff that has been left unchecked by the firm • a complaint of discrimination, victimisation or harassment that is not dealt with by the firm in a prompt and fair way • ineffective systems and controls, including failure to supervise or support staff leading to serious competence or performance issues or delivery failures.

However, the SRA now wishes to go further and introduce to the Codes of Conduct an explicit requirement to treat people fairly at work, adding an explicit obligation both on individuals and on firms to treat colleagues fairly and with respect, and not to bully, harass or unfairly discriminate against them.

The SRA also propose adding a requirement that firms and individuals challenge behaviour which does not meet this standard, with the aim of fostering a collegiate approach and a culture in which poor behaviours are not tolerated.

The difficulty is obvious in that whilst some behaviours may be clearly inappropriate, others will not be, and will require a judgment to be made as to what is or is not inappropriate behaviour. The SRA have published new guidance, this gives more examples of situations where it will take action, such as: • a pattern of the abuse of authority by senior staff that has been left unchecked by the firm; • a complaint of discrimination, victimisation or harassment not dealt with by the firm in a prompt and fair manner; • complaints of bullying raised with the firm over a period of time involving a number of staff and inadequate action taken by the firm as a result; • evidence that the incidents had not been brought to light sooner because of the firm’s culture and/or inadequate reporting and disciplinary procedures;

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• a firm pressurising staff to withdraw their complaints; • ineffective systems and controls, including failure to supervise or support staff leading to serious competence or performance issues or delivery failures; and • the imposition of wholly unreasonable workloads or targets.

The SRA have also produced accompanying case studies.

The first case study concerns a paralegal who felt that their performance management had not been conducted in a fair way. After investigation, the SRA concluded that the concerns were not sufficient to warrant a breach of regulatory requirements. Part of the decision-making appears to have centered on whether or not there had been previous complaints about the firm to the SRA. The SRA go on to say that whilst a successful Employment Tribunal claim would not of itself trigger regulatory action, the SRA may revisit the situation if the tribunal made any adverse findings about the partner’s actions, or the firm’s culture or procedures. This is a rather unusual approach. It seems to say that whilst the SRA may investigate and not deem behaviour inappropriate, if another body subsequently looks at the same evidence but comes to a different conclusion, the SRA will revisit its own decision and take action.

The second case study relates to a concern where someone was passed over for promotion and the third relates to matters which impacted on clients. There is no guidance as to what individuals who witness potential potentially poor behaviour should do or what the parameters are.

Undoubtedly, the subjective nature of the assessment of behaviours, will lead to increased levels of uncertainty and concern about potential regulatory involvement, particularly in the context of the requirement on individuals to challenge such behaviour.

The SRA appears to underestimate the stress and concern its investigations cause, even if ultimately there is no further action - in many cases these take place over a prolonged period.

Even when investigations have not commenced, many solicitors are in fear of investigation, particularly where

Fitness to Practise It appears that the SRA is taking a different approach to medical regulators in terms of fitness to practice. The SRA is focusing on what it says are an increase in cases, ‘where a solicitor’s health issues impacted on their ability to practise safely or participate in disciplinary proceedings to address concerns about their practice’.

It goes on to say that, ‘it means a hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) cannot fairly take place, allowing the solicitor to continue to practise when their fitness to do so is in question’.

In terms of fitness to practice, it is proposed to amend the rues to explicitly state that health issues affecting a solicitor’s ability to practise or to meet their regulatory obligations are grounds to restrict admission to the solicitors profession, or to impose conditions if the SRA are satisfied that a solicitor is likely to put at risk the interests of clients or others, or that they will not comply with its regulatory arrangements.

Conditions, may for example, restrict the solicitor from carrying on particular activities or holding a particular role, or the SRA may refuse to issue a practicing certificate (which to all intents and purposes would have the same impact as striking someone off the Roll). It is not clear from the consultation what rights of appeal would lie from such decisions.

Conditions might include a requirement for the individual: • to follow treatment recommendations of an appropriate healthcare practitioner • to work under the supervision of a senior solicitor • to limit their practice to a certain area or function.

to participate in a disciplinary process, the lifting of conditions could then lead to the disciplinary process being resumed where appropriate.

Keeping of the Roll Following a consultation in 2014, the annual keeping of the Roll exercise was abandoned. Prior to 2014 each solicitor who did not hold a practising certificate was asked if they wanted to stay on the Roll and, if they did, they were required to pay a £20 fee to remain on the Roll.

If no response was received, the names were published in the Gazette before the solicitor was removed, in case contact details had been lost.

Abandoning the fee was supported by the Law Society but it opposed the SRA failing to keep the Roll up to date. Following the consultation, the SRA also considered whether it should commit to running the process at set intervals of every 3 or 5 years and concluded that it would be preferable to run the process when it deemed it necessary. It has not run such a ‘keeping of the Roll’ process since 2014.

At conferences, SRA senior executives spoke optimistically of relatives or possibly the probate registry informing the SRA when a solicitor died. There is no evidence that this approach was successful.

The SRA have now launched a fresh consultation which proposes restoring the annual keeping of the roll exercise from April 2023 with the reintroduction of an associated administration fee of between £30 and £40.

The SRA say that if anyone to who it applies does not complete a keeping of the Roll return, they would from that point lose the right to refer to themselves as a non-practising solicitor or access to ‘ the associated benefits this title brings’.

The conditions would be reviewed annually and could also be reviewed at any time at the request of the individual or on the SRA’s own initiative. The conditions could be amended or lifted if medical evidence shows that (in the SRA’s opinion) the risk being managed by the conditions has been successfully addressed.

Interestingly the SRA’s rationale for reintroducing the exercise is two-fold the first is that General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) require the SRA to only hold current data and the second is that the SRA now has a ‘modernised IT system, particularly the user interface.

This will make the process of maintaining personal records considerably less arduous for solicitors than it was.’

Where conditions have been imposed in response to a health issue which adversely affected the individual’s ability

The SRA now acknowledge that the failure to maintain the Roll caused significant problems, including the

SRA’s statement that it had an inability to contact those who may be affected by the closure of SIF. As at February 2022, there were 214,032 solicitors of whom 153,840 had a practicing certificate. This means that there are over 60,000 solicitors without a practicing certificate. Some will be working as a solicitor perhaps in house, without the need for a practicing certificate, but many could have different careers, some may be retired, and some may well have died. However, if this is incorrect and in fact, they are all alive and well and keen to remain on the Roll, it could result in a new source of income worth £2.4 million. Hopefully if the Roll is maintained and the database is accurate it would see an end to the need for solicitors to contact the Law Society to ask for certificates marking their 50th and 60th anniversaries on the Roll.

