R&N Continue with Expansion Programme

Rogers and Norton is continuing its planned expansion programme with the appointment of two new partners; Peter Hastings and Steve Clarke.

Peter joins the firm after nine years with another Norwich firm where he was head of its Commercial Litigation Department.   Steve Clarke has been with Rogers and Norton for four years, working with the Conveyancing Team and becomes the firm’s first non-solicitor partner.

Peter brings a wealth of experience to the firm having specialised in Commercial Litigation for nearly 25 years, with a particular expertise in construction, insolvency, Customs and Excise tax claims and business disputes.  He recently acted for a director and shareholder involved in a £20m dispute with a colleague.

He is also experienced in the High Court, County Court, Technology and Construction Court, Companies Court and with VAT and Tax Tribunals.

Peter Hastings said, “When I knew it was time to move on deciding to join Rogers and Norton was easy.  I have never heard a bad word said about them; it’s a very friendly, but highly professional, firm with a strong leadership that is clearly going places.  I am looking forward to playing my part in its continued expansion.”

Steve Clarke started his career with a Norwich law firm as the office junior straight from school.  Over the next 12 years he worked his way up specialising in conveyancing.

This promotion is something he thought would never happen. “Until recent changes in Law Society rules it was impossible for a non-solicitor to be a partner.  Therefore I thought it would be difficult for me to progress so I am just delighted as I have always felt very much at home here.”

These two appointments underline our commitment to grow the firm and move into new areas.  We have long been an admirer of Peter and the excellent work he does.  He brings a new level of expertise into the practice.  There is a lot of work out there we now have the capability of handling extremely well on a local and national level.

We are also delighted Steve Clarke has agreed to become a partner.  Steve is a highly experienced property lawyer and has an approach to work which has already made him a firm favourite with clients.  He is our first non-solicitor partner and demonstrates our willingness to embrace new opportunities to ensure progression of our staff for the benefit of themselves and our clients.

Finally it gives us great pleasure to announce that Tom Lawrence has been promoted to Associate within the Practice.  Catherine Hawdon who has been a senior Solicitor and Associate for a number of years becomes a consultant.  Catherine and Tom are part of our busy Private Client department and deal primarily with Wills, Trusts and Probate matters.

All these appointments are part of the Partners commitment to ensure the firm is able to provide enhanced services and expertise to its clients.

Click below to view profiles.

Peter Hastings  Steve Clarke  Tom Lawrence  Catherine Hawdon

Richard Etheridge

Managing Partner

Tom Lawrence promoted to Associate

R&N are pleased to announce the promotion of Tom Lawrence to the position of Associate within our Private Client Department which takes effect on 1st April 2010.

Tom, who qualified as a solicitor five years ago, joined R&N in 2007 and specialises in wills, probate, trusts, inheritance issues and powers of attorney.

Tom has shown a great commitment both to his clients and the firm since he has been with us and his promotion is richly reserved.

Commenting on his promotion, Tom said “I am delighted, Rogers & Norton is a highly successful and growing firm and it’s great to be part of it.”

Click the following link for an article on Tom's promotion on the Law Society Website - http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/node/54395.

If you would like more information regarding our Private Client department, Tom can be contacted on 01603 675610 or tl@rogers-norton.co.uk.

NEW MANDATORY CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALCOHOL RETAILERS

The Government has recently announced a new code of conduct for alcohol retailers.

The changes and their dates of implementation are set out in the table below. They will apply to all licensed premises although many will in reality be unaffected by them. Of most concern to many people however is the fact that they fail to address what is seen by many as the main problem affecting the licensed trade. Supermarkets will be largely unaffected and will continue to be able to sell alcohol as a ‘loss leader’ at considerably lower prices than the rest of the trade. Not only does this directly affect the profitability of pubs in particular it is seen by many as a major contributor to the problem of binge drinking as it allows drinkers to ‘load up’ on cheap booze before going out.

Mandatory licensing condition	Coming into force
Banning promotions such as “all you can drink for £10” or “women drink free” deals.	6 April 2010
Banning “dentist’s chairs” where alcohol is poured directly into the mouths of customers.	6 April 2010
Ensuring free tap water is available for all customers.	6 April 2010
Making sure all sellers of alcohol have an age-verification policy in place.	1 October 2010
Ensuring small measures of alcoholic drinks are made available to customers.	1 October 2010

Penalties for breaching the code

Premises that breach any of the above conditions will risk a range of sanctions, including:

• Having additional conditions imposed on their licence.
• Losing their licence.
• A maximum £20,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment.

More information

If you require any more information on this or any other licensing matter please contact Bruce Faulkner on 01603 675609 or by email at bwf@rogers-norton.co.uk.

£3000 Raised for Macmillan Nurses!

Macmillan Cancer Support in Norfolk has received a welcome boost thanks to the effort of over 100 golfers who took part in a special event in September last year.

Just over £3,000 was raised at our Annual Charity Golf Day held at Bawburgh as part of Macmillan’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ event. We have supported the Macmillan Coffee Morning for the last 11 years and have raised a substantial sum during this time thanks to the continued support of our clients and contacts for which we are very grateful.

"Rogers & Norton have once again surpassed themselves by organising their golf day to support us,” said Helen Chapman, Macmillan’s Fund Raising Manager. “Raising over £3,000 is fantastic, especially in the current economic climate. It is enough to fund our Mobile Information Centre to visit Norfolk for a day, bringing cancer information to the community or to fund a Macmillan nurse for just under a month. I would like to thank Rogers & Norton for holding the golf day and everyone who took part.”

Macmillan does such a superb job across Norfolk which is why we support their Coffee Morning every year. I am sure that is why people responded most generously on the day as they knew the money was going to such a worthy cause.

If you would like more information about our Golf Day or more details of the Charity please contact me (Graham Knights) on 01603 675618 or gjk@rogers-norton.co.uk.

R&N go to the Panto

We are delighted to let you know that our outing to the theatre on 14th January was a great success and we were able to take 25 children to see the Pantomime at Norwich Theatre Royal. The seats were offered to children through Nelson's Journey, a local Charity dedicated to supporting children in Norfolk who have experienced the death of a close family member or friend.

With the brilliant help of the Theatre Royal staff we were able to make it a really special event as the children were treated to a back stage tour and had their own tea party before enthusiastically enjoying the Panto!

The whole event was a great exercise in how a little effort and some well directed funds can bring so much enjoyment to children in real need of a lift at a very vulnerable time in their lives. We will certainly consider repeating the event next year as a result of this experience. More information about Nelson's Journey can be obtained from http://www.nelsonsjourney.org.uk.

R&N 5-a-side League

Following the completion of another competitive season of 5-A-Side football in the Rogers & Norton Football League the presentations were made today to Larking Gowen and TSI Structures, for winning their respective divisions.

Thank you to all the teams that took part in the leagues last year. If there are any other professional organisations that would like to join the League please feel free to contact Paul Warden on 01603 675628 or pw@rogers-norton.co.uk. Our league is played on a friendly but competitive basis with no referees. The current format allows each team to play a home and an away fixture at a time and day to suit both teams. We look forward to welcoming you into our league soon.


Larking Gowen receiving the Division 1 trophy from our Practice Manager: From Left to Right: Matt Pilgrim, Steve Van Raalte, Shaun Powley.

TSI Structures receiving the Division 2 trophy from our Practice Manager: From Left to Right: Stephen Wright, Matthew Wright, Marty Broadwater, Scott Measures, Gavin Douglass, David Williams.

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