Clare School Life Skills Room Grand Opening

We are delighted to be able to advise you that the project to renovate the Life Skills Room at the Clare School in South Park Avenue has finally been completed and officially opened by the Lord Mayor Cllr Eve Collishaw and The Right Hon. Charles Clarke MP on Friday 4th December 2009.

This project has taken almost three years to complete and was originally a fund raising idea by the Practice to help disadvantaged children at the School develop their culinary skills in what were very dated surroundings as no improvements had been carried out since the 1970s. We held a Grand Charity Ball in aid of the school in June 2007 at Drayton Old Lodge and raised a sum of just under £20,000 from the event. This has been added to other donations and grants to allow the refurbishment to take place.

We would like to take this opportunity to not only let all our clients and contacts know about the improvement but to say a big thank you to all those individuals and Companies who contributed in some way, large or small, towards making this happen. Without such support the renovation would not have been possible. We are including links to some photos and video footage of the speeches at the opening so you are able to see what has actually been achieved with the money and the enormous difference it will make to the children attending the School.

As a result of our liaison over the last three years we have become a Business Partner of the School which we hope will benefit the children in the future too.

If you would like further information about the School or the project please conact either the School Headmaster Nigel Smith at office@clare.norfolk.sch.uk or Graham Knights at Rogers & Norton gjk@rogers-norton.co.uk.

Watch Right Hon. Charles Clarke MP & Lord Mayor Cllr Eve Collishaw perform the opening ceremony here

Watch Nigel Smith's speech here

Photos can be viewed here

R&N Newsbrief Autumn 2009

R&N Newsbrief Autumn 2009

R&N Legal 500

The 2009 edition of The Legal 500 has just been published and will be accessible in paper copy and online at www.legal500.com.

Rogers & Norton are once again delighted to be acknowledged in many areas of the Practice.

Some of the comments that have been made include:

Corporate & Commercial
‘one of the leading small private law firms in Norfolk, providing value for money and taking pride in caring for clients’. Richard Etheridge brings a ‘commercial and constructive approach’, a ‘detailed knowledge of the law and a personable nature’ that is appreciated by many local businesses.

Licensing
'Working with them has always been great, response times are very quick, and they have a wealth of experience’, say clients of Bruce Faulkner. It is a ‘one-stop shop’ for licensing law and property advice.

Dispute Resolution/Employment
Multi-talented litigator John Cadywould has ‘a wealth of experience coupled with a professional ethos and empathy’ in everything from libel to contractual disputes.

Phil Kerridge is ‘highly professional, very knowledgeable and can talk in layman’s terms’ to the great satisfaction of clients, who report ‘friendly, professional service’.

Personal Injury
The team at Rogers and Norton ‘focuses on the personal relationship with the client’. Tim Nobbs and Mark Hambling are recommended.

Family
Amy Walpole and Colin Grooms, a founder member of the Norwich Family Law Group, are reliable choices for ancillary relief and domestic abuse cases.

Private Client
‘a very good all-round firm for private client work’. Tom Lawrence has built a reputation for high-quality, attentive service in Catherine Hawdon’s team.

Property
Rogers and Norton is experienced in complex transactions thanks to Bruce Faulkner, Marc Greig and Robert Pyke, who represent many local businesses and property developers. Recent matters include advising in relation to a new bridge over the River Wensum, and new hangars and a helicopter terminal at Norwich Airport.

These extracts are all taken from The Legal 500 2009 edition.

"It is particularly gratifying to receive acknowledgements in The Legal 500. A substantial amount of research is undertaken with clients and fellow lawyers before the publication is written and we are therefore delighted to receive the glowing acknowledgements detailed above."

Richard Etheridge

R&N Charity Fundraising Chart

The Rogers & Norton Charity Fundraising Chart supporting Guide Dogs is now available to view here http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/charity.htm

What's cooking at The Clare School ?

Something will be cooking at a special school in Norwich when the pupils return from their summer holidays!

The Clare School is about to have its old kitchen ripped out and a new one installed, partly funded by a £20,000 donation from Norwich based solicitors, Rogers & Norton.

It is a mixed, day Community Special School for pupils aged 3 to 19 years with special needs usually associated with physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments; many also have complex medical needs and learning difficulties.

“The current kitchen dates from the 1970s and presents us with a number of health and safety issues,” said Head Teacher, Nigel Smith.

“Now everything is being taken out and we will be having new windows, floors, cookers, units a special teaching area and all designed to be disability friendly.

“Cooking and food preparation is a vital part of the curriculum and to have modern, up-to-date facilities will greatly enhance the experience for our pupils. We will even have talking microwaves and scales to help visually impaired children.

“Work is just about to start and it will all be ready for pupils when they return to school in September.”

Added Graham Knights from Rogers & Norton, “We always look to support a local charity or good cause through money collected at our many fund raising events. The Clare School was mentioned as falling into that category so we came and met Nigel and were very impressed with the work he and his team do.