The consultation closes on 20 May 2022.

Linda Lee Council Member March 2022

Linda Lee has been Council Member for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland since 2003. She is a past President of the Law Society of England and Wales and is the current Chair of the Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee and a member of the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Regulatory Processes Committee and Access to Justice Committee. She is current Chair of the Solicitors Assistance Scheme.

Linda is an experienced litigation solicitor and is a Consultant at Radcliffesle Brasseur where she specialises in solicitors’ disciplinary, compliance and regulatory work. She can be contacted by email at: lindakhlee@aol.com i) https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/consultations/ consultation-listing/health-wellbeingprofession/?s=o ii) https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/ workplace-environment iii) https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/consultations/ consultation-listing/restoring-annual-keepingroll-exercise

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obligations are not made clear, as is the case with these proposed rule changes.

The fear of being second guessed by the regulator cannot be underestimated.

Northamptonshire Law Society

Risk Dimensions Newsletter Issue 5: December 2021 In the latest edition of our Risk Dimensions newsletter for solicitors, John Kunzler and Victoria Prescott from Marsh’s Risk and Error Management team discuss why enterprise risk management matters for law firms. We also have an article from David Reston, Paul Lewis, and William Glassey, partners at Herbert Smith Freehills, on determining the scope of a solicitor’s duty of care in light of the recent Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton case.

Why enterprise risk management matters for law firms Authors: John Kunzler and Victoria Prescott, Marsh Enterprise risk management (ERM) requires the ongoing identification, evaluation, and treatment of key risks and opportunities an organisation faces in order to create assurances regarding its objectives. This process has become a topic for law firms, including in their discussions with clients, insurers, and regulators. These stakeholders are increasingly expecting practices to have embedded ERM as the foundation of their strategy to address evolving risks.

There are various definitions of ERM and differing methodologies, but the main aim of a framework is to: • Create a culture where an organisation’s objectives are clear, and that any risks that may have an impact on them are identified, understood, and actively managed.

• Set controls and monitor their effectiveness.

• Ensure there is communication about the techniques and that information concerning risks is shared to help build a culture of risk management.

Levels of materiality need to be kept in mind, as there is likely little point in senior management applying the process to every risk a firm faces, although local ownership and control of lower level risks makes good sense.

ERM involves a number of linked steps

Defining the intended risk culture is largely a top-down process, as illustrated below. Organisational objectives are outlined, and events that pose a risk to those goals are identified. The process is a repeating cycle similar to a quality improvement system. Scenarios a company could encounter can be modelled, while insurance and other options are used to control risks. The tone of the organisation is influenced by these steps, and likewise, this process influences the organisation.

Why ERM is relevant to law firms

According to the Marsh-sponsored “2021 Legal Business Risk Survey”, the top five risks for UK law firms are: • IT security breach with commercially sensitive information stolen.

• Workforce availability affected by a pandemic.

• Data privacy breach or destruction of data.

• Financial systems compromised leading to direct loss from fraud/theft.

• Reputational damage due to a firm’s connection with an unsavoury/ unethical client.

Even though law firms have a strong understanding of risk, embedding a “business as usual” approach to ERM can build resilience to hazards in any practice, whether it be a high-street firm, in-house legal department, or global firm. Three of the top risks relate to cybercrime. While digital processes around confidential data and money transfer have increased in efficiency over the last two decades, they have also created new dependencies and pathways by which cyber breaches can occur.

Unfortunately, law firms are attractive targets for cyber criminals, and although expectations around control and governance of risk have increased, they may not always be met by historic approaches.

For example, out of 40 law practices recently surveyed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on their experience of cybercrime, 30 reported they had been the target of a cyberattack, while 23 were targeted directly, resulting in the theft of £4 million of client money. The study also found that of the law firms polled:

• 38% were not using dual factor authentication.

• 25% did not encrypt laptops.

Source: Adapted from • 32% had no disaster recovery “Organised Uncertainty” plan, and of those that did (2007) M. Power have a plan, only 30% stored the plan safely on systems that would be available after a cyberattack.

• 70% did not have a cyber insurance policy.

It seems likely that a major cyber incident at a law firm could be so damaging to its operations and reputation that clients, partners, employees, and other stakeholders could lose confidence in sufficient numbers to cause the firm to shut down.

However, if an ERM process is followed, the risk of such an event happening can be mitigated.

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Regulators pushing ERM-type strategies

Under s8 of this code, managers are responsible for a firm’s compliance with the code.

Addressing cyber risk specifically, the SRA’s Risk Outlook 2020/2021 voiced the need for firms to ensure they have the right controls in place to counter this hazard. The SRA encouraged practices to review risk assessments on how they might be exposed to cybercrime and consider the effectiveness of policies and procedures in the event of a major cyberattack, and update as necessary. Law firms were also urged to assess whether insurance coverage would adequately cover the costs of successful cybercrime

ERM is key concern of law firm clients

ERM adoption and understanding is widening among the corporate clients of law firms. The need for this has increased since the pandemic, with executives asking themselves if their risk framework provides sufficient foresight, and whether controls put in place will work under pressure.

Even if unconcerned about their own governance, it is increasingly important that law firms — as advisors — understand these issues in order to continue to serve their clients well.

Taking a sensible approach

While the SRA has not endorsed any particular ERM model, the facets of the most widely used templates closely align with their governance and risk management principles. The ERM approach is appropriate for board level and locally owned risks of any kind, provided care is taken to focus on key risk scenarios so that no single decision-making body is overwhelmed with reviewing risks. In terms of providing a record for firms of how all the obligations and advisory statements on hazards have been translated into approaches and action in a consistent way, the ERM process also makes sense.

If you have any questions about ERM, please contact your Marsh adviser.

Determining the scope of a solicitor’s duty of care Authors: David Reston, Paul Lewis, and William Glassey, Herbert Smith Freehills A decision handed by down the Supreme Court earlier this year now provides the leading authority on the so-called SAAMCO principle (established in South Australia Asset Management Corporation v York Montague Ltd [1997]).

