We’re pleased to announce that we have been nominated as a finalist in this year’s Enfranchisement and Right to Manage Awards!
Roger Hardwick, Head of Leasehold Enfranchisement at Brethertons, is once again a finalist in the categories of Young Professional of the Year and Solicitor of the Year. The Firm is a finalist in the award for Regional Professional of the Year.
You can read more on our website. Well done Roger and his team!
Brethertons is proud of its association with national spinal injuries charity the SIA (Spinal Injuries Association). We are equally proud to be sponsoring the SIA’s Women in Spinal Cord Injury Awards where women involved in all aspects of spinal cord injury will be celebrated at a gala awards dinner in June.
The spinal injuries community is a relatively small and compact one and in our work we get to meet many dedicated professionals who devote their lives to helping people with spinal cord injuries. In our view all these people deserve to be celebrated for the amazing work they do.
As awards sponsors we have nominated an amazing lady we work very closely with who has a huge role in helping many of our clients and others in her role as case manager. Glynis Kenny specialises in providing case management services to patients with spinal cord injuries. A former spinal injuries nurse at Pinderfields, Glynis is the epitome of best practice in providing case management services to our clients all over the UK.
When introducing her to our clients for the first time we often describe her role as being that of the buffer between the client and the outside world. Her common sense, down to earth approach and her unstinting dedication and devotion to helping her clients is truly remarkable. Her help is much appreciated by all we have introduced her to.
Glynis travels all over the UK in helping clients with spinal cord injuries and her role in the teams we build around our clients is hugely important. She has frequently had a pivotal role in helping us secure substantial awards for our clients and supported by her colleagues Katie Ryall and Anna Brown Glynis is every inch the model case manager.
The SIAs Women in Spinal Cord Injury Awards will be held in Birmingham in June and we wish Glynis every success. Irrespective of the Judges’ decision on the night we are pleased to be involved in the SIA’s celebration and recognition of ‘women in spinal cord injury’.
To find out more about Glynis and her work use the link below
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/glynis-kenny/29/5ab/4b
To read more about our work use the link below.
http://www.brethertons.co.uk/Home/Individual/Spinal-Injury-Claims.aspx
If there is a topic you would like us to cover or there is an issue you would like to discuss about any aspect of the legal consequences of spinal cord injury email me at jonrees@bretheretons.co.uk or telephone 01295 661531.
Expertise and experience are vital. It is important you ask the solicitor you think you might instruct what experience they have in helping people with spinal cord injury compensation claims so you can make a judgment about their level of expertise.
There are relatively few solicitors in the country who are genuinely experienced in dealing with the modest number of (approximately 300) spinal cord injury claims that arise year on year.
We often hear about patients ending up using the family solicitor, the family friend, the solicitor mentioned by the chap in the shopping centre, the insurance company panel firm solicitor and then learning the hard way how important it is to make the right choice when engaging with a solicitor who can help with spinal cord injury claims.
We have taken on cases where the wrong experts have been instructed, where vital evidence has been destroyed, where the value of the claim has been hugely undervalued or where the original solicitor was simply out of his or her depth.
It is vitally important you choose a solicitor you can be confident in. If you have any reservations air them and speak to the solicitor about your concerns. You will be better able to form a judgment about whether you want to instruct the solicitor having done so.
The solicitor you choose will need to be capable of securing all that you need for the rest of your life. It is a tragic fact that increasingly the individual’s decision about who to instruct is being removed from them because so much personal injury work has become commoditised and somebody else’s financial interest in the claim is placed as a higher priority than the individual’s absolute right to choose the right person to help them.
Some quick dos and don’ts when it comes to instructing a solicitor:
Do
Don’t
To read more about how we work and to see answers to frequently asked questions follow the links below.
http://www.brethertons.co.uk/Home/Individual/Spinal-Injury-Claims.aspx
http://www.brethertons.co.uk/Home/Individual/Spinal-Injury-Claims/FAQs.aspx
If there is a topic you would like us to cover or there is an issue you would like to discuss about any aspect of the legal consequences of spinal cord injury email me at jonrees@brethertons.co.uk or telephone 01295 661531.
Two British children who were unilaterally removed from their mother by their father must be returned to their new home in Canada. The High Court ruled that the children had acquired ‘habitual residence’ in North America and were no longer habitually resident in the UK at the time the father removed them.
