This is Week 4 of behind the scenes of the furniture. The Norfolk Broads inspiration has put together two versatile occasional tables for anyone’s fancy
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Trainee Solicitor Marija Markovic considers the impending changes and the impact on the civil litigation process.
In 2010 Lord Justice Jackson published his report dealing with the issue of disproportionate costs in civil litigation. He said: “In some areas of civil litigation costs are disproportionate and impede access to justice. I therefore propose a coherent package of interlocking reforms, designed to control costs and promote access to justice.”
Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations were taken on board and evidenced in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). The Act received royal assent in May 2012 and is to be implemented in April 2013.
There are certain changes within the recommendations that affect many matters that we deal with on a daily basis in the dispute resolution team at Steeles Law. Such changes include:
Non Recoverability of Success Fees
Under s44 of LASPO, other than for mesothelioma claims, success fees under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) will no longer be recovered from the losing party. Currently, the winning party’s legal representatives are able to enjoy an uplift of up to 100% on their costs as a success fee. However, post 1 April 2013, the winning party will pay the success fee from the damages awarded to him/her. To replace the current CFA arrangements, Damage Based Agreements are proposed instead.
Damage Based Agreements (DBAs)
Also known as “Contingency Fees”, DBAs are very similar to CFAs in that the legal representative is only paid if the client wins his/her case. If the client loses, the legal representative receives nothing. Under a DBA, the client is obliged to pay to the legal representative a pre-agreed percentage of the damages he/she is awarded. Upon success, the client’s representatives are still able to recover their costs from the opposing party in the first instance. In cases where the amount recovered from the opponents is not the total amount to which the legal representatives are entitled under the DBA, they may then recover from the client the difference between the agreed percentage under the DBA and the amount recovered from the opposing party.
For example, if the client and representative enter into a DBA with an agreed fee of 25%, and the client receives £10,000 in damages, the representatives will then be entitled to £2,500. However, if the losing party has paid £2,000 to the representatives in respect of costs, the client will then “top up” that amount by £500, meaning the total amount paid to the representatives is £2,500.
There are limits as to the amount a legal representative can recover under a DBA:
Non Recoverability of After the Event Insurance (ATE) premiums
The purpose of ATE is to cover the opponent’s legal costs in the event that the client loses the case. In the event of success for the client, the losing opponent currently has to pay the insurance premium. As with success fees, with effect from 1 April 2013, the client will be liable to pay the ATE premium from the damages he/she receives upon success.
It is important to note that CFAs and ATE policies entered into before the implementation date of 1 April 2013 remain unchanged.
General Damages Increased by 10%
The above reforms appear to be one-sided and of greater disadvantage to the claimant than the defendant. To balance this, the government has introduced an increase of 10% on general damages in respect of the following:
The extra 10% is designed to allow for premiums and fees payable by the claimant, so that the damages the claimant actually receives upon success are not reduced too considerably. An example of this can be found in the first case to embrace the reform, Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ 1039.
Comments
As is shown, compared with the current framework, it seems the reforms are of a greater disadvantage to the claimant than the defendant. The claimant is responsible for paying the success fee and ATE premium, both of which can be significant amounts. Depending on the case, an increase of 10% to general damages may not be sufficient to cover these costs.
It is also important to consider the wider implications. If a claimant’s claim has a strong prospect of success, the claimant may choose not to purchase ATE in order to avoid having to pay the premium, thus having an adverse effect on insurers. It may mean insurers having to lower their premiums to continue to operate within the civil litigation arena.
For legal representatives, the absence of the 100% uplift on success fees may not be a favoured part of the reform. However, despite not being as lucrative, the availability of DBAs at least provides a replacement mechanism to reward representatives for the success of claims.
Currently, claimants are able to pursue the “give it a go” attitude with “no win no fee” – they have nothing to lose. This can lead to costly litigation. The reform is likely to provide a mechanism for preventing the spiralling of costs in some cases when a CFA is involved. For those that have strong and genuine grounds for a claim, the avenue is there for them to pursue it but for those that wish to try their luck, as of 1 April 2013, it will be worthy of careful consideration.
