13 August 2009
Swine Flu- Practical advice for employers on how to deal with the pandemic

At present the swine flu epidemic (H1N1) is at the grip of uncertainty. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the overall severity of the pandemic to be at phase 6, that is moderate. The WHO have also reported that the number of human cases is still increasing substantially in many countries.

3 July 2009
Mayo Wynne Baxter Appointed to the SRA Intervention Panel

South east firm Mayo Wynne Baxter has once again been named as one of only 24 firms nationwide to be part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new panel of intervention agents that will intervene into and close down solicitors' practices where an Intervention Resolution has been passed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for disciplinary or other reasons. The aim of this process is to supervise the closure of the practice and take possession of all client monies and files to protect clients’ interests.

26 June 2009
Class Room to Court Room at Hove Park School

Students at Hove Park School had a citizenship lesson with a difference when their class room was turned into a court room. The lesson in law was the grand finale of the Local Lawyers in Schools project run by a group of solicitors from Mayo Wynne Baxter.

6 March 2009
Solicitors get creative with new specialism

Champagne and creative juices were flowing at My Hotel in Brighton this week with the launch of Mayo Wynne Baxter’s ‘Media & Creative Industries’ specialist legal team.

19 February 2009
Mayo Wynne Baxter launch new Media and Creative Industries Team

South East law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter is launching a specialist division to protect the intellectual property through copyrights, design rights and patents of the individuals and companies in this dynamic sector.

26 November 2008
Top Performance from Mayo Wynne Baxter in Chambers UK

Leading South East law firm, Mayo Wynne Baxter, has once again been recognised for its excellence and outstanding practice in the prestigious Chambers UK 2009 directory.

19 September 2008
Directors, Conflict of Interest and the Companies Act 2006

Alex Chester, Partner and Company Law specialist with Mayo Wynne Baxter, explains the implications of the Companies Act 2006 on company directors.

26 August 2008
Family Law Article- Division of Assets on Divorce

When a couple decide to divorce, they will often have very different ideas as to how the finances should be split. One party may feel they have brought more to the marriage financially and should therefore recover a similar amount. The other may feel that they were to some extent dependent on their spouse and will struggle if matters are settled in this way. How will this be resolved?

22 July 2008
Traders tread carefully!

The 26th of May 2008 saw one of the most significant changes to consumer protection law in the last 40 years. The introduction of the ‘Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008’ will benefit both businesses and consumers alike through the prohibition of certain trading practices, which although not previously considered unlawful were regarded as unfair.

11 June 2008
‘What Not To Wear’ – Dress Codes At Work

Employers may believe that a smart and tidy workforce will assist in promoting a professional/corporate image and securing health and safety within the workplace. However, Employers who are found to be imposing rigid dress codes, or applying differential rules amongst staff, can potentially be accused of indirect and direct discrimination.

1 May 2008
Handling sickness absence

It has been estimated that 175 million working days are lost due to employee absenteeism at a cost to businesses of approximately £13 billion per annum. It is vital that employers have a strategy in place to effectively manage sickness absence. Every employer should have a policy confirming the procedure for notifying of sickness absence, what payments will be made during sickness absence and how persistent short-term or a period of long-term absence will be handled.

14 April 2008
City Centre Crackdown on Licensed Premises

Brighton & Hove City Council has recently introduced a special policy to crack down on new licence applications and extended drinking hours across the city centre. The policy is based upon a “presumption of refusal” for applications falling within the central city zone spanning between Preston Street to Upper Rock Gardens, and from the Sea Front back to Western Road, Church Street and Edward Street.

15 August 2007
Employer’s Holiday Alert –The New Regulations

On 19 July 2007, the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007 became law, increasing the statutory minimum holiday entitlement for workers in two phases:-

21 June 0007
Employee benefits-Childcare vouchers

From April 2005 employers have been able to offer their staff the benefit of a childcare voucher scheme. Sadly the uptake on such schemes has yet to reach many smaller organisations and this is perhaps die to a lack of understanding about the benefits to both the employer and the employee.

2 April 2007
Johanna Williams-Business Edge Expert

Johanna Williams has appeared as an industry expert in the April issue of Business Edge magazine. Jo, who is a member of the firm's Employment Law Team, appears on the expert panel answering a question related to workplace bullying.

6 March 2007
Private Client Law- Enduring Powers of Attorney and Lasting Powers of Attorney

Fiona Dodd, solicitor in Wynne Baxter's Private Client Team, explains the legal jargon behind Enduring Powers of Attorney and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

27 January 2007
Changes to Companies Websites and E-mail footers

Every registered company must now include on their letters and e-mails, details of their company registration number, place of registration and registered office addresses. The change in the law took place on the 1st of January 2007 and was implemented to bring the UK in line with European legislation.

26 January 2007
New obligation on Companies to dispose of their old IT equipment

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive came into force on the 2nd January 2007. The directive requires all suppliers of IT equipment to offer to dispose of the hardware free of charge. Although the new rules take effect immediately, suppliers do not have to take full responsibility until the 1st July 2007.

16 January 2007
MRSA-Bringing a claim

Rarely a week goes by without some attention-grabbing news item about “super bugs” in our hospitals. The most widely known of these is MRSA. As clinical negligence specialists we are asked on an almost daily basis about potential compensation claims for injury, or sometimes death, thought to have been caused by MRSA. The public perception is often that contracting MRSA in hospital automatically gives rise to a right to compensation. This is not the case. Indeed, claims relating to hospital acquired infection are amongst the most difficult we have to deal with.

