Bristol chambers help fund nursing care for local children’s charity

St. John’s Chambers located in Victoria Street, handed over a cheque for £1500 to local charity, Jessie May.  The monies raised will pay for a months’ worth of respite support by a nurse for one of the charity’s families. 

Christopher Sharp QC, Head of Family Practice Group / Julian Withers, Head of Fundraising Jessie May / Gillian Alexander, Jessie May Nurse  / Elaine Jewell Moore, Family Practice Group Clerk – St. John’s Chambers

 
A premier set in the South West with over 80 members including seven Queens Counsel, chambers hosted a new Family Justice System Conference in Bristol with all profit donated to the Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home Charity.

Christopher Sharp QC, Head of Family Practice Group, St John’s Chambers said: “The conference was very successful and we were delighted to raise monies for this worthy charity.  St John’s is proud to be able to assist the essential work that Jessie May are doing in the local community to support families during the hardest times.”

The monies raised by Chambers will be spent on respite visits for the charity’s families.  This is delivered with support by Nurses such as Gillian Alexander and will cover the expenses to support one of the charity’s families for a whole month.

Julian Withers, Head of Fundraising Jessie May said: “We are so grateful to St Johns Chambers for this wonderful donation of £1500. The pressures on families caring for terminally ill children are greater than ever and the number of children being cared for by Jessie May Nurses is at a record high which makes this donation all the more value to us. On behalf of our Nurses and our children and families we offer our sincerest thanks and the money will be put to the very best use.”

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

St John’s Chambers Organise Charity Ball In Aid Of Headway Bristol

St John’s Chambers, the premier set in the South West with over 80 members including 8 silks, organised a black-tie charity ball in aid of Headway Bristol at The Marriott Royal Hotel.  

Glyn Edwards (Head of Personal Injury Practice Group, St John’s Chambers) / Annette Bushell ( St John’s Chambers) / Jo Darlington (Head of Serious Injury in Bristol, NewLaw Solicitors) / Richard Stead  (Head of Chambers) / Kate Croucher (CEO, Headway Bristol) / Derek Jenkins (CEO St John’s Chambers) / Katie Kate  Hicks (Fundraiser, Headway Bristol)

Headway provides social and cognitive rehabilitation services for adults with brain injury and support for families and carers.  Sponsored by NewLaw Solicitors, the event attracted 185 guests who enjoyed a champagne reception, three course dinner and live entertainment by Limited Edition. 

Charity and auction prizes were generously donated by local businesses; Nick Agg-Manning offered his time as Master of Ceremonies and auctioneer, and local company Scott Law kindly printed the event programmes.  The evening raised a total of £5,000 for this worthy local cause.

Bristol Law Society's Property Conference

Bristol Law Society's Property Conference 

Wednesday, 8th October 2014 

9.15 am - 4.30 pm

Leslie Blohm QC will be speaking at Bristol Law Society's Annual Property Conference at Osborne Clarke, which will focus on hot topics in property law and practice. Judge Havelock-Allan QC will provide a welcome and introduction, with expert speakers ready to share their wealth of knowledge and experience - this promises to be an engaging and informative day.

Topics include:

• Welcome and introductions; Judge Havelock-Allan 
• QC Challenges and solutions to local development issues; David North and Neil Bromwich, Osborne Clarke 
• The devil’s in the detail in development agreements; Jonathan Seitler QC, Wilberforce Chambers 
• Contracts for the sale of land – how flexible is time Leslie Blohm QC, St John’s Chambers 
• The ease or unease of easements in development; Ewan Paton, Barrister, Guildhall Chambers 
• Injunctions and damages in lieu after Coventry v Lawrence; David Holland QC, Landmark Chambers 
• Property law: a case of boom & bust for the profession?; Calum MacLean, Lockton’s Professions 
• Land development – title insurance solutions; Martin Wilks, First Title 
• Remedies when developers infringe property rights; Session led by Tom Weekes and Toby Watkin, Landmark Chambers 
• Development agreements and practical problems; Session led by Joanne Wicks QC, Wilberforce Chambers
• A property developer’s trade secrets – case studies; Paul Addison, Managing Director, DevAssist 

Details:

- Download programme: BLS Property Conference 2014
- Venue: Osborne Clarke, 2 Temple Back East, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6EG
- Cost: £100 + VAT for BLS members / £150 + VAT for non-members
- Registration: Registration and refreshments will be served from 8.30am
- Starts: 9.15am
- Finishes: 4.30pm
- Accreditation: 5.5 CPD hours

Please make any booking requests direct to the conference organisers, Bristol Law Society by emailing events@bristollawsociety.com or calling 0117 945 8486.