Employers inthe East of Englandare stepping up recruitment of temporary staff, despite new government regulations that have boosted the cost of employment. According to a survey carried out by specialist recruitment company, Pure Resourcing Solutions, 85 per cent of employers recruited more or similar levels of temporary workers during 2012 compared with the previous year. Almost all employers questioned said that the Agency Workers Regulations introduced in October 2011 would not affect their volume of temporary recruitment, nor the length of time they recruit for. The regulations give temporary workers the same basic employment and working conditions as permanent staff, and it had been feared that this would put employers off employing temps for more than 12 weeks, after which the main elements of the regulations kick in. The survey, carried out across East Anglia, found that the main reasons organisations recruit temporary staff are for special projects or to cover maternity leave. However, other important reasons to engage temporary staff include: sickness cover or as an interim solution while a permanent appointment is being made. Anyone thinking of temporary employment should be aware that the two most prized qualities are special expertise and the ability to work in a team. This Eastern region data from Pure is more bullish than a similar national survey carried out by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation late last year. “We are delighted to find that employers in our specialist sectors of professional support are not being put off recruiting temporary workers”, said Gill Buchanan, Director of Pure Resourcing Solutions, “However, we acknowledge that sectors such as manufacturing may be experiencing a greater effect. Temps are a highly flexible and cost effective way of acquiring expertise quickly, and today’s organisations need to be able to react faster than ever before.” “Employer legislation continues to evolve”, adds Gill. “Many responsible employers will already have processes in place.” Other new regulation which businesses need to be aware of and which will start to affect businesses of all sizes include a requirement to automatically enrol workers onto a pension scheme. Pure Resourcing Solutions carries out regular surveys into employment issues across the East Anglia region.
Copies of the full survey findings are available from Anna Hill, Marketing Manager at the company.
Rapidly-evolving energy production technology services company Proserv has secured two major contract wins worth in excess of £15 million for work in the North Sea, further strengthening the company’s market-leading position in the subsea controls and communications field.
The first deal is with TAQA for the control of subsea wells approximately 16.5km from the Tern platform in the Cladhan field. Proserv will implement a system to control three subsea wells as part of a significant development project for the company. Using Proserv’s proprietary Open Communications Controller (OCC) technology, the system will provide a high-speed network capable of communication speeds up to 1.3Mbps.
The second contract award is with another leading operator and also involves work to control the subsea wells. Proserv will use a cutting-edge system, which will control a number of wells and manifolds. This features a fibre-optic communications system using Proserv’s Open Communications Hub (OCH) technology for fully transparent communications and high-speed data monitoring from the subsea multi-phase flow meters and control modules.
Proserv’s facility in Great Yarmouth will be the focal point for both contracts with all the manufacturing work taking place in the Norfolk town.
Commenting on the recent award wins, David Lamont, Proserv’s chief executive officer, said: “Both contract wins reflect Proserv’s industry-leading position and strong track record for delivering high-value integrated technology systems on time and within budget.
“Proserv’s fast-growing suite of technologies have been developed based on the company’s ‘ingeniously simple’ philosophy and are underpinned by the company’s international talent pool of technical and engineering expertise which has expanded considerably through organic growth and strategic acquisition.
“As a result, Proserv continues to expand both globally and particularly in the North Sea where our strong and expanding client base is testament to our levels of technology and service. We look forward to working with two leading operators in the region.”
In 2012, Proserv made two high-profile acquisitions which not only bolstered its capabilities but saw its global headcount increase by more than 600 people to over 1,600.
Proserv specialises in exploration & production, drilling, and infrastructure technical solutions and services to the global energy industry. The company operates worldwide from 30 sites in 6 geographical regions namely North UK & Africa, South UK & Europe, Scandinavia, the Americas, Middle East & North Africa and the Far East & Australia.
NORWICH, Monday 11th February 2013 – Airport supports local scout group Norwich International Airport had pleasure in providing 2nd Hellesdon Scout group with 60 hi-visibility vests for the Beavers and Cubs. The vests will enable the young children to enjoy a range of activities and visits safely.
