Helen is eight years qualified and since joining the firm’s corporate recovery team as a contentious insolvency lawyer four years ago, she has continued to develop not only her contentious insolvency offering, but also her expertise as a non-contentious lawyer.  Her areas of expertise include advising on all aspects of administrations, liquidations, receiverships, voluntary arrangements, bankruptcy and director disqualification and Helen advises all parties involved in the insolvency process; from insolvency practitioners, asset based lenders and banks to individuals, directors and creditors.

Clare King also becomes a senior associate in Clarion’s private client team.  A Chartered Legal Executive with more than 11 years’ experience in the field of private client law, she joined Clarion in 2005. Clare advises on a full spectrum of private client matters, including the administration of high value estates, post-death inheritance tax planning, drafting and implementing of personal injury and disabled persons trusts, advising elderly clients and their families in connection with planning and funding care, the use of powers of attorney and Court of Protection matters.

“In recent weeks, we have seen a number of new appointments as we prepare to move into our new offices at Elizabeth House next month, but as well as attracting the most talented people to the firm, we are equally passionate about maintaining high levels of staff loyalty by enabling our team to develop with us,” explains Mark Burns, managing partner of Clarion.

“Both Clare and Helen are talented lawyers who have made a vital contribution to the growth of the firm.  Helen is recognised in the market place for her technical strength and continues to develop a strong client following for the benefit of not only her team, but the firm as a whole.  Clare is also highly regarded within the team for her strong technical expertise and for her valuable business development activities.”

For further information, please visit www.clarionsolicitors.com or call 0113 246 0622

The landmark settlement is believed to be the first time a subsidiary business has paid compensation to shareholders in the collapsed parent company.  The shareholders, including private individuals and a number of charities, lost millions when the Cattles plc shares were suspended in April 2009.

The shareholders fought for three years to secure redress and a deal was agreed with the scheme supervisors of Welcome Financial Services at the eleventh hour this week, just ahead of appeal papers for the 60 claims, prepared by a team of lawyers at Clarion, being presented to the Companies Court in London.

Shareholder Barry Dearing, who led the shareholders in their actions, called in Clarion when it became apparent that it was going to be necessary to take court action to preserve the claims.

Clarion partners Simon Young and Paul Burkinshaw assembled a five-strong team of Leeds lawyers to prepare the court papers for the claims in just three days.   An agreement was reached with the scheme administrators on terms acceptable to the shareholders preventing the need for further court action.

Barry Dearing said “Clarion demonstrated great expertise and responsiveness by being able to call upon their resources to prepare all the necessary appeal claim documentation, on behalf of 60 shareholders spread throughout the world, in just three days in order to avoid any argument by the scheme administrators that the claims were time barred.  The decisive and swift action ensured that a prompt settlement could be reached with the scheme administrators on behalf of the former shareholders.”

Simon Young of Clarion said: “As far as we are aware, this is the first time a subsidiary of a quoted plc has agreed to pay compensation for losses sustained by shareholders in a parent company.  The settlement is welcome news for the shareholders after a long battle and should reduce the losses sustained by them to a slightly more bearable level.”

For further information about Clarion, please visit www.clarionsolicitors.com or call 0113 246 0622

The aim of this scheme is to create a trusted community, deter fraud and drive up standards in the conveyancing industry.

The scheme provides a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices.

Membership establishes a level of credibility for firms based upon the integrity of the conveyancing staff and adherence to good practice management standards and prudent and efficient conveyancing procedures.

Alan Tai, Partner and Head of Residential Conveyancing at the Leeds based law firm commented:-

“We are delighted to receive and hold this important kite mark of quality assurance  from the Law Society.  We feel this demonstrates our commitment to maintaining the highest possible standards in an industry which responsible for the transaction of most people’s most expensive asset, their home.”