Sponsored by:

Bristol Law Society's Private Client Conference

Tuesday, 30th September 2014 9.30am - 5.00pm  Members of St John's Chambers' Wills, Trusts and Probate team will be speaking at Bristol Law Society's Private Client Conference at Clarke Willmott, alongside HHJ McCahill QC. The conference will be chaired by Anthony Fairweather of Clarke Willmott, and will present a wide range of speakers covering topical issues from legal and tax updates, through current planning ideas, and how to work with families in resolving their issues. Topics include: The Bristol Chancery Court HHJ McCahill QC Wills and capacity update Alex Troup, Barrister, St John’s Chambers Court of Protection, health and welfare: ‘Sex, Drugs and DOLS’ Jess Flanagan, Solicitor, Clarke Willmott Trustees' applications to court – what help can they expect? Tom Dumont, Barrister, Radcliffe Chambers Tax landscape heading towards the General Election Mike Warburton, Director Tax, Grant Thornton UK LLP Creating certainty in an uncertain world Mark Incledon and Sharon Critchlow, The Citimark Partnership Ltd Challenging Care Act decisions - public law principles for private client practitioners Belinda Schwehr, Care and Health Law Farms and estoppel claims – the new growth area Leslie Blohm QC, St John’s Chambers   Details: Download programme: BLS Private Client Conference 2014  Venue: Clarke Willmott, 1 Georges Square, Bath Street, Bristol BS1 6BA Cost: £100 + VAT for BLS members / £150 + VAT for non-members Registration: Registration and refreshments will be served from 9.00 am Starts: 9.30am Finishes: 5.00pm Accreditation: 6 CPD hours Please make any booking requests direct to the conference organisers, Bristol Law Society by emailing events@bristollawsociety.com or calling 0117 945 8486.  Sponsored by

St John's Chambers coverage in Western Daily Press

Click to enlarge 

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk 

Break notices: latest article from John Sharples

John Sharples, Head of St John's Chambers' Property and Real Estate team considers three recent cases about the validity and effect of break notices:- Friends Life Ltd v Siemens Hearing Instruments Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ. 382, Marks & Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services [2014] EWCA Civ. 603 andFriends Life Management Services Ltd v A&A Express Building Ltd[2014] EWHC 1463 (Ch).

Download article: Breaking up is hard to do

View profile: John Sharples

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To contact his clerks, please telephone 0117 923 4740 or e-mail:

• Rob Bocock, Practice Manager
• Paul Bennett, Clerk
• Elizabeth Champion, Clerk
• Jessica Balsam, Clerk

 

Barristers’ set tees-off for charity

St. John’s Chambers organised a charity golf day and dinner sponsored by Haines Watts Chartered Accountants at The Bristol Golf Club in aid of Headway Bristol. 

Katherine Hicks and Kate Croucher (CEO, Headway Bristol)

Derek Jenkins (CEO, St John’s Chambers), Rose Kemery  and Sarah Tune (St John’s Chambers) 

Over 52 golfers competed in the 18-hole 4-ball Stableford competition with Nestor as the winners and runner up Withy King LLP with trophies awarded to each team member. 

A total of £4,200 was raised for the local charity.

Kate Croucher, CEO Headway Bristol added: “The support we receive from organisations such as St John’s Chambers – and all those who took part in the Golf Event - is vital in helping us raise awareness about brain injury and the devastating effects it can have on the individuals and their families.  Equally, it helps to raise vital funds that will go directly to providing our range of services.  We are extremely grateful to everyone involved – it was a great event which we hope to hold again next year."

  

Derek Jenkins, CEO St. John’s Chambers said: “Chambers would like to say a big thank-you to Haines Watts for sponsoring the event, Scott Law for kindly donating the goody bags, and Bristol Golf Club for supporting the event.  It was a great day enjoyed by all with much needed funds being raised for a very worthy local cause. Going forward we are organising a charity ball for Headway Bristol on 26th September 2014 at the Marriott Royal Hotel Bristol as part as our fundraising activities this year.”