The SAAMCO principle essentially says that where a professional adviser is responsible only for providing information on which a decision will be taken, rather than advising on the merits of a transaction overall, the adviser will be responsible only for the consequences of the information being wrong – not all the financial consequences of the transaction.

The decision has wider implications regarding the proper approach to determining the scope of duty and the extent of liability of professional advisers in the tort of negligence. As such, the outcome and reasoning of this decision is significant for solicitors facing claims for economic loss due to alleged negligent advice.

The decision: Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton [2021] In Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP, the Supreme Court found that a mutual building society’s claim for damages for economic loss fell within the scope of its auditor’s duty of care in giving (admittedly) negligent advice regarding the accounting treatment of interest rate swaps.

The Supreme Court said that the descriptions “information” and “advice” should be dispensed with as terms of art in this area. Instead, in determining the scope of duty, the court’s focus should be on the purpose to be served by the duty of care assumed by the adviser, judged on an objective basis by reference to the purpose for which the advice is being given. In this case, the purpose of the auditor’s advice was to provide technical accounting advice as to whether the mutual building society could use hedge accounting in order to implement its proposed business model within the constraints of the regulatory environment. As a result of the auditor’s negligent advice, the building society adopted the business model, entered into further swap transactions and was exposed to the risk of loss from having to break the swaps, when it was realised that hedge accounting could not in fact be used. The building society was also exposed to the regulatory capital demands which the use of hedge accounting was supposed to avoid. That was a risk which the auditor’s advice was supposed to allow the building society to assess, and which their negligence caused the building society to fail to understand. Accordingly, the Supreme Court found that the losses suffered by the building society when breaking the swaps were within the scope of the duty owed by the auditors.

What does this mean for solicitors?

The case now means that, in practice, when looking at a case of negligent advice given by a solicitor (or, indeed, any professional adviser), a court should look to see what risk the duty was supposed to guard against and then look to see whether the loss suffered represented the fruition of that

risk. The counterfactual test, as to whether the loss would have been suffered if the advice given had been correct, should be regarded only as a tool to cross-check the result in most cases.

By focusing on the purpose to be served by the duty of care, the court is likely to place greater emphasis in future cases on understanding the purpose and commercial rationale for which a party has sought legal advice and identifying the potential risks from which the party was relying on a solicitor to protect it. This may lead to an increased evidential burden on the parties, potentially increasing the time and costs of disclosure and witness evidence, where engagements are not documented properly and fully.

The decision highlights how it is even more important for solicitors to ensure, at the outset of a new instruction, that there is clear agreement as to what advice is being sought; how that advice and work will be used by clients and what is not within the scope of the instructions.

Marsh comment:

“The importance of carefully and clearly scoping retainer letters, at the outset of each and every matter, is a theme that our Risk and Error Management Team has highlighted on many occasions via our presentations and webcasts, for example, Retainer Letters - Part One. The Supreme Court’s decision in Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton [2021] reinforces the need for all solicitors to take this task seriously.

We recommend that file audits go beyond basic confirmation that there is a retainer letter, and include specific queries on the scope of retainer letters. We also recommend that additional training is provided when lack of detailed scope is identified.”

Meet the authors John Kunzler Managing Director United Kingdom

Victoria Prescott Senior Vice President United Kingdom

David Reston Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills United Kingdom

Paul Lewis Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills United Kingdom

William Glassey Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills United Kingdom

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Northamptonshire Law Society

In addition, law firms are being encouraged to adopt similar approaches to ERM by the SRA and other regulators. Section 2 of the SRA 2019 Code of Conduct, for instance, requires firms to: • Actively monitor their financial stability and business viability and also identify, monitor, and manage all material risks to their business.

• Have effective governance structures, arrangements, systems, and controls in place to meet regulatory and legislative requirements.

• Keep and maintain records demonstrating the fulfilment of their obligations.

Commercialising software Northamptonshire Law Society

As the tech-market continues to grow, so too does the range of legal issues that suppliers need to consider to successfully commercialise their products.

There are four key issues but the same principles apply to almost all businesses in expansion mode: • attracting funding and investment, • developing a regulatory strategy, • managing your data governance, and • contracting and collaborating with others This review is of broad application to products with a particular focus on software apps.

Investments and transactions to fund development One of the most important, if not the most important, requirements for the business will be Funding. Initially, funding may come from friends and family, and then potentially a seed raise. But after that the business is likely to need more significant investment from business angels or other funders.

Whether it is a small start-up, ownermanaged business or a relatively mature business, understanding the range of different options for funding is important.

Broadly, fundraising can be split into two categories: debt and equity.

Debt involves the granting of some manner of credit facility to the company, which is then repaid over time with interest.

Equity is the sale of shares in the company for cash.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to corporate finance, and it is important to understand what options are available, and how those options will help the business to grow.

When raising any kind of capital, funders will want comfort on a number of points, most notably: Good governance – funders will want to know that the company is being run in a

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way that ensures compliance with various legislation affecting companies, ensuring that adequate records are kept and consideration is paid to legal, regulatory and commercial obligations, as well as providing an audit trail for decision making processes and accounting.

Strong management team – one of the first sets of questions that funders will ask, is about the Management Team. These are the people that will be driving the business toward its goals, and should be sufficiently experienced to effectively manage the business.

Business Plan – a fundamental question when fundraising is ‘where will the money go?’ A strong and well researched and prepared Business Plan will show how funds being raised will be used to advance the business in furtherance of its aims, and will provide funders with comfort that funds will not be mismanaged or misallocated, and that the business will grow in a way which enables funders to realise their investment.

Suitability – not all sources of funding will be suitable for all businesses; asset financing would not be suitable for a professional services business, where a start-up business will likely not be in the stage of its life where an I.P.O. (Initial Public Offering) would be suitable.

A corporate finance adviser will be able to work to assess what financing route will work best. This may include work to put in place certain measures, or remedy others, to make the business more appealing to investors.

Compliance – funders will want to know that the business has all necessary regulatory consents and registrations for intellectual property. Or if the business does not have them yet, that a process is in place to obtain them. They will also want to know that the business owns, or has control of, all intellectual property needed to develop the business.

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Debt finance is available in a number of forms, which may include: loans; rotating credit facilities; asset financing; invoice financing; and others. Whilst banks are a common source of debt financing, they are not the only funders of this nature, and other financial services providers may be a better fit for your business. In most circumstances, funders will expect the company to provide some form of security to guarantee the company’s obligations to repay the debt. In some circumstances, directors may also be asked to give a personal guarantee.