Jean Grimbly, Beaver Scout Leader for 2nd Hellesdon Scout Group said “We are delighted that Norwich International has been able to support us to ensure the road safety of our young Beavers and Cubs. The vests are paramount to ensuring the road safety of sixty children aged 6 to 10 years of age. It will also ensure that our Beavers and Cubs can safely gain their hikes away badge and will work with our sections for them to gain their safety badge”
Emma Grimbly, Assistant Scout Leader for 2nd Hellesdon Scout Group said “I am grateful to the Norwich International Airport for the support we have received. What started out by me as simply being a plea to local organizations and businesses has been welcomed with support and partnership from the marketing team at Norwich International. I am overwhelmed that they have been willing to provide these hi-visibility vests something that I saw our group was in desperate need for. Now thanks to Norwich International Airport we have the resources to keep our young people safe on all activities throughout the year regardless of how light it is outside in the evenings when we run our activities”
Andrew Bell, CEO of Norwich International Airport said “As an airport we are committed to work with and contribute to the local community and we were very pleased to be able to help the scout group with funding this project”
Many of you will have watched the ITVprogramme thisweek called ‘How to Save a Life’. The programme highlighted the possible causes of our country’s very poor cardiac arrest survival rates. Viewers wereasked to consider whether life-saving skills should be taught in schools and were shown a Norwegian school where mandatory training for students has been introduced and survival rates are higher.
At Norvic we believe equippingyoung peoplewith key essential skills is really important and we want to help make this a possibility. As a start we are producing some A4 posters that can be printed from our website. We hope that popping these up on the wall and perhaps running through them with your youngsters each week will be a good start.
The topics we have picked out include;
Asthma, anaphylaxis, fractures, bleeds and making an emergency call.
Do let us know your thoughts and if there is anything else that we can do.
Many people are unaware of the implications of dying unexpectedly without having made a Will. The most common reasons people tend to give for not having a Will are either that they haven’t ‘got round to it’ or that they feel they haven’t got anything of value to leave behind.
Local law firm, Ashton KCJ has launched a Wills Week campaign,which will run from 25 February – 1 March 2013. The week long campaign aims to raise funds for three local charities, nominated by staff at the firm: the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), Headway – the brain injury charity – and Norwich based cancer charity, Big C.
For each Will prepared during Wills Week, Ashton KCJ will donate £100* to one of the three charities. The initiative will run across the firm’s seven offices, including the Norwich office.
Alan Brown, Partner at Ashton KCJ said: “The implications of not making a Will are that the law will decide how your estate will be distributed and who should care for your dependents. Making a Will is a simple process and it lets your family know that you have thought about their future. It can also avoid the confusion and emotional strain which can be placed on loved ones when someone has not made their wishes known.”
“As well as emphasising the importance of making a Will, our Wills Week scheme will raise vital funds for three worthwhile causes. The simple gesture of making a Will can make a real and lasting difference to the lives of local people.”
For further information, please ring Ashton KCJ on: 0800 587 0093 or visit: www.ashtonkcj.co.uk/willsweek
* Each £100 donation is worth £125 to the charity when they claim Gift Aid.
About EACH EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. The charity needs to raise more than £5.75 million in public donations each year to deliver its services.
About Headway With branches across East Anglia, Headway provides a range of services, advice and support to people with an acquired brain injury, and their family and carers.
About Big C Big C supports people affected by cancer and works across Norfolk and Waveney by providing equipment in hospitals and across rural areas, nurses, world-class research and support groups and services through two Big C centres.
Norfolk Trailers are the sole distributors for Ifor Williams Trailers in the Norfolk area, based at Hellesdon Business Park to the North of Norwich City Centre.
Credo Asset Finance are pleased to be awarded there finance company of choice when it comes to providing finance.With so many Horseboxes and Trailer owners within the Norfolk region I`m sure that there are many people who are looking for an upgrade or a replacement.
With New Horseboxes from £89pm and Trailers from £79pm it pays to upgrade now!
Please call either Mike Berridge at Norfolk trailers , Giles Berridge at Barnwell Trailers (Peterborough) or Nick Ruffle at Aggreco (Suffolk) and mention Julian @ Credo.
This is just another example of where Credo helps businesses to sell there products in an affordable way to there customers.
If you have a product that you are looking to sell please contact Julian Pilkington @ Credo on 01603 703180 for more details.
It’s the third week of ‘behind the scene’ of the furniture. This is Wymondham Collection inspiration, Enjoy!!
As The View from The Shard, the visitor attraction at the top of the tallest building in Western Europe opened to the public at 9am on Friday 1st February, the team at Norwich-based outsource contact centre, OpenContact, were in party mood as they joined in with the launch celebrations.