10 January 2007
Wynne Baxter introduce new age package

Wynne Baxter solicitors has introduced a new retirement procedure template as a result of the recent age discrimination laws. The latest legislation means that it is compulsory for all employers to follow the procedure when they are dismissing an employee due to retirement. Wynne Baxter’s template policy is aimed at businesses of any size, and there are very few firms outside of London who have such a procedure up and running.

5 December 2006
Wynne Baxter Partners Recommended in Leading Legal Directory

Leading legal directory Chambers & Partners have recommended two Wynne Baxter Partners as leading experts in their field of law. The guide ranks individuals according to the quality of advice given based on the number and quality of recommendations received from clients.

28 November 2006
Family Law: Will the Children & Adoption Act 2006 successfully enforce contact?

The Government is currently considering the timetable when to bring in the Children and Adoption Act 2006 which received Royal Assent in June 2006. The aim of this Act, amongst other things, is to assist the enforcement of Contact Orders made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989.

20 November 2006
Companies Act 2006

A new record for the longest piece of legislation ever drafted was set by Parliament recently. The Companies Act 2006 makes significant changes to the way companies and their directors run their businesses.

25 October 2006
Wynne Baxter Campaign to save NHS service

Clinical negligence solicitors at Wynne Baxter are throwing their weight behind a campaign to save vital services at hospitals in Eastbourne and Hastings.

22 August 2006
When is a cheap will not a cheap will?

We have all seen the adverts-“Your Will for £25, and we can come and visit you in the comfort of your own home.” It’s tempting to wonder why anyone would go to the bother of visiting a solicitor, possibly taking time off work to do so, and paying significantly more than £25 to draw up a Will, when they could accept such an offer. But as the old saying goes, if something seems too good to be true it probably is.

9 August 2006
“It’s not my fault the marriage has broken down”

There has been much publicity recently about a case decided by the House of Lords called Miller v Miller. In that case the Law Lords had to decide whether bad behaviour or conduct by one party which led to the breakdown of the marriage should be taken into account when dividing up the financial assets. In this particular case Mr and Mrs Miller did not live together before the marriage and were only married and living together for a period of two years and nine months. The circumstances surrounding their separation were not agreed although Mrs Miller said that the marriage came to an end after her husband started an affair with another woman. Mrs Miller said to the Court that she felt that the division of their marital assets should be weighted in her favour because of her husband’s affair.

8 August 2006
Periodical Payments: Cause for Optimism

On 28 July 2006 the Court of Appeal handed down an encouraging Judgement for claimants and their advisers in the case of Singh Flora v Wakom Ltd. Since April 2005, when the Court gained the power to impose periodical payment settlements as opposed to lump sum settlements in cases involving future financial loss, there has been significant concern about the convention of linking future payments to the Retail Price Index (RPI). It has long been recognised that the cost of care, so vital to seriously injured claimants, rises much more quickly than the RPI. The likely consequence of this discrepancy would be to leave a seriously injured claimant without funds to purchase necessary care in future years.

2 August 2006
The 2006 Budget-Why you should check your Will

There has been a lot in the press recently about the impact of the changes proposed by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown to the tax treatment of certain trusts. As the ink is now dry on the Finance Act 2006, these proposals have been finalised and we can start to understand the implications in full. The proposals will come into effect from 6th April 2008.

2 August 2006
10 Tips to save money and Inheritance Tax

1. Make a Will, but take proper professional advice. Although it is possible to buy a “Will Kit” from most stationers for a very modest amount, these are frequently a false economy. Many home made wills contain errors, or omissions, which can lead to increased legal fees, or even litigation. The intended beneficiaries can end up paying for the someone else’s mistakes. Some mistakes cannot be put right, so the intended beneficiaries could, in some circumstances not receive their gift!

1 July 2006
Brown’s Budget Bombshell

The press is full of articles about trusts and tax issues. So what do you need to know? Recent budget proposals have far reaching consequences. They will affect trusts in many Wills and the effect is far from straightforward. They have not been finalised and may change as the Finance Bill progresses through Parliament.

26 June 2006
World Cup Fever

No it’s not a recognised medical condition but employers would be wise to prepare for an outbreak of sickness absence as the World Cup kicks off this summer. The competition starts on 9th June and continues until 9th July. According to research undertaken by Croner Consulting 13% of men and 4% of women have called in sick to watch a football match, or recover from a match they watched the night before.

7 June 2006
Home Information Packs-Love them or hate them?

The Government claims that Home Information Packs will offer more transparency early in the home buying process so that a potential buyer can make an offer for a property based on factual information. The government hopes that not only will this help to flag up problems at the outset of the transaction, but will also reduce the transaction time.

11 May 2006
Legal Services Reform – “Putting the Client First”

The legal profession has, for many years, had a bad press. Whilst the vast majority of those in the profession work tirelessly in their clients’ best interests, stories of “Fat Cats” and “Crooked Solicitors” make good news stories and tar the whole profession with the same brush.

1 April 2006
The NHS National Home Swindle

Many people, particularly the elderly who are being cared for in nursing home settings should be entitled to the full cost of their care being met by the NHS. On Sunday (5th March), in ‘The NHS National Home Swindle’, the BBC current affairs programme, Panorama highlighted the injustice in the current system,