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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Sir Paul says we must go for the grind in marriage to avoid divorce

By Family Department | Published: Apr 30,2012

Senior High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge of the family division has again gone on record, this time while being interviewed on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme by John Humphreys, to talk about what he perceives to be the destructive effect on British society of divorce and family breakdown.

Sir Paul deems marriage to be the “gold standard” in relationships and has said that, as an expert in the field of relationship breakdown, as experienced by the family judiciary, he would consider it irresponsible to remain quiet when he sees the damage wrought by our society’s attitude to relationships and the ease with which we, as a nation, seek divorce.

He labelled his speaking out on the issue as a “health campaign”, attempting to lay out the facts about family breakdown in a “non-preachy, non didactic way” so that people can make up their own minds about the impact that divorce and family breakdown has on the greater society.

John Humphrys put it to Sir Paul that, as a nation, our circumstances have changed – we live longer, we are generally wealthier, and the stigma of divorce has gone – so that whereas our forebears suffered in painful and difficult marriages, without a way out, we now say “why should I suffer” and we seek out a divorce solicitor.

Yet, Sir Paul continued that he felt it was his duty to “articulate… not preach” about the benefits of “long-term, stable marriage” as being better for everyone in the end and decried the so-called “Hollywood approach” to relationships which promotes the finding of the one ideal person who will make you divinely happy.

He added that anyone who has been in a long-term relationship will know they are difficult and there is no other way to achieve a “qualitatively good” relationship than to keep “grinding away at it”, and it is only by these means that we will “end up with a product that it’s really worthwhile having”.

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Financial advisor negligence claim for elderly couple

By Professional Negligence Department | Published: Apr 30,2012

For many of us the only reward we get for years spent at the occupational grindstone is peace of mind and financial security in later life. Imagine then, the trauma of working all your life to build up this security only to have it snatched away from you because of financial advisor negligence just as you enter your sunset years.

This situation is alarmingly common and, sadly for many, comes at just a time when they have neither the energy or the health to fight a professional negligence claim .

However, a simple call to a good and understanding professional negligence lawyer can really make the difference to those in dire financial straits. Although financial advisor negligence claims are a complex business, first-class legal representation can be the boon wronged parties need, providing both the energy and the impetus to ensure justice.

Just this week an elderly couple in Ireland secured a €1.25 million judgement against an accountant, a financial adviser and a property development firm whose combined negligence resulted in the couple losing the entirety of their live savings.

After being advised to invest in a midlands property development scheme which became, in the judge’s words, “utterly worthless”, the couple decided to pursue all possible channels for redress.

The judge described the case as “a tragedy” brought about by “negligence… of a high order”.

Even more alarming is that many similar cases of financial advisor negligence go unreported and unlitigated.

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Mediation not yet the solution say divorce solicitors

By Family Department | Published: Apr 23,2012

As firmly predicted by many divorce solicitors, the upcoming changes to legal aid funding are already appearing to be having a negative effect, and the instigation of a mediation scheme has largely been ineffective for many divorcing couples.

A Resolution poll of more than 6,500 family lawyers revealed that requirements for couples to seek mediation meetings and advice before filing for divorce are not being heeded and 78% of the family lawyers polled said courts were not checking to ensure that divorcing couples were investigating the merits of mediation.

The Government has stated that it wants more couples to stay out of the courtroom and to settle divorce settlement issues through negotiation.

However, although “mediation assessment and information meetings” were introduced in April 2010, while well-off couples appear to be using the scheme, those with fewer means are merely going into the court system without full legal advice and representation. This is apparently already causing a log jam because, so The Law Society Gazette says, their lack of knowledge regarding the family law legal process means that cases are taking twice as long to complete.

With the full effect of the family law legal aid reforms due to be felt fully in April 2013, divorce solicitors and family law practitioners are warning that a two-tier divorce system will soon be prevalent where only the wealthy have access to professional and expert family law advice and arbitration services, and those without representation will suffer during divorce settlement negotiations.

As a result, further calls are being made for the introduction of “no-fault divorces”, as it is believed that a starting point of confrontation and adversarial blame mongering appears to only compound problems of negativity among spouses.

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Young renters are struggling to raise the funds to buy a home

By Residential Department | Published: Apr 20,2012

Calls on the Government regarding the residential conveyancing process have been renewed amid fears that future generations are being priced out of the housing market.