OpenContact were appointed to handle the telephone booking and customer service enquiries by The View from the Shard back in July 2012, and have been taking advance bookings since the building’s inauguration. Telephone enquiries have doubled month on month for the contact centre, and last week was the busiest yet, as publicity gained momentum in advance of Friday morning’s grand opening.
OpenContact’s Managing Director, Fiona Temple, said “All of our team have now visited The View from the Shard during January, which means they can now talk to customers in a knowledgeable and enthusiastic way, having experienced it for themselves.”
Tickets for the opening weekend – Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd February – were sold out for the “multi-sensory experience to 244m (800ft) above one of the greatest cities on earth”. The view at level 69, offers unrivalled 360 degree views of London to a distance of 40 miles, and on level 72 there is an open-air platform where guests are exposed to the elements, and can experience the sounds of the city below.
OpenContact had a launch party for the team at their Roundtree Way headquarters in Norwich on Friday morning to celebrate the opening and to reward the hard work the team have put in to develop an excellent partnership with their client. Fiona said “We are extremely proud to be representing such an iconic attraction, and are delighted to be working in partnership with the team from The View, who see us as an extension of their organisation and an integral part of their operation. This is exactly what we always aim for in developing relationships with clients. It helps guarantee success, with customers receiving the high quality service they expect from our clients’ brands.”
The upturn in business from The View from the Shard comes just as OpenContact acquire 3 new Norwich-based virtual receptionist clients for whom they provide a message taking service, as well as commencing work for a holiday park based in Devon. Welcome Family Holiday Park appointed OpenContact to handle their booking and customer service calls from the beginning of January, resulting in a bumper start to the new year. Fiona goes on to say “This has been a very strong start to 2013, and with some very exciting prospects in the pipeline, I’m very confident we are going to have a great year, creating more jobs and moving forward with our technology investment programme.”
The finalists of the Great Yarmouth Spirit of Enterprise Awardshave beenofficially announced and we are very excited to share with you that we have been short listed for Great Business to Business Service Award.
The Great Business to Business Service Award has been sponsored by Bateman Groundworks Ltd. It is open to businesses that can demonstrate exceptionally high standards of service or have implemented working practices to improve their service to other businesses that has resulted in consistently strong sales and exports. The award is for businesses that can demonstrate that they have identified areas of weakness and then worked to improve these areas; or that they have consistently promoted a culture or approach that promotes excellent service.
Commenting on the news Matt Buck, Head of Customer Experience said “It was fantastic to learn that we are finalists in the category of Great Business to Business Customer Service in the Spirit of Enterprise Awards. Awards are so much more than a decoration for the company mantle-piece! Amongst many benefits, they are an independent approval for the hard work of an organisation and it’s people; they serve as a marker of what we expect of our organisation, and what others can expect of us; they boost the spirit of the team delivering the award winning performance and spur the team to achieve more.
“Our investment and work within the realm of customer service has been extensive and is not about to stop, with some important projects underway in 2013 that we hope to be able to announce shortly. We obviously hope to win the award category overall, but ultimately the most important thing is that we continue to strive to place great service at the heart of our organisation.
“The judges for the category are from a very successful business working with large public and private sector clients. They absolutely know what great business to business customer service means and winning the award would therefore be a fantastic recognition of our efforts. Fingers crossed please!”
There are two further finalists for this category including Albies Taxis and Prevent Fire Limited.
About the awards
Now in its sixth year the prestigious awards ceremony takes place on 15th March 2013 at The Zest Rooms, Potters Leisure Resort.
The Awards evening is a high-profile celebration of all that’s outstanding in business and enterprise in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, focusing on and recognising the achievements through innovation, entrepreneurial thinking and sheer determination of businesses of all sizes and from every sector.
The official award supplement will be published in the Great Yarmouth Mercury on 1st March 2013.
For more info visit https://www.soea.co.uk/index.php or look for #SOEA on twitter.
Omar Park Homes, the UK’s leading manufacturer of park homes, appointed Bigfork and Naked Marketing to improve their website. The companies worked together to produce a brand new website with an appealing, response driven design. Navigation has been improved so visitors to the website can easily find home details, images and floorplans and order brochures. The new website has a comprehensive and easy to use content management system allowing the Omar team to update their website inhouse.
The next stage is to increase relevant traffic to the website through an online marketing campaign including email marketing, search engine optimisation and Google Adwords.
Bigfork Ltd
Tel:01603 513080