Equity can be further separated into private and public equity.

Private Equity is an agreement between the company and private individuals or, more commonly, private equity houses whereby the private equity investor invests money in the business in exchange for shares in the capital of the company. Where a PE house invests, they will want the company and its shareholders to adopt new articles of association and enter into a shareholders’ agreement, in order to manage the corporate structure of the company. They will also appoint at least one investor director to the board, who will have input to board meetings.

How private equity works in brief is that investors help to facilitate the growth of a business, and therefore its value, such that they may then exit the business by selling the shares that they hold at a profit.

Public equity is the trading of shares on a market operated by a stock exchange.

In the UK, the London Stock Exchange operates its main market list, AIM (formerly Alternative Investment Market) and ISDX. UK companies may also list on overseas exchanges, such as the New York or Tokyo.

Public equity has potentially unlimited fundraising capabilities from retail and institutional investors across the world.

Collaborations to develop It is very likely that the development of a software-based product will involve collaboration with other individuals

or businesses. There are certain key issues to be aware of when entering into collaborations.

To protect against this risk there should be a standard form Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that the business can require collaborators to enter into.

Other agreements may be needed at this stage, including for example consultancy agreements and/ or Heads of Terms, but the NDA is a key early stage protection.

As the innovation, product or service develops, the business is likely to need more comprehensive contractual

contractual arrangements will become increasingly important.

They will provide certainty for the business, for example about ownership of vital intellectual property, and this is certainly something investors will want to see.

This may lead to putting in place a Collaboration Agreement, for example involving the business, a university and a hospital trust with whom the business is collaborating. This agreement will document each parties’ contributions and access to funding, as well as other key terms such as in relation to protection and exploitation of intellectual property.

If the business is involved in clinical trials or research studies, the collaboration may take the form of one of a range of model agreements available for this purpose.It is important to put in place the right agreements at the right time.

One may not need to devote significant time and resource to legal arrangements early on, but as the business develops,

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Northamptonshire Law Society

At the outset, this may be collaboration with business partners/ investors or third parties providing a particular contribution, such as a software developer. It is important to recognise these collaborations for what they are – a vital means of moving the product forward, but there is also a risk in terms of disclosure of confidential information and intellectual property.

arrangements with collaborators. For example, many start-ups will secure some form of grant funding from the likes of Innovate UK and will need to ensure that the terms of the funding are passed on to collaborators.

How to carry out effective ESG due diligence Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) is becoming increasingly important when investing in companies or managing businesses and their performance.

Professor Robert Lee discusses the evolution of ESG due diligence and the role big data is playing in supporting the process: A core principal of common law is caveat emptor, and as Lord Atkin, Bell v Lever Bros (1932) stated “Ordinarily the failure to disclose a material fact which might influence the mind of a prudent contractor does not give the right to avoid the contract.” The idea behind this rule is to deliberately put the buyer ‘on guard’ and induce them to make appropriate enquiries into the worthwhile nature of the transaction. It is a very distinctive rule of common law, which sits in contrast to most civil law systems which incorporate a principle of good faith in negotiating and performing contracts.

As Lord Atkin indicates, if a vendor can stay entirely silent during the course of a transaction, however bad the bargain, there is no legal recourse against that vendor. From the purchaser’s point of view, this creates an imperative to uncover any sort of information, through preliminary enquiries, to begin the process of due diligence.

Due diligence aims to isolate areas of concern and to put these to the vendor, so they are induced to make representations in the course of negotiations. Representations are valuable to the purchaser because, whilst Lord Atkin insists that failure to disclose a material fact does not give right to avoid the contract, a statement which constitutes a misrepresentation will give rise to remedies under the Misrepresentation Act 1967.

Even better than a representation is a warranty, because the purchaser will not need to show any element of reliance on a warranty to sue for its breach. In other words in a claim for breach of warranty, the purchaser does not have to show that the content of that warranty influenced entry into the contract. Without any element of reliance, the purchaser will gain a remedy

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for breach of warranty where the statement contained within the warranty can be shown to be false or incomplete.

Warranties however, serve another purpose in drawing out information, as the moment one is included in a draft document, it makes sense for the vendor to begin to make appropriate disclosure against that warranty. The vendor may disclose information to ensure that the purchaser is completely informed. Once charged with that knowledge, the purchaser can hardly make a later claim for breach of the warranty. Of course, the vendor may make blanket disclosure of many conceivably relevant document – and some not relevant at all. Many lawyers have experience of delving through hundreds of documents that put into disclosure, which eats up a great deal of time and human resource; but this is undergoing rapid change both in process and content.

Today, our capacity to search across data is immense – not only in terms of the data put into disclosure but also across the wider public domain. Data – and digitised data – growth has been phenomenal over the last two decades, as trends such as corporate reporting add yet more sources of data.

The due diligence process remains crucial; historically it has been driven by the worry of liability risk, and this remains crucial.

In purchasing the shares of a company and acquiring that company, one not only acquires its assets but also its liabilities.

The due diligence process was therefore driven by a desire to avoid that liability risk.

Today, financial and reputational risk have overtaken, to some degree, the historic emphasis on liability risk – and due diligence has become much wider ranging in its scope. For example, as firms

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grapple with their understanding of ESG and managing climate change adaptation and mitigation, financial risk goes beyond the current financial worth of the company and entails far more holistic questions concerning the future capacity of the company to attract investment.

Similarly, with reputational risk, in the past this may have attached to liability risks, but now, it goes much further. In acquiring a company, worries attach to ESG considerations such as the impact on the reputation and share value of the group of companies if it transpires, post-completion, that the acquired company is the subject of a major scandal in relation to, e.g., bribery or corruption. So we see a change of emphasis in due diligence, centring on the three Vs: of Verification, Value and the Vagaries of unforeseen elements that have the potential to come back and bite us.

Another trend is the merger of legal and business due diligence. As lawyers, we are well used to conducting due diligence on , e.g., title to property, corporate form, major contracts, intellectual property and so on. The growth of ESG leads to due diligence enquiries that may have previously been managed by other professionals including issues such as supply chain contracts or the handling of employee relations. The ESG agenda is wide and lawyers are drawn into new routes of enquiry.

So, the legal and business factors merge under ESG and due diligence content is beginning to change too. Lawyers are focusing much less on the negatives and beginning to instead to concentrate more on the evaluation of the positives, which are represented in the longer-term value of the company as judged by a range of factors, all of which speak to sustainability.

Importantly, the end product of this work this is not just about some price adjustment on the deal or the negotiation of an indemnity to cover areas of future uncertainty. The significance attached to ESG may well mean that the results of due diligence put an early end to the transaction as companies decide that the acquisition is not a good fit.

In terms of process too there is a change in due diligence activity. In an

era of big data, there is so much data out there that they are a powerful tool if employed effectively. But how do we agglomerate it and analyse the data to make conclusions about the value of a company? Increasingly, it will be algorithms rather than lawyers which bear this hard work, speedily and efficiently. Lawyers will always have the task of exercising judgement on issues central to the transaction but solutions such as RiskHorizon, will offer a quick and inexpensive fix on what these core issues are.

Use of this tool allows you, at the early stage of due diligence, to risk profile, in a sector-specific way, so lawyers know where to begin serious enquiry and highlight initial areas of concern and, indeed, of value. We are offered the ability to look across multiple axes, contextually, and tailored to the deal and to the particular the needs and appetites of clients.

Due diligence, then, is changing rapidly, under pressures of ESG in terms of both process and content. Data driven

tools are there to allow us to add real value to the deal, and to focus on positive attributes, rather than pursuing a narrowly drawn approach to due diligence based on negative downsides.

Northamptonshire Law Society

This creates an integrated agenda, with a cross-disciplinary approach.

So, for example, narrower concerns of a company’s historic record in waste management now include much wider ranging questions of product stewardship.

Across many legal disciplines, we see a widening of the agenda so that contract lawyers engage with supply chain policing, environmental lawyers with climate change resilience, employment lawyers with whistle-blowing policies and so on. Indeed the barriers between many of these traditional legal specialisms erode as lawyers engage with an integrated ESG agenda.

Article by Professor Robert Lee Landmark Information Group For more information visit: https:// go.landmark.co.uk/risk-horizon-esgmanagement

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Northamptonshire Law Society

KidsAid - Creative therapy for those in need Working in the family courts for more than 25 years, and as Joint Head of Chartlands Chambers since it was founded in 1995 I became very aware of how little therapeutic provision there was in the Northamptonshire area for children who experience trauma, neglect, bereavement or abuse. I was determined that this should change, and so in 2007 the charity KidsAid was born.

We support children and young people aged 3-18 years across Northamptonshire and surrounding areas who have experienced trauma. We provide therapeutic support to young people struggling with family breakdown, attachment, illness, and bereavement through to anxiety, bullying and behavioural difficulties, as well as domestic violence, neglect, and abuse.

The conference chair on each occasion was Sir Alistair MacDonald QC, High Court Judge (Family Division).

I remain a Trustee of KidsAid, and I and all members of Chartlands promote the vital work of the charity at every opportunity in the courts. Another conference is being planned when Covid-safe to do so.

The aim is to provide early intervention in the form of creative therapies to support children and young people to lead healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives and to ensure early years’ trauma does not manifest in later life, causing more serious problems in the future.

For more information about how we work, to receive a quote or to make a referral, please contact our Case Manager: becca@kidsaid.org.uk

Lack of provision continues to be both a national and local issue, as further funding cuts and closure of local services during the past few years has left families most vulnerable in our community increasingly isolated and disadvantaged, which has only been amplified since the pandemic.

Chartlands Chambers has been supporting KidsAid in various ways since the charity’s launch. In particular Chartlands has sponsored three major conferences focussing on children’s mental health and wellbeing (one at St Andrew’s Hospital, and two at Althorp, thanks to the generosity of the Earl and Countess Spencer). Speakers have included The Right Honourable Lord Wilson, former Justice of the UK Supreme Court.

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If you wish to support us, please contact: info@kidsaid.org.uk or visit our website: www.kidsaid.org.uk where you can make a one off or regular donation. Thank you.

Joy Pinkham was called to the Bar in 1993. In 1995 she assisted with the launch of Chartlands Chambers – which is now the longest established chambers in Northamptonshire and the practice today focuses exclusively on family law. Through her work within Family Law she witnessed children who had been traumatised by this, coupled with the lack of therapeutic provision locally drove her to make changes and saw the charity KidsAid being formed- initially to offer play therapy, but now expanded to provide a range of creative and other therapies.

Northamptonshire Law Society

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Prevention is protection Northamptonshire Law Society

Major UK wide provider of legal software Intelliworks joins forces with Lawyer Checker in the war against conveyancer fraud.

Major UK player, OchreSoft Technologies Ltd, have engaged the services of Lawyer Checker in order to provide the ultimate in best practice to all Conveyancers using their Intelliworks workflow solutions. Used by 160 UK law firms, the software offers effective and low-cost case management for today’s modern law firm.

verification that the firm is genuine” when criminals managed to register themselves on this list in order to gain a further badge of legitimacy in a fake transaction.

The message being shouted out from the rooftops by Lawyer Checker is that ‘prevention is protection’. Users of the Intelliworks software now have access to the comprehensive set of checks that Lawyer Checker carries out; with its Account and Entity check system giving enhanced due diligence to any law firm who employs its use.

Pauline Freegard, Business Development Director of OchreSoft explains why Lawyer Checker was such a good fit with their Intelliworks legal workflow product for Conveyancing and Private Client:

Built in the wake of vendor conveyancer fraud, where a growing number of cases have had purchase funds lost to sophisticated criminals, the Lawyer Checker database has been created to demonstrate whether or not an account has had a track record of successful use within conveyancing.

The need to perform such a check is becoming increasingly relevant given the changing landscape of the legal sector.

In 2012 the SRA issued a warning not to rely on its own list of solicitors “as

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Thanks to the integration of Lawyer Checker a firm and its conveyancers will now be able to perform a Lawyer Checker check at the click of a button.

“Law firms are increasingly concerned about risk; OchreSoft has always built compliance and risk-management into everything we do. Intelliworks makes best practice part of everyday process, to reduce risk and increase compliance.

We know that fraud detection and prevention is a high priority for our customers, including the ability to prove compliance through full audit trails.

Lawyer Checker is an important part of that integrated approach so we build it into our comprehensive Conveyancing and Private Client legal workflows. “ With the ammunition of the risk management capabilities Lawyer Checker provides in this battle against fraudsters,

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law firms and conveyancers can be assured Lawyer Checker will further mitigate the potential risk for a firm’s clients.