“The kitchen certainly needed some work done to bring it up to modern standards so we are delighted the money is going to such a worthy project and I look forward to coming back in September to see it finished.”

http://www.clare.norfolk.sch.uk/

Inaugural Business Leaders Lunch produces lively debate

On the 24^th June 2009 Rogers & Norton held its first Business Leaders Lunch at Sprowston Manor in Norwich. The event was attended by nearly 70 delegates who had lunch and then listened to guest speaker Richard Ellis of the East of England Development Agency.

Richard spoke about the opportunities that are available to businesses in the eastern region at the current time and considered the need to develop any business during times of recession, focusing upon approaches to marketing and in particular continuing to use the benefits of locality which remains very important to potential customers.

Commenting upon the future Richard highlighted the need for businesses to consider the wealth of young talent that is emerging from our educational institutions and give consideration to graduate recruitment. “It is important not to lose the hotbed of talent that exist in this region”.

Following Richard’s presentation he was joined by a panel comprising of Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and Paul Hill, Business Editor of the Eastern Daily Press. The panel, chaired by Rogers & Norton’s Managing Partner, Richard Etheridge took questions from the floor and this provoked lively debate on topics covering the networking abilities of local business, predictions as to when the economy will emerge from the recession and the benefits available to businesses in the Eastern region from the 2012 Olympic bid.

The intention is to arrange a further lunch later in 2009 with a further guest speaker.

First Prosecution for Corporate Manslaughter Commences

On the 17^th June 2009 the first prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is to be heard in the Stroud Magistrates Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service have brought of Corporate Manslaughter against Gloucestershire based Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings.

The charge follows the death of a Junior Geologist who was killed in September 2008 when the sides of a pit in which he was collecting soil samples collapsed and crushed him.

In November 2008 Rogers & Norton co hosted a seminar on the impact of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The commencement of this prosecution is an important development from this seminar and as the prosecution progresses the manner in which the Court will deal with the evidential issues under the Act will be analysed. In addition if found guilty the Court’s new powers in sentencing can also be examined.

Under the Act the Court have the power to impose an unlimited fine. The fine in accordance with sentencing guidelines may be between 2.5% and 10% of a company’s gross turnover.

Aside from the financial sanctions the Court will also have the power to force an organisation to publicise its own guilt at its own expense if found guilty.

It is also of interest that apart from the Prosecution under the new Act the company are also being prosecuted for breaches of Section 2.1 of the Health & Safety at Work Act in failing to protect the deceased. Additionally, Company Director, Mr Peter Easton, is being charged personally with the offence of gross negligence manslaughter and further breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act.

The case will inevitably be transferred to the Crown Court for Trial and it will be important for all businesses and advisors to watch this case develop and to establish how the Court deals with the evidential issues under the new Act and, if found guilty, their sentencing powers.

We will endeavour to provide further information on the case as and when this becomes available.

If you have any questions regarding the Act or this case please feel free to contact either:

Mark Hambling (email: mbh@rogers-norton.co.uk) Tel. 01603 675668

or Phil Kerridge (email: pnk@rogers-norton.co.uk) Tel. 01603 675612

Newsbrief 2009

The 2009 edition of the R&N newsbrief is now online and available to view here at http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/newsletters/news2009.pdf.

Rogers & Norton go live on air in 2009

Rogers & Norton are proud to announce that, in partnership with Norfolk Community Law Service (NCLS), as from the 28th of January 2009 we shall be appearing live on Future Radio 96.9FM to offer a free 'Legal Hotspot' to listeners.

The Legal Hotspot is to be aired on Future Radio's Community Chest Show on the final Wednesday of every month at approximately 11 am. It is to offer listeners an opportunity to pitch their legal questions in advance of the show for lawyers to answer live on air.

As far as we are aware this is the first collaboration of its type in the Norfolk area. We are hopeful that along with answering a number of legal problems the Legal Hotspot will also assist in increasing the general awareness of Future Radio's listeners to the legal services that are on offer locally.

The free Legal Hotspot concept was developed by Future Radio in collaboration with NCLS and Rogers & Norton’s Tom Lawrence, who is a solicitor in our Private Client Department. Tom said “I would like to thank NCLS and Future Radio for all of their help in making the idea a reality. It has taken a lot of time and considerable effort to bring it all together, but I am hopeful that it will provide listeners with a useful forum for obtaining answers to those thorny legal issues which we all come across from time to time.”

Mark Hambling, who is a partner and member of the marketing development team at Rogers and Norton, said “We are very appreciative of Tom's hard work and dedication in seeing his idea through to what we are sure will become a successful relationship with both NCLS and Future Radio. We hope that the Legal Hotspot shall become a show not to be missed by listeners!”

Please watch our website www.rogers-norton.co.uk for future details. If you would like to listen to the podcasts of the shows, they will be made after the monthly shows on the Future Radio website (www.futureradio.co.uk).