Look out for the Conveyancing Quality Scheme logo when choosing a solicitor for buying or selling property

For further information about Levi Solicitors and for advice on buying and selling property, please visit www.levisolicitors.co.uk or call 0113 2449931

Once the process has begun a decision is usually given by an Adjudicator within 28 days.  A disgruntled party, unhappy with the decision may feel that he has been subject to a “rough and ready” process and as such is unwilling to pay.  Unlike a Court Judgment an Adjudicator’s Decision does not put the successful party in a position where they may immediately enforce the Decision through the traditional means afforded to successful parties by the Court.

A party who has a Decision in their favour may however apply to Court, by way of a separate claim, to enforce the determination if the unsuccessful party has not paid within the prescribed time limit set by the adjudicator.

The Technology and Construction Court is the usual forum for such Applications.  In the spirit of the legislation that introduced Adjudication, the Court’s approach allows for such applications to be fast tracked through the Court to judgment.

The time given for the return of the “Acknowledgment of Service” of the claim can be as little as 4 days.  Application is then lodged with the Court requesting that the matter be dealt with under the Summary Judgment process as opposed to a trial.  In practice the application will be lodged at the same time that the process is issued and the Court will immediately give the Application a date for early hearing.  The entire process from issuing the claim to a final hearing will usually take 3 and 6 weeks (dependant on listing time available) in contrast to the usual 6 months to 1 year experienced by many parties taking different proceedings through the Courts.

The construction team at Last Cawthra Feather Solicitors have now been involved in numerous applications to enforce Adjudicator’s awards and are regularly instructed to appear in the Technology and Construction Court.

Accredited Mediator Ragan is a Partner in the Commercial & Dispute Resolution department at Last Cawthra Feather advising on a wide range of commercial and property disputes.

As an advocate of Alternative Dispute Resolution, she can advise on the most appropriate way of resolving disputes, both through the courts and by way of alternative methods such as mediation.

Should you have an Adjudicator’s Award which remains unpaid and/or you simply wish to discuss the above process in a little more detail, please contact Ragan Montgomery on 01274 848800 or email rmontgomery@lcf.co.uk

Since 2007 there has been legislation which provided that if a landlord or their agent failed to protect deposits received under an assured shorthold tenancy then they could be made to pay a penalty and might be restricted from obtaining possession of their property from a non-paying tenant.

Bury & Walkers acted for a number of landlords who successfully challenged numerous claims made by tenants under the existing legislation and acted for landlords in two of the four main cases relating to tenancy deposit claims including the leading case in the Court of Appeal of Honeysuckle Properties -v- Fletcher.

Gareth Archer from the Bury & Walkers Property Team confirmed that there are strict time limits for landlords to comply with the new legislation.

He said “landlords can no longer delay in dealing with tenancy deposits.  A delay can result in payment of a penalty, up to three times the value of the deposit, and can also effect the landlord’s ability to obtain possession, either by way of a Section 21 Notice or, indeed, a Section 8 Notice.”

Failure to comply with the new rules can lead to a significant and costly delay in obtaining possession.

For more information please contact Gareth Archer or Lynne Branchflower at Bury & Walkers LLP on 0113 2444227 or 01226 733533 and l&t@burywalkers.com

The conference will be held in Washington DC from 5-9 May and will be attended by more than 9,000 intellectual property professionals from around the world.

Leigh will discuss trade mark and brand clearance advice, focussing on client expectations and legal duties of care across borders and cultures.  He has also written about these topics in the 2012 annual publication of World Intellectual Property Review, one of the foremost international intellectual property publications, which will be launched at the INTA Conference.

With 16 years’ experience in this niche area, Leigh is one of the region’s leading intellectual property lawyers regularly advising international clients from throughout Europe as well as the USA, China and even Australia.

“INTA is one of the most prestigious intellectual property events in the world and a fantastic opportunity for networking with international colleagues and clients and for exchanging ideas in relation to the latest developments in intellectual property throughout the world,” comments Leigh.

“I’m looking forward to leading one of the skill-building and thought leadership workshops and sharing some of our Yorkshire, UK and international expertise with overseas professionals.  With so many global brands, many of our clients are multinationals or becoming increasingly multinational in their reach, and it’s essential that everyone working in this field has a thorough understanding of IP law and practice and also relevant cultural issues in other jurisdictions.”