Prevention is protection in the commercial sense too; it helps reduce the risk of possible professional negligence claims thus limiting the potential for increased PI insurance premiums as well as reputation damage to the individual law firm.

Due diligence requires all solicitors and conveyancers to check the firm that they are sending monies to. Checking the roll of solicitors is no longer enough.

OchreSoft have recognised this and the need to both reassure the conveyancer themselves and the purchaser who they represent. Lawyer Checker offers peace of mind to both the legal practitioner and the client, whether borrower or lender.

Its introduction has been developed to reduce uncertainty in an uncertain era for conveyancers and purchasers alike. rachel@lawyerchecker.co.uk www.lawyerchecker.co.uk

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Northamptonshire Law Society

EWI Launch Core Competencies for Expert Witnesses

EWI has launched a core competency framework for Expert Witnesses which sets out the attributes, knowledge, and skills that experts must develop if they wish to act as an Expert Witness.

The framework was developed by senior staff, senior members and the Board.

It is a useful tool in a number of ways: • It outlines the knowledge and skills that are required of Expert Witnesses.

• It can be used as a self-assessment tool for you to think about your personal and professional development.

• It can be used for skills analysis, training, and career development plans and enables you to identify Continuing Professional Development opportunities and training needs.

• It underpins EWI’s levels of membership and the assessment and vetting process for each.

• If you are not yet a member, it can be used to assess the membership level you should consider.

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• It can be used to assess relevant training courses for Expert Witnesses.

appropriate level of membership for which to apply.

The Core Competency Framework The Core Competencies document has been designed as a practical selfassessment tool.

Chief Executive Officer, Simon BerneyEdwards, said “Over the last year we have seen the results of Experts acting as Expert Witnesses without fully understanding their duties to the court or having the sufficient training and competencies to act as an Expert Witness. As an Expert Witness, Experts must develop additional knowledge, skills and competencies in order to fulfil their duty to the court. This framework outlines the full set of competencies which must be developed in order to become an Expert Witness.”

This means you can carry out selfassessment of your knowledge and skills against all areas.

To assist you in doing this, the EWI has developed a set of self-assessment ratings which are included in the tool.

These will help you consider your level of knowledge and skills in each area and identify areas that you might want to develop as part of your own Continuing Professional Development.

For those considering membership of the EWI, the expected levels for Knowledge and Experience for each competency have been mapped to the different levels of membership which enable you to consider the

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You can download the competency framework from the EWI website at www.ewi.org.uk/corecompetencies

Simon Berney-Edwards EWI News

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Northamptonshire Law Society

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• CLINICAL • CONSULTANCY • THERAPY • ASSESSMENT • FORENSIC MIDLANDS PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES, LTD. is a private psychology practice based in Birmingham in the West Midlands. We have been providing Psychology services to the U. K. for over thirty years and have built a strong reputation for providing the highest standards of service. All of our Psychologists are educated to the PhD level and are Chartered with the British Psychological Society.

We supply a wide range of Psychology services including: • Therapy for general Mental Health issues from Depression to Sex Offender Treatment to Personality Disorders by experienced Clinical Psychologists • Personal Growth issues including Stress Management, Anger Management and Assertiveness Training • Forensic reports for use in the court system including Child Risk and Offender Risk Reports, Pre-sentence Reports, Life Review Panels and Parole Panel Reports • Contracting psychology staff to Local Authorities, the National Health Service and the Prison Service.

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Early Bird Entry for British Wills and Probate Awards 2022 New categories include recognising excellence and best practice in charity and probate collaboration and celebrating the work being done to improve employee experience and customer experience as the sector continues to get to grips with the challenges of working in the “new normal”.

Awards is all about and we look forward to celebrating with our friends and supporters from around the industry.”

Launched in 2018 to recognise the work of businesses and practitioners up and down the country in the Wills and Probate sector, the awards are now in their fifth year. 2022 sees the ceremony return to the suitably named “Grand Hotel” in Birmingham on 20th October.

To view the full list of categories CLICK HERE to visit www.britishwillsandprobateawards.co.uk

“We are delighted to be returning as the headline sponsor of the Oscars of the Wills and Probate industry!

2022 will see the return of The Today’s Wills and Probate Industry Champion, a category nominated and voted for by the industry. 2021 crowned inaugural winner Michael Culver after an extensive nominations process. Nominations this year will open in July.

We cannot wait to celebrate with you all again and shine a spotlight on so many incredible individuals and firms across the sector.”

Following the success of The British Wills and Probate Awards 2021, which saw an audience of c.800 people coming together in-person and online to celebrate, the awards will again be hybrid with an inperson ceremony alongside the live stream available through the awards’ website.

Alongside some well-established favourites, 2022 sees the introduction of a range of new categories designed to capture changing work environments, new technologies and innovation, and industry collaboration.

Discussing the return of the awards, Managing Director at Today’s Media, publishers of Today’s Wills and Probate, David Opie said:

On returning as headline sponsor, Group Managing Director of Property Solutions Group Barry Mattock commented:

A new judging system has been adopted to make the entry and submissions process easier and early bird entry (firms can enter up to 3x categories) is now available at a rate of £129.00 +VAT, available until Friday 24th June 2022.

“After the successful return of the in-person ceremony last year, 2022 promises to be even bigger and better.

CLICK HERE to enter or visit: www.britishwillsandprobateawards. co.uk/how-to-enter-2022

The grandeur of the venue really typifies what The British Wills and Probate

CLICK HERE to see highlights of the 2021 ceremony

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Northamptonshire Law Society

Entries for The British Wills and Probate Awards 2022 have opened today as excitement starts to build toward the event on 20th October 2022. This year’s event will see headline sponsor Executor Solutions return in a new guise as the re-branded Property Solutions Group.

Charitable wills on the rise Northamptonshire Law Society

Growth in the number of people choosing to benefit good causes from their Will Public appetite for legacy giving has hit a new height with almost one in five UK charity donors choosing to leave a gift in their Will (19%), up from 14% in 2013. A further 10% intend to make a gift from their Will or are preparing to do so.

It also highlights how often people change or update their Will, with just over half of respondents with a Will saying they have already updated it at least once and almost 6 in 10 indicating they are likely to change it in future.

Legal advisers are seen to play a critical role in making clients aware of the option of including a gift in their Will, with 6 in 10 of the giving public saying they have used or would use a solicitor or Will-writer to set out their final wishes.