They were both British nationals, having been born while the mother and father were still together and before they had relocated to Canada. The family had their property shipped to Canada and, after moving there, the mother began working and the father attempted to set up a business. However, the parents’ relationship ended and it was agreed that day-to-day care of the children would continue to be shared between the mother and father.
After saying he was taking the children on a trip to a lake, the father returned to the UK and sent a message to the mother saying they would stay with him until his solicitor instructed him otherwise. The mother applied to the High Court Family Division for summary return of the children. She said that their joint intention had been to permanently relocate to Canada and the children were by then settled in their home abroad.
Upholding the mother’s application, Mrs Justice Pauffley said that, on the evidence, it was ‘indisputable’ that the children had acquired habitual residence in Canada. The parents had spent several years applying for residency in Canada; their schooling in the UK had been wound up, with one of the children enrolled in and attending a Canadian school and the younger going to a nursery.
“There really can be no other conclusion but that these two children were indeed habitually resident in Canada at the time of their removal to this country. On any objective analysis of what has happened in the life of this family, taken together with the supportive documentary evidence provided by the mother, any other result would be simply perverse,” the judge concluded.
This 2013 Virgin London Marathon will soon be upon us. I am in the final stages of training for it. I am running to raise money for the Spinal Injuries Association http://www.spinal.co.uk/.
I am a first time marathon runner at age 38 and 51 weeks. My aim couldn’t be clearer: it is to just get around the 26.2 miles. I have no desire to run the ‘race’ in a certain time.
I have always been impressed by the endeavour involved in running a marathon. Half-heartedly I kidded myself I might one day run it myself but it was a bottle of wine and a wife and brother in law’s goading that pushed me in to signing up. Now here I am all but at the starting line with 35,000 others.
So far I am on track in terms of the money I have committed to raise for the SIA (although I am not there yet and if having read this you feel able to make a donation however small it will be gratefully received http://www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Rees1).
I ran my last really long training run last Sunday – 18 miles. I am now tapering down to the big day, trusting the various books I have read on running marathons to guide my preparation. Evening runs of 5, 8 and 5 miles during the week and 9 miles on the weekend lie ahead until the big day on April 21st.
The training has been tough. A demanding job, a lengthy commute and three small people to read bedtime stories and bath before bed have made setting out down lonely country lanes in the pitch black late evenings often in freezing conditions the last thing I have wanted to do week in week out for months now. The chafing and the blisters, a hefty bout of man flu, the monotony of hours of running, the almost being run over on several occasions, the ongoing battle to avoid being gritted by the local gritting lorry, three hours on a treadmill one Sunday when it was too snowy to venture out, – even the rumour I cannot shake that marathon runners shrink by an inch during the race such is the pressure on the skeleton – all have tested my resolve.
But it would be impossible not to be inspired by the people I work to help each day. All of the clients I help have suffered spinal injuries. As I plod through the miles, whenever it gets tough I am constantly reminded that not everyone is so fortunate as to be able to contemplate going for a run. Most have struggles on a daily basis that put mine well and truly in perspective.
If you would like to find out more about the SIA, the charity I am running to raise money for use the link above. If you would like to read more about our work helping people with spinal cord injuries use the links below.
http://www.brethertons.co.uk/Home/Individual/Spinal-Injury-Claims.aspx
http://www.brethertons.co.uk/Home/Individual/Spinal-Injury-Claims/FAQs.aspx
If there is a topic you would like us to cover or there is an issue you would like to discuss about any aspect of the legal consequences of spinal cord injury email me at jonrees@bretheretons.co.uk or telephone 01295 661531.
The who, the what, the why, the when and the how….
I am Jon Rees. I head the spinal injuries team at Brethertons Solicitors. Based in Oxfordshire we help spinal cord injury patients living all over the country. We don’t deal with huge volumes of cases. Our team focuses exclusively on spinal cord injury compensation claims and most are valued in excess of £1million.
This blog is aimed at providing a lawyer’s perspective on issues that those who have (or who help and work with those who have) suffered spinal cord injury will encounter as they navigate the legal system.
The blog will cover a wide range of issues that are of interest to anyone who has an interest in what is involved in making a claim for compensation as a result of a spinal cord injury. It will cover topics prompted by experiences our team encounter on a day to day basis when helping people who have suffered spinal cord injuries. Our aim is that by sharing that experience we will be of benefit to others.