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

Property Damage Seminar - Bristol

Thursday, 19th June 2014

St John’s Chambers' Property Insurance Litigation team welcome you to their seminar, which aims to bring practitioners up to speed with all the latest developments in the world of property insurance litigation.
 

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Topics:

• Liability for flooding
  Richard Stead, Head of St John's Chambers
• Liability for fire damage
  Julian Horne, Barrister, St John's Chambers
• Easements for slip and support
  Charlie Newington-Bridges, Barrister, St John's Chambers
• Remedies: damages or injunction
  Richard Gold, Barrister, St John's Chambers

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Details:

Download programme: Property damage seminar 2014
Cost: £40 + VAT (payable to St John's Chambers) 

Venue: St John's Chambers, 101 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6PU

Registration: 1.30 pm 

Starts: 2.00 pm

Finishes: 5.30 pm (drinks and canapes to follow)

Accreditation: 3 CPD hours (BSB and SRA) 

Book now

Download booking form

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk 

Eirian Davies’ estoppel claim to £7 million farm upheld by Court of Appeal

Leslie Blohm QC represents Eirian Davies as her estoppel claim for an interest in her parents’ £7 million farm is upheld by the Court of Appeal

Leslie Blohm QC, a member of St John's Chambers Wills, Trusts and Probate team was instructed by Wiljo Salen of Hugh James, Cardiff to represent Eirian Davies both at trial and on appeal, in her £7 million farm battle.

The Court of Appeal has upheld the claim of Carmarthenshire farmers’ daughter, Eirian Davies, to an interest in her parents’ £7 million farm and pedigree Holstein/Friesian milking herd. The claim is the latest in a line of actions brought by relatives who have  worked on farms, often for many years, for long hours and at low or no pay, on the basis that they would succeed to the farm in due course.

Eirian Davies’ parents who have owned and run the farm since 1961 disputed all of her daughter’s allegations that promises had been made to her, and that she had relied on those promises to her detriment – all matters that had to be proved for her to succeed.  The Court of Appeal approved the judgment of HHJ Milwyn Jarman QC who heard evidence over three days in Cardiff last June, in favour of Ms. Davies. The case illustrates the complex factual findings that a Court must make in respect of matters that often arose informally, in private and many years ago. Unless settled by agreement, the case will now proceed to a further hearing where Eirian Davies’  entitlement will be decided.

Download detailed discussion about this case: Estoppel and detrimental reliance

View profile: Leslie Blohm QC

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Devon & Somerset Law Society's Professional Negligence Update with speakers from St John's Chambers

PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE LATEST CASES

Date: Wednesday 30th April 2014

Time: 9.45 am - 1.00 pm / 3 hours CPD

Venue: Exeter Racecourse

St John's Chambers' Professional Negligence Team will be speaking at Devon & Somerset Law Society's Professional Negligence Update on Wednesday, 30^th April at Exeter Racecourse from 9.45am until 1.00pm.

Topics include:

John Dickinson  

Limitation issues in professional negligence claims

John will cover limitation periods for the misconduct of litigation and limitation issues in lenders’ negligence claims.

David Fletcher

Professional negligence in construction contracts

This will be a discussion of the duties of care owed by architects, surveyors and engineers in administering building contracts, issues of ostensible authority which arise when they act for corporate clients, and negligent overvaluation.

Guy Adams  

Causation, mitigation and solicitors who continue to act after being negligent

Guy will address recent developments in the law relating to the court’s approach to questions of causation and mitigation, and in particular as to how the burden of proof shifts. He will pay particular attention to a solicitor’s professional obligations, if he appreciates that he may have been negligent, and the practical problems that arise from continuing to act in such circumstances.

George Rowell

Negligent tax advice and disappointed beneficiaries: the extent of White v Jones Liability

The full implications of the House of Lords’ decision in 1995 have still not been worked through. Drawing upon recent case law, George Rowell will consider whether liability for professional negligence can exist in the following common situations: 1) A claim by a deceased person’s heirs arising from negligent tax-planning advice given to the deceased during his lifetime; 2) A claim by the beneficiaries of an inter vivos trust arising from negligence on the part of the advisors retained by the settlor to establish the trust.