The head of the UK’s largest estate agent, Countrywide, has raised concerns that the country could become a nation of renters after a survey commissioned by the company revealed that nearly half of 18-to-34-year-olds were struggling to raise enough money for a deposit.

The survey gathered information from 6,000 people and showed that of those who were not moving home, 16% said this was because they would not be able to manage mortgage repayments, 21% were unable to afford a deposit and 16% blamed additional moving costs such as stamp duty.

Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, said, “We are at a crossroads for home ownership, where we could see the next generation becoming a nation of renters without the right intervention from government.

“Based on current levels of activity, the average home owner moves house once every 25 years as opposed to [historically] once every 12 years. These levels are unsustainable and we call for further support as a strong, vibrant, housing market contributes to GDP growth and will dramatically improve the economy.”

A number of estate agents have recently voiced concerns that the end of the stamp duty holiday last month may discourage many first-time buyers from seeking a conveyancing solicitor in London or elsewhere in the country in order to purchase a property.

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Professional negligence claim chaos at Rangers FC

By Professional Negligence Department | Published: Apr 19,2012

It’s not often I’ve had opportunity to feel sorry for Ally McCoist – in the time I’ve so far spent my adult life trawling through professional negligence claim material, he’s won dozens of football trophies, become Rangers FC’s all-time record scorer, starred in a film and been a cheeky success with countless women.

But, in a cruel twist of fate, it is now, in a sense, professional negligence claims that have come to haunt Mr McCoist.

In any other circumstance, you would expect the sight of Ally McCoist in the Rangers dugout to be the prelude to an inevitable golden era for the club, but as it is the football management novice is afflicted by uncertainty caused by the club’s legal and financial position.

McCoist explained how the situation has impacted the day-to-day aspects of his job.

“I can’t put a date in my diary, I can’t book opponents for pre-season games and I don’t know what players we will have,” he said.

In the latest legal development surrounding the club, it has been announced that law firm Collyer Bristow will seek to defend a professional negligence claim made by administrators of the club. The claim relates to the firm’s role in brokering the doomed takeover of Craig Whyte.

A spokesperson with the firm commented, “As expected, late yesterday evening (16 April) Collyer Bristow received detailed particulars of the claim on behalf of the administrators’ Duff & Phelps. A significant proportion of the damages claimed by the administrators (in excess of £25m) relate to claims for ‘consequential loss’, which we believe to be highly speculative.

“As we have previously stated, it is our intention to contest all claims brought by the administrators in the strongest possible terms and this remains our position.”

Although it is too early to speculate on the outcome of the action, it is worth considering the position Mr McCoist finds himself in. If indeed, negligence did occur, it amply demonstrates how negligent solicitors can bring even the most outlandishly successful to their knees.

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Family lawyer fears for dependant wives of wealthy husbands in divorce

By Family Department | Published: Apr 18,2012

Senior family law judge Sir Nicholas Wall has warned that there will be a “substantial increase” in the number of cases entering the family courts where one spouse is not represented by a family lawyer as a result of proposed changes which will come into force in April 2013 as part of the Legal Aid, Punishment and Sentencing of Offenders bill (LAPSO).

Speaking at the annual conference of Resolution, Sir Nicholas said that he was worried about the smaller divorce cases where there would be no legal representation for the less well-off wife of a wealthy man. In such a scenario, he would be able to afford representation and, as a result of legal aid funding cuts, his spouse would not.

Currently, where there is such a disparity, the spouse without independent income is able to seek a family lawyer through the legal aid scheme. However, the new LAPSO legislation will mean that access to funding will be almost totally stripped and many spouses may find they are unable to afford representation.

This situation, Sir Nicholas Wall warns, could lead to potentially complex and drawn-out situations in court, where, he says, “the difficulty is compounded if neither side receives sensible advice.”

Family lawyers in Brighton, London and throughout the UK have almost unanimously argued against the changes to legal aid funding in family law issues and a number of practices are offering means for couples to negotiate divorce settlement terms in the most cost-effective manner possible.

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Asbestos negligence, no place for it in the construction industry

By Professional Negligence Department | Published: Apr 15,2012

With the recent Supreme Court ruling on insurer liability for asbestos exposure and consequent illness still fresh, it is worth reminding ourselves that the problem of asbestos exposure is not one that is confined merely to the past – however much it should be.

Asbestos is still present in tens of thousands of public and private buildings in the UK – in all towns and cities, from Brighton to London and Land’s End to John o’ Groats – and, sadly, construction professional negligence still leads to a number of people suffering unnecessary exposure each year.

As someone who is on the Health and Safety Executive’s mailing list I routinely receive emails detailing how one firm or another in the country has caused significant risk by failing to safely and correctly manage the risks associated with asbestos.

Although most such cases involve worker health being jeopardised, in other cases the issues affect others who might normally assume themselves to be immune from ever needing to worry about issues of exposure, whether they are school children, home owners or private property developers.

But as long as there are construction professionals who act without knowledge, care or skill around asbestos, lives will be at risk.

It is also worth remembering that asbestos-related construction negligence claims are rarely about industrial illness – those, tragically, are the claims dealt with by personal injury solicitors – instead they are about the financial loss and damage caused by construction professionals failing to deal appropriately with asbestos present in buildings, whether homes or businesses, and the resulting financial fallout for those involved.

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Young professionals keen to start residential conveyancing in Brixton

By Residential Department | Published: Apr 13,2012

A report has revealed that the Brixton Market area in London has experienced a surge in property prices over the past 18 months as it is thought that many professionals are keen to start the residential conveyancing process and buy a home in there.

Brixton Market is well known for selling a wide variety of foods and has become increasingly popular with young professionals and recent graduates, making it a desirable area to live.

A recent revamp which helped to fill numerous empty units in Brixton Village has been so successful that the market is now open all week, as well as opening late on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Graham White, a sales manager at an estate agent in Streatham Hill, said, “Definitely sale prices have gone up and there’s a very similar pattern in the rental market as well.

“With the market and the whole area being cleaned up, it’s attracting the kind of people who would have previously moved to Clapham or Battersea.”

It has been reported that property prices have increased by as much as 15% and a two bedroom flat which would have sold at around £270,000 18 months ago is now coming onto the market at £300,000.

The surge in interest may mean that conveyancing solicitors in London may have noticed a boost in the numbers of young professionals seeking a property in Brixton.

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Say Hello to the celebrity divorce solicitor

By Family Department | Published: Apr 11,2012

What’s the best way to make sure you and your spouse don’t end up in the divorce courts? Don’t have your wedding covered by Hello! Magazine.

For many celebrity couples a trip to the divorce solicitor’s office will be inevitable, it seems, but marriages featured in the celebrity lifestyle magazine are more than twice as likely as other marriages to fail in the first six years, according to new reports.

In the past ten years, 62 marriage celebrations have been covered by the publication and ten have ended in relationship breakdown. This represents 16% marriage failure – more than twice the official figure for divorce within the first six years, which is currently at 7%.

Of the Hello! divorces so far, three occurred in the first two years following the wedding, five made it to five years and three of the couples made it past the five-year marker to celebrate their wooden wedding anniversary. Make of that what you will.

The media has dubbed these revelations as the “curse of Hello!”, but the magazine’s editor has rejected this as “totally unfounded”.

Of course, when a celebrity couple features in a magazine they do receive a fee for the coverage, so when Kim Kardashian split from her basketball player husband just 72 days after the wedding one must wonder at the true motivation for the ceremony in the first place.

Former editor, Kay Goddard has intimated as much. She told the Daily Mail, “Perhaps they should put a clause in the contract that celebrity couples who divorce within a certain time should repay some of their fee.”

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Hometrack reveal increase in property prices during March

By Residential Department | Published: Apr 10,2012

An increase in property prices for the first time in nearly two years may lead many people to seek advice from a property sales solicitor if they have been considering selling their home.

Hometrack, a property analytics business, has released figures based on a survey of 1,500 estate agents and surveyors revealing that house prices increased by 0.2% in the UK during March 2012.

The increase in property prices is good news for the housing market, especially as the end of the stamp duty holiday had previously raised fears among experts about whether interest in buying property would be negatively affected.

Data gathered from London was the most positive and showed an increase of 0.5% during March. However, areas in the North have not seen a similar improvement, instead experiencing further price falls.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said, “A strong seasonal uplift in demand has put upward pressure on prices against a backdrop of low sales volumes and a lack of housing for sale.”

Mr Donnell also expressed beliefs that the data suggests that property prices will continue to rise over the next few months.

If you are searching for more information about residential conveyancing in London or elsewhere in the UK, a solicitor from Healys may be able to help you.

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