There is a distinct lack of reliable and informed information available to those who have suffered spinal cord injuries and those who are involved with helping people with spinal cord injuries. When it comes to accessing information and becoming informed about what is involved in navigating the legal system and in addressing topical issues that many encounter in that pursuit our aim is that this blog becomes a useful resource to clients, prospective clients, their families and professionals working in the spinal cord injuries community.
We will blog as frequently and regularly as practical and where time permits. We encourage readers to get in touch with us if there are topics they would like us to air – contact jonrees@brethertons.co.uk.
The blog is published on our website, via our twitter feed, via linkedin profiles and on our facebook pages.
If there is a topic you would like us to cover or there is an issue you would like to discuss about any aspect of the legal consequences of spinal cord injury email me at jonrees@brethertons.co.uk or telephone 01295 661531.
Disruptive Lessees and anti-social behaviour are the bane of Property Manager’s lives.
This webinar will explain how problems caused by the anti-social behaviour of lessees/tenants can be dealt with in an effective manner.
For more details and booking information, visit our Events and Webinars page.
During this Webinar, we will look at the constitution of an Employment Tribunal (including the parties involved and the layout of the room) as well as considering some of the practical and tactical considerations to bear in mind when a claim lands on your desk.
For more details and booking information, visit our Events and Webinars page.
One of today’s hot topic of conversation on the news is the costs that individuals incur when they instruct solicitors to deal with their divorce. There has been some criticism of Family Lawyers in general, for not providing detailed costs estimates, which results in their costs soaring, and clients not having the means to pay.
Here at Brethertons, we strive to ensure that our client’s are given accurate and transparent costs estimates at the outset of their case. In addition, we provide a ‘fixed fee’ structure for both divorce and financial matters. Many firms provide fixed fees for divorce, but we are spearheading fixed fees for financial matters, so that clients have certainty at the beginning of their case about the total cost that they will need to spend. Below is a link to our ‘fixed fee’ product.
If your case falls outside of the scope of the fixed fee as set out on our website, then come and chat to us about quoting you a fixed fee for your individual case.
We understand that divorce and any subsequent financial settlement can be extremely stressful, and knowing where you stand with costs at least gives you peace of mind that you will not end up with a large and unexpected bill at the end.
For those clients that cannot fund the divorce costs themselves, we do offer a referral to a Loan Scheme (subject to approval) so that any legal costs can be deducted from your overall financial settlement.
For any further information, please call us on 01788 532926 for an informal chat, to discuss your case further.
Caring for Mum and Dad – Comfortably and cost-effectively… For life.
We are pleased to offer you the opportunity to attend a complimentary seminar on 19th March 2013 which will explore how Long-Term Care Planning for aging relatives may help your family.
There are currently 10.3 million people aged over 65 in the UK … Considerable advances in medical science and healthcare mean that life expectancy for men and women will continue to rise. Keeping our aging loved ones with us for longer is such a life-enhancer, but what if a parent or other relative becomes physically or mentally incapacitated? What if they need some form of assistance to achieve a quality of life, potentially for the rest of their life? For a family member, full-time, long-term care can often be the only option.
Planning care, considering the cost… Our complimentary seminar, led by our specialist Wills Trust and Probate Team, approaches issues such as the financial consequences of long-term care, possible planning methods, the types of trust available and comparing the merits of lifetime planning versus wills. Independent Financial Adviser and guest speaker Tim English will be on hand to discuss the financial aspects of planning for long-term care.
Plan the support, lessen the stress… We’ll also discuss the specialist areas of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Mental Capacity issues, to help you to understand how being ready in advance can lessen the stress, when the need to take financial and daily responsibility for your relative suddenly arises.
Time and Venue
Thursday 21st March 2013
18:30 Arrival
19:00 Seminar starts
20:00 Question & Answer Session
20:30 Conclusion of events
Brethertons LLP
The Robbins Building,
25 Albert Street,
Rugby,
Warwickshire
CV21 2SD
If you would like to reserve a place for yourself, a family member or friend, please click ‘Register’ below.
If you are unable to attend this seminar but would like to know if it is repeated in Rugby, Banbury or Bicester, please click the button below and leave your details so that we can contact you in the future.
For more information, please contact Matthew Mitchell on 01788 532901 or email at matthewmitchell@brethertons.co.uk.
Yours sincerely,