For the speakers’ full profile, please visit www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

FEES:

Members:

£102.50+ VAT (£123.00 incl. VAT) for the first booking

£86.50 + VAT (£103.80 incl. VAT) for subsequent bookings

Non-members: £127.50+ VAT (£153.00 incl. VAT)

Trainees: £51.25 + VAT (£61.50 incl. VAT)

Please book your place through the Devon & Somerset Law Society by e-mailing Hetty Rizman - hetty@dasls.com.

Chambers announces winner at ‘Bristol & Somerset Venus Awards’

Local independent clothes retailer, Hemali Modha was announced as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the ‘Bristol & Somerset Venus Awards’.  Sponsors of this category, Bristol-based St John’s Chambers, presented the award to Hemali at the glittering awards ceremony held at Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel.

Derek Jenkins Chief Executive of St. John’s Chambers says: “Chambers sponsored this award in recognition of the valuable entrepreneurial achievements of women. Hemali demonstrated a passion for fashion coupled with sound business sense.  She stood out from the many entries we judged.  The other two finalists, Jane Duffus of ‘What the Frock!’, and Sam Hawkins of Hawkins and Company were also great contenders and came joint runners up.”

Hemali, owner of Amulet Boutique in Cotham was crowned the winner for her ability to identify great business opportunities and her innovative ideas making her a budding business entrepreneur.

Hemali Modha (Ambulet Boutique), Derek Jenkins (St John’s Chambers) Sam Hawkins (Hawkins and Co), Richard Stead (St John’s Chambers) Jane Duffus (What the Frock!) 

Hemali Modha owner of Amulet Boutique says: "Juggling a business and motherhood is immensely challenging so to have ones hard work and achievements recognised is wonderful. Winning this award is a huge accolade. I'm very grateful to St John's Chambers for sponsoring this category and for celebrating women in business."

Venus Awards was set up to recognise women around the country for all of their achievements whether a small business or a larger company.

Tara Howard founder of Venus Awards says: “We all at Venus Awards are very excited to be able to reach and spread our awareness of hardworking women in business in Bristol.  Venus Awards typically draw thousands of nominations, dozens of sponsors and supporters and in so doing recognise and reward some very special women. The inaugural Bristol & Somerset Venus Awards was very successful and we had inspirational winners.”

The Finalist's

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

Law firms and stormy seas: legal, accountancy and regulatory perspectives – Bristol

Many if not most law firms are faced with a challenging operating environment. Many firms are dealing with these challenges and managing the consequent financial risks effectively. Some are not. This seminar focuses on how law firms can interpret the warning signs in practice and constructively engage with their members, stakeholders and regulator to tackle financial risks.

This one-hour hot topic organised by St John’s Chambers, in association with the Bristol Law Society, is aimed at members/partners, and those with management responsibility in law firms.

We are delighted to have IPA President Charles Turner of FRP Advisory LLP and Mike Haley Director of Supervision at the SRA to contribute to the discussion, along with partnership law specialist Martha Maher of St Johns Chambers. There will be an opportunity at the end for a question and answer session with the speakers, followed by drinks.

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Speakers

• What are the warning signs for law firms?
• Key financial measures and benchmarking
  Charles Turner, FRP Advisory LLP
• The SRA’s Financial Stability initiative
  Mike Haley, Director of Supervision, Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Business structures and exit routes
• Personal exposure of members/partners and how to mitigate it 
  Martha Maher, Barrister, St John’s Chambers

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Details

Cost: £20 + VAT (BLS members) and £25 + VAT (non-members)
Venue: St John’s Chambers, 101 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6PU  
Registration: 5.30pm
Date: 1st May 2014 
Starts: 6.00pm
Finishes: 7.15pm (drinks and canapés to follow)
Accreditation: 1.25 CPD hours

For more information and to register click here

The Annual Adjudication Law Update – Exeter

Andrew Kearney, member of St Johns Chambers construction and engineering team will be delivering The South West and Wales Adjudication Society’s Annual Adjudication Law Update on Tuesday, 8th April 2014 at Ashfords, Exeter

Stephen Homer of Ashfords will chair this 1-hour seminar, with Andrew bringing delegates up to date with all the latest developments in the law as it relates to Adjudication.

To book your place, contact events@ashfords.co.uk or call 01392 333616 by Friday, 4th April 2014 to reserve a place.

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Details

Download programme: The Annual Adjudication Law Update – Devon
Cost: This event is free to members and guests
Registration: 5.45pm
Starts: 6.00pm
Finishes: 7.00pm

For more information click here 

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk