EACH Nook Appeal fundraising update

26th Sep 2018

We are delighted to have raised a further £6,320.50 towards East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) Nook appeal, following a foot golf tournament and some staff members completing the Run Norwich 10k.

We held our second annual foot golf competition in association with Loveday & Partners, at Norwich’s Eaton Park, in June. Twenty-one teams, totalling 84 individuals, took part, facing competition from the likes of former Norwich City players Darren Huckerby; Iwan Roberts; Mike Milligan and Paul McVeigh. Fundraising was boosted by an auction of merchandise, including items signed by former Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy and Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton. The event netted £4,883.50.

A team of Rogers & Norton staff also took part in the Run Norwich 10k in August, raising £1,437 between them – whilst they all did a fantastic job in completing the course, a special mention should be given to Tara Saunders for playing such a large part in raising the sum achieved.

It’s been a busy summer focussing on raising funds for our nominated charity – we are really pleased to be able to contribute towards such a brilliant cause. We are very proud to have raised a total of £16,630 towards the new hospice.

The nook appeal currently stands at over £8 million. Construction of EACH’s new hospice started at the end of last year and, fundraising-permitting, it is hoped the building will be operational by summer 2019.

Rogers and Norton Law Academy

18th Sep 2018

We are delighted to announce that we are launching the Rogers & Norton Law Academy. We will be working in conjunction with a range of local schools and colleges to offer guidance and support to students with an interest in undertaking a career in the law.

We are offering a series of six monthly workshops that will cover a range of departments across Rogers & Norton with an additional session on helping the students prepare and understand what they need to do if they want to have a career in law.

The workshops will involve interactive tasks and aim to give an understanding of the topics covered.

We have had an excellent response from the schools we have contacted and are extremely pleased to be able to offer help, advice and guidance to local students who want to pursue a career in law.

Law is a very popular ‘A’ Level subject to study at the moment, with many students keen on using it when they go to university with the intention of undertaking a career in law. We look forward to working with local schools and their nominated pupils to offer a better understanding of becoming a lawyer.

Do you really need an LPA?

17th Sep 2018

All too often, a family member or loved one sadly loses their ability to manage their affairs with no plan in place for their finances, property, health or welfare to be dealt with on their behalf. The loss of mental capacity at any stage in life, whether through illness; disease; brain injury; side effects of medication; a progressive learning disorder; mental health problems; drug/alcohol misuse; or the natural ageing process, can have a huge impact on all involved.

20% REDUCTION ON LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY FEES

Whilst we are all living longer, sadly this doesn’t necessarily mean in good health. According to the Alzheimer’s Society an additional 225,000 people in the UK will develop dementia each year, in addition to the 850,000 who are currently living with the illness. However, it is not just an age dependent issue – some 40,000 people under the age of 65 have dementia in the UK. Putting it bluntly, one person in the UK develops dementia every 3 minutes.

The experiences we have had with our clients together with the increasing amount people we see who are living with Dementia has meant we joined the Norwich City Dementia Action Alliance.

A Lasting Power of Attorney is something that we always highlight to a client when discussing their Will as we believe it is an important part of their overall planning.

There are two types of LPAs; one to deal with property and finance and one that deals with health and welfare decisions.

It’s easy to understand the need for the finance one and dismiss the Health and Welfare LPA. However, we are starting to see more and more anecdotal evidence of the need for both. As care agencies, local authorities etc. become aware of LPAs they are more insistent of an LPA being present before allowing family members to be involved in care decisions.

An LPA should be seen as an insurance policy. You really hope that you won’t ever need it but if you do, you will be delighted that you have one in place!

As a Dementia friendly organisation we believe strongly in the benefits that an LPA brings so we are offering a 20% reduction on our standard fees until the 21st December 2018.

If you are interested in discussing how an LPA can help you and your family we can be contacted at wills@rogers-norton.co.uk or on 01603 675616.

Website Domain Disputes

With the ever increasing size and importance to companies of marketing on the internet, thousands of domain names are being registered each week. It’s inevitable that some businesses will clash with others, as they are unhappy that other internet sites may impact detrimentally on their company, for whatever reason.

In many cases the issue will be relating to a trademark or passing off issue, as a new company tries to harness the goodwill and reputation of an established, better known company, by using a similar domain name to cause confusion with consumers.

When we are approached by clients to help them with the problem, we are able solve the issue for them swiftly and decisively. It is vital that we act to remove the site from the internet as the quickly as possible – delays can end up causing innocent companies substantial sums of money in lost orders together with reputational damage.

We have access to specialist companies who can offer mediation and adjudication to ensure that the desired outcome is reached.

A complaint can be submitted to a specialist in domain disputes via their Online Services account. A copy of the complaint is then to the offending website and if applicable, the end user of the domain name. The respondent has a set time frame to submit a response – this is then sent to the Complainant, who can comment on it.

If there is a response, the Complainant and Respondent have the facility to use a free mediation service to try and settle their dispute. Trained mediators will help the parties discuss how they could do this – they will be completely neutral, and won’t judge the case. Mediation is always confidential.

If there was no response, or if the case couldn’t be settled by mediation, the Complainant has the option of paying a fee to appoint an independent adjudicator to make a binding decision about what should happen to the domain name.

In cases where there was no response, the Complainant can pay a fee for the Expert to make a summary decision on the case.

If the parties failed to come to a settlement during mediation, an Expert decision costs £750 plus VAT. The Expert will explain the cases put forward by both the Complainant and the Respondent.

If the Expert awards a transfer, cancellation or suspension of the domain name, arrangements can be made to make the required changes to domain name registration records.

Our litigation team have a wide experience and knowledge when dealing with trademark and passing off disputes together with all Intellectual Property Rights, database and confidential information protection. We also assist on employment covenants and have considerable experience dealing with covenants in the High Court. We understand the issues and problems that impact on a company who have to deal with the potential damage that these issues create.

We can offer the rapid support and guidance needed to help navigate what could be a very difficult problem

If you need help you can contact us on ph@rogers-norton.co.uk or 01603 675639.