To find out more about how the Clarion Intellectual Property department can help with the identification, protection, exploitation and enforcement of rights in patents, designs, trade marks, copyright, databases, confidential information and related rights please visit www.clarionsolicitors.com or call 0113 2460622.

Alice joined the firm as a trainee solicitor in 2001, having studied Law at the University of Liverpool followed by the LPC at The College of Law, Chester, where she obtained a distinction.  She qualified in September 2003 and was promoted to senior associate at Clarion in April 2008.  She is a member of insolvency trade body R3.

During her 11 years’ experience, Alice has dealt with all areas of insolvency work, both contentious and non-contentious.  She has acted on many high profile insolvency matters including the administrations of Celtic Crusaders Limited; Wakefield Trinity Rugby Football League Club Limited; Overfinch Bespoke Vehicles Ltd; and the recent administration of architectural practice careyjones chapman.

In her new role, Alice joins fellow partners Roger Hutton and Ryan Millmore to add further strength to the team.

Roger Hutton, senior partner at Clarion, commented: “Alice is one of our rising stars, a highly regarded lawyer who is consistently rated and recommended by clients.

“From an early stage, Alice distinguished herself through her quick grasp of the client’s needs, her technical know-how and her dedication to seeing through a case to conclusion We are delighted to see Alice growing with us and developing her role from her early days as a trainee through to one of our most respected senior associates and now to partnership – a thoroughly deserved recognition of her hard work and commitment to the firm and to our clients.”

Alice comments: “I have been very fortunate to be part of a dynamic, young firm which has given me the opportunity to quickly gain extensive experience of all types of insolvency work, including high profile and complex cases.  Being part of a strong team with an open culture that welcomes involvement and input in all aspects of the firm has also been extremely satisfying.”

For further information, please visit the Clarion website or call 0113 246 0622

One of the region’s leading commercial litigators, Paul undertakes a broad range of commercial disputes and specialises in property and construction work.  He joins from Last Cawthra Feather where he spent 10 years as head of its commercial litigation and construction team.  Almost 20 years qualified, Paul has a wealth of experience of mediations, expert determinations and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution as well as pursuing matters via arbitration or the traditional courts route.

Paul works with developers, contractors, professional service providers, landlords and tenants in relation to disputed matters.   His specialist areas of interest include construction adjudications and leasehold enfranchisements in addition to more general commercial and property disputes.

“Paul is an extremely experienced and very well regarded commercial litigator and will be a real asset to our team, helping us to further grow the dispute resolution practice and in particular Paul will spearhead the development of our property and construction litigation services,” commented Simon Young, partner and head of Clarion’s dispute resolution team.

Paul comments:  “Clarion is a law firm that is going places – clients now want lawyers who understand their business in a broader sense as well as serving their immediate legal needs.  With a relatively young partner profile, Clarion has evolved as a modern practice, able to meet the needs of today’s businesses by offering a full range of quality commercial services, delivered in a businesslike manner that clients can relate to.”

For further information please visit the Clarion website or call 0113 2460622

Your company will hold extensive files of data which may include clients, suppliers and contacts. Your company may also hold sensitive data in relation to personal information or even your company’s budget or financial issues. This may even relate to your third party clients or contacts and be deemed highly confidential. The thieves want to know what you know and a leak of this information could be disastrous to your own and your client’s businesses.

Confidential and sensitive data is subject to attack from remote sources (‘hacking’) and is only as safe as the strength of your security systems. In addition the vigilance of colleagues and employees is paramount in maintaining a high level of security at all times.

Even a small restaurant has names, addresses and credit card numbers that criminals would like to get their hands on and the costs of a breach can put a small company out of business.

Computer network hackers have made the news recently by penetrating some of the largest companies’ networks with one of the more serious breaches targeting Sony Corporation.  However, in the last year or so hackers have found much easier prey in under protected small business systems. Smaller businesses frequently underestimate how vulnerable they are and most e-crimes are continuing to affect businesses as the incidents are not being reported.  In the time it takes to break into a major company a hacker could steal data from dozens of small businesses and not get detected and the fact that there are so many types of security threat makes it difficult for small firms to protect themselves.