Barriers to legacy giving The concept of legacy giving appeals to the UK public, who are inspired by the message that even a small gift could make a big difference and that this income is vital to charities’ work. But the study also identified barriers. People naturally want to look after their family and friends first and foremost, some think they don’t have enough assets to leave a gift, while others say they simply didn’t think of it at the time.

These are the key findings from Remember A Charity’s consumer benchmarking study– a survey of over 2,000 charity donors aged 40+, tracking legacy giving attitudes and behaviour over the past eight years.

Three in ten donors with a Will have included a charity. That proportion rises significantly among the affluent, those who are aware of the tax incentives and those who seek professional advice, as well as those who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual. While legacy giving is becoming increasingly popular among the giving public, just 9% reject the concept of leaving a gift in their Will.

Rob Cope, director of Remember A Charity – a consortium of 200 UK charities, adds: “Leaving a gift in your Will is such a positive and empowering decision to make during endof-life planning and the legal sector has been a major driver of this change. The more solicitors that make clients aware of the option of giving in this way and can talk through the practicalities of doing so, the closer we get to a world where legacy giving becomes the norm.”

Impact of gifts in Wills Legacy giving is the largest source of voluntary income to UK charities, raising £3.4 billion annually . That income has sustained charitable services throughout the pandemic; from hospices to shelters for those suffering from domestic abuse, mental health helplines to rescue services.

“This growth in appetite for legacy giving will be vital for the future of good causes across the nation,” says Cope.

“When you consider that, not so long ago, legacy giving was really only seen as something for the wealthy, it’s wonderful to see so many people now understanding that their gift, no matter what size, really can make a difference.”

Prevalence of Wills The study, carried out by the independent research firm OKO, reports that 62% of donors have already prepared a Will, with the likelihood of doing so logically increasing with age. 82% of those aged over 70 have written a Will, compared with just 46% of those in their early 40s.

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Remember A Charity runs a free Campaign Supporter scheme for solicitors and Will-writers, providing promotional resources and useful guidance for referencing legacy giving with clients.

Find out more at www.rememberacharity.org.uk/solicitor

hope A gift in your Will could give

of a world free from MND

What if the first time someone heard the words, ‘you have motor neurone disease’, they could be followed by ‘but there is hope’? Leaving a gift in your Will could make that future a reality. www.mndassociation.org/wills Every day six people are diagnosed with MND and there is no cure. If you have any questions or would like to discuss gifts in Wills, please email emma.fellows@mndassociation. org or call Emma Fellows, Legacy Manager, on 01604 611898.

Registered charity no: 294354

Northamptonshire Law Society

If our brain breaks down, we break down.

Let’s unite to accelerate the progress of brain research.

Leaving a gift in your will to Brain Research UK is a wonderful way to make a lasting difference to future generations by helping to accelerate research into neurological conditions. It will cost you nothing in your lifetime, but will help us to make a difference in years to come. Gifts both large and small help fund research to accelerate the progress of brain research.

We hope you’ll consider leaving a gift to Brain Research UK

www.brainresearchuk.org.uk BWB Charity Hub, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE 020 7404 9982 Registered Charity no. 1137560. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England no. 7345516.

The Horse Trust - Home of Rest for Heroes Providing retirement and respite for working horses and ponies.

For 135 years The Horse Trust’s Home of Rest for Horses has provided a new home and support for working horses and ponies. These hardworking equine public servants have served our nation in the Police, the Army or with charities which use horses to help people.

We also provide sanctuary to horses, ponies and donkeys who have suffered from cruelty or neglect and who are in desperate need of specialist treatment and care.

If you would like to help us with a kind donation, please visit us at

www. horsetrust.org.uk

For more information please contact us on: Tel: 01494 488464 • Email: info@horsetrust.org.uk

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PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION RELIEVING CHRONIC PAIN THROUGH RESEARCH

CHRONIC PAIN - THE SILENT EPIDEMIC Northamptonshire Law Society

› 1 in 10 people in the UK suffer from chronic pain – which does not go away. › Over half of sufferers endure chronic pain all day, every day of their lives. › Many sufferers say they can’t remember what it is like not to be in pain. › Thousands of sufferers lose their jobs because the pain is so bad that they cannot work. › Pain stops sufferers enjoying walking, shopping, sleeping; even playing with their children.

Chronic Pain affects people of all walks of life, 43% of the population suffer from chronic pain.

Research costs money, and there is always an urgent need to provide more funds for more research.

The Pain Relief Foundation DOES NOT receive funding from the NHS or any other Government body.

Instead, our vital work depends entirely on donations and the generosity of people like you.

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TODAY, Or leave a Legacy in your will.

For help and advice, contact us.

Pain Relief Foundation, Clinical Sciences Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool L9 7AL www.painrelieffoundation.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1156227

Telephone: 0151 529 5820 E-mail: lorraine.roberts@painrelieffoundation.org.uk

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www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk 06/10/2020 09:51

G N I LIV S D N E G E L D E T N WA

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Call 0300 3045 999

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Give the gift of a lifetime, and save lives, by including a donation in your Will. E RECEIVE N

M ENT FU

Email legacies@theairambulanceservice.org.uk Part of The Air Ambulance Service. Registered in England and Wales as a limited company by guarantee. Registered Company No. 4845905. Registered Charity No. 1098874.

At the Marriott, Eagle Drive Northampton NN4 7HW

More Details to follow

Legal Racing Manoeuvres!

Northamptonshire Law Society

Shoosmiths retained their title and trophy as “fastest Law firm in Northamptonshire” although it was one of the teams from the Milton Keynes office that came out top. They beat Toller again, but it was Tollers who dominated the podium with their two teams taking second and third.

Ten teams from members of the Northampton Law Society took part in the heat on Feb 15th which was one of nine heats with teams as diverse as major companies like Nationwide and McIntyre Hudson, small family businesses, local colleges and even a village This is the sixth year that Nene Valley Rotary Club have organised the event since it was started in 2016 and this year has proved the most popular with all heats filled and some excellent racing Event organiser Neil Hufton said “we are delighted again to have had the support of the Law Society and that so many teams took part. This year we hope to raise more than £10,000 and the NLS heat raised £1500 towards that total. Over the last 6 years Rokart has raised £50,000 for local charities.