Although the majority of cases continue to go unreported by businesses, some recent examples highlight the damage that can be caused by such threats.

In June 2011 a small business in Essex warned other firms to check their phone systems after falling victim to hackers.  The fraudsters hacked into phone lines at Fastsigns in Chelmsford and ran up more than £3,000 worth of satellite calls.  The scam was described as a highly sophisticated operation which accessed the firm’s system through their voicemail.

What you can do:

According to Yorkshire and Humber Police, we now need to ensure that there is added security on the data we hold within both our physical paper files and those on our computer systems. Sensitive information should be encrypted to avoid anyone, other that those authorised, having access to it.

It is essential that your current practices are reviewed in light if what your business perceives are its key threats, strengths and weaknesses.  Things to consider are:

• How your business disposes of confidential waste both in hard copy and electronic form.

• Has a risk analysis been undertaken in respect of that information falling into the wrong hands?

• Are your laptops and external storage devices (Pen or USB drives) encrypted to avoid a leak if they are accidentally left on a train or stolen from your colleagues’ home or car?

• How does your company receive information?  Attachments on e-mails should be checked for viruses designed to trawl your computer system for information.

• Reviewing internal procedures for staff including their accessing databases remotely.

Last Cawthra Feather LLP (LCF) is a leading and an award winning law firm. The firm has offices throughout Yorkshire.  It has 12 partners and 115 employees. Visit www.lcf.co.uk for more information.

Eleanor Cooke is a Commercial Dispute Resolution solicitor based in LCF’s Leeds office. Eleanor has specialised in the issues and law surrounding civil fraud for several years and is a member of the Yorkshire and Humber Fraud Forum.

For further information in protecting your business from fraud, please contact Eleanor Cooke on 0113 244 0876 or email ecooke@lcf.co.uk.

There are different types of cookies: For example, “session” cookies, which expire at the end of a user’s browsing session (such as cookies that enable a website to remember that a user has placed items in an online shopping basket) and “persistent” cookies, which survive between browsing sessions (such as cookies that recognise a user’s log-in details when he returns to a previously-visited website).

As a result of concerns around privacy on the internet (and in particular the profiling of users’ habits without their knowledge) the EU has established new rules relating to cookies. The use of cookies is now only allowed if the user (i) has been provided with clear and comprehensive information about the purposes for which the cookie is stored and accessed, and (ii) has given his consent. The requirement to obtain consent – which in practice generally means consent prior to the cookie being placed – is likely to present website operators with the most difficulty. There is an exception to these requirements where the cookie is strictly necessary for the provision of a service requested by the user, however this exception is likely to be given a very narrow interpretation.

Although the new laws came into effect in May 2011, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) will not start to enforce the new law until May 2012. The ICO does, however, expect companies to be takings steps now to ensure compliance by May 2012. The ICO’s powers of enforcement include the ability to levy fines of up to £500,000.

Prior to May 2012, businesses who operate websites should therefore (i) identify which cookies operate on their website, and remove cookies that serve no useful purpose (ii) confirm the type and purpose of each cookie, assessing in particular how “intrusive” each cookie is (iii) amend their online privacy policies to provide clear and comprehensive information about those cookies and (iv) ensure that they obtain users’ consent to the use of cookies – this may be done by, for example, the use of static information banners on the home page of websites or (on websites requiring registration by users) by providing the relevant information in website terms and conditions which must be accepted by users before they proceed to access the site.

Last Cawthra Feather LLP (LCF) is a leading and award winning law firm. The firm has offices throughout Yorkshire.  It has 12 partners and 115 employees. Visit www.lcf.co.uk for more information.

James Sarjantson is a Commercial & IP partner, based in LCF’s Leeds office. James has 11 years experience in specialising commercial contracts, including IT and web contracts, franchise agreements and high value supply contracts.

For further information and assistance in complying with the new law, please contact James Sarjantson on jsarjantson@lcf.co.uk