We have had great support with Shoosmiths taking part every year. They were joined by Tollers, BMTC, Hawsons and DFA law in 2017, Friday Legal took part in 2018 and this year Franklins joined the fray.”

This year’s event was particularly competitive but was interrupted by quite a few diving incidents leading to yellow and red flags. The overall lap total in the 2-hour race did not achieve the excellence of 2020 when teams did 260-276 laps with this year’s totals being between 230 and 256. As Teamwork’s course Director commented “Lawyers do not like to give way!”

This years nominated charities are The Lewis Foundation (who provide gift bags to oncology patients across 14 hospitals in the Midlands and East Midlands) and Kids Aid (who provide a range of therapies to traumatised children) In addition to the 10 teams in the NLS heat, Hewitsons took part in another heat specifically for supporters of The Lewis foundation and achieved 256 laps, the same as Shoosmiths winning total, in a heat where the winner achieved 281 laps The overall results for the heat are given below. Shoosmiths will go forward to the Grand Final in April where they will compete against the winners from all the heats to win the title and trophy for “fastest firm in Northamptonshire”- a very competitive night The Nene Valley rotary club hope to run the event again as Rokart 2023 when we hope to have a full heat again of NLS members As one of the Franklin novice drivers said (who did not have a driving licence) said “I never thought it would be so exciting and so much fun!”

www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk

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Northamptonshire Law Society

Geodesys drainage and water report for new build homes

The Geodesys NewBuildDW - the first of its kind - provides all the same quality data on water and sewerage connections as the Law Society’s official CON29DW report. However, NewBuildDW focuses specifically on the information relevant to new build residential properties and offers conveyancers a lower-priced alternative to the full report. It also includes several pages of extra tips and advice for buyers.

Jonny Davey, Product Manager for Geodesys, comments:

“We are committed to providing all the information home buyers and their legal advisors may need on a property to avoid any unnecessary future risks and additional costs.

“We decided to launch this new product after identifying a gap in the market for a comprehensive report which has been specifically tailored to provide information for new build residential properties.

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All data used in the report is sourced from Anglian Water, which retains liability for its accuracy.”

builds, so NewBuildDW allows conveyancers to access the key details at a more competitive price.”

Making conveyancers’ jobs easier, the new report will provide: • 17 questions including two high quality water and sewerage maps • Crystal-clear front-page customer dashboard highlighting information on key questions • Easy-to-use interactive navigation making retrieving information easy for users • Top tips and advice relevant to buyers of new build properties • 5m professional indemnity insurance Jonny continues: “Produced

by industry experts, our streamlined report clearly outlines all the most pertinent information. Some data contained in a full CON29DW is simply not available for new

www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk

The NewBuildDW Report is available for 36 (including VAT) in the Anglian Water sewerage area only and for residential properties classed as new build. For more information, please visit: http://www.geodesys.com

An the

Built for New Builds

Many family law, inheritance and social services Thus

Get all the focused data you need from New Build DW

The award-winning New Build DW from Geodesys delivers the same quality drainage and water information as our Law Society-approved CON29DW but designed for New Builds – a streamlined, compact report that’s simpler and faster to analyse.

The report also includes tips and advice for buyers, meaning built-in customer satisfaction and making New Build DW the number one option for this specialist market.

Geodesys. All you need to know.

Call 0800 085 8050 Email customer.services@geodesys.com

www.geodesys.com spg.uk.com

The LSSA announces partnership with For Media Group The Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) is delighted to announce that it has partnered with For Media Group Ltd, to provide expert content for its brand-new online learning platform For Legal.

As the UK industry body for legal systems developers and vendors, the LSSA maintains technology standards and manages areas of mutual interest between lawyers and software providers.

Through this partnership, the LSSA and For Legal will provide UK legal professionals with high quality educational content to ensure a more impactful approach to learning across practice areas, such as Conveyancing, Private Client, Family Law and channels focusing on Management, Best Practice and Compliance.

Legal professionals will have the ability to enhance their knowledge, develop future-ready skills and grow their careers.

On the new partnership, Tim Smith, Chair of the LSSA commented, “The LSSA is delighted to partner with For Legal to help disseminate our legal technology expertise to law firms.

We are very excited to use the webinar format to promote legal technology and look forward to much interesting and healthy discussion regarding the UK legal profession’s use of technology.”

“We are delighted to partner with the LSSA,” said Wayne Spencer, Director of For Media Group. “Over 75% of professionals have turned to video content to increase their knowledge and understanding of the profession and there is a high demand for industry-specific learning which we are experts in delivering.”

Wayne explains, “It’s clear that suppliers can significantly increase their customer reach via actionable content. For Legal is the only platform that provides free access for legal professionals to engage with leading content delivered by thought leaders on a modern intuitive platform.

We have already seen an incredible response to the platform, and we are excited to see how our partnership with the LSSA will continue to grow.”

And Finally...

Hello readers, I hope that the New Year has got off to a good start for you.

Community Justice Fund – Wave two Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council

There has been lots going on in the background at NLS, and we have been busy making plans for the upcoming year with events and training for all our members.

Citizens Advice Central and East Northamptonshire

I have some dates for your diary, and I really do hope that after the restrictions that we have had to abide by, you will all try to come and support and join us, it would be lovely to see you in person!

We have the Great Legal walk taking place on Thursday May 19th. We will be raising much needed funds and profile for the Access to Justice charity, who last year provided funds to the following charities within Northampton.

Community Law Service Northampton and County Dostiyo Asian Women and Girls Organisation I will be sending out details of the route, and fundraising packs nearer the time.

I am pleased to advise that The NLS Awards Dinner will be held on Friday September 23rd at the Marriott.

It will be marvellous to be able to get dressed up and get out and enjoy an evening networking and celebrating all things positive within the Legal sector.

I shall be publishing details of the early

bird booking offer for the tables in the nottoo-distant future, along with the nomination forms and I very much look forward to being inundated with entries!

Please keep an eye on the website as we advertise all upcoming events on there, and please do let me know if you have any extraordinary events happening within your firms, and we can then add them to the member’s page.

Best wishes

Carolyn Coles Society Manager Tel: 07543 662572 Email: sec.NLS@outlook.com

www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk

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Northamptonshire Law Society

LSSA members to provide expert content to For Legal innovation and technology channel

The Legal Practice Productivity Solution

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LEAP offers cutting-edge, integrated legal technology expanding beyond traditional practice management software.

Visit: leap.co.uk