A local firm, building a national profile...

newslettertheIssue 10 | 2015

01484 538 421 info@ridleyandhall.co.uk ridleyhall.co.uk

Ridley & Hall is a law firm rooted firmly in West Yorkshire. Acting personally at a local level in the community is really important and is the foundation on which the practice has been built. As an ambitious firm and being good at what we do, recently our partners have been getting a national profile in the media.

Nigel Priestley writes for the Guardian

Nigel Priestley, our Senior Partner, is an

adoptive parent and a solicitor who provides

specialist support for prospective adopters

and to families who have adopted a child. He

is committed to adoption. In November he

attended the Annual General Meeting of

Adoption UK in Birmingham and prior to this

wrote an article on the benefits of kinship

care for the Guardian.

For any legal advice regarding adoption, please contact Nigel on 01484 538421.

Sarah Young on TV

Ridley & Hall Partner, Sarah Young, was interviewed by BBC South in October 2014 as a national expert on cases involving missing people. The Presumption Of Death Act 2013 came into force on 1st October and transformed the legal landscape for families seeking to resolve the affairs of a missing person who is believed to have died.

Sarah has a particular expertise in missing person cases and assisting family members throughout the UK to deal with difficult and often complex issues that arise in such circumstances.

For further information please contact Sarah Young on her direct dial 01484 558838 or her mobile 07860 165850.

Ridley & Hall takes a seat at the House Of Commons

Missing People is the only charity in the UK which specializes in, and is dedicated to, bringing missing children and adults back together with their families. Sarah Young of

Ridley & Hall Solicitors was invited by the

charity to speak at a joint APPG (All Party

Parliamentary Group) round table meeting at

the House of Commons, following the

introduction of the Presumption of Death Act

on 1st October 2014.

Sarah reports, “It was very heartening that

there was a broad consensus from those

representing insurers, banks and the families

of missing people that a system of

guardianship should and could be introduced.

I hope that the government will be persuaded

of the need to introduce primary legislation

to help families at what is a desperately

difficult time in their lives.”

see insideWhat A Year - 2014 The Highlights

FEATURESResolving relationship problems in the new year68 is too lateService, service, service

SOUTH TODAY

Service, Service, Service... (with a smile)At Ridley & Hall we can’t emphasise enough how important customer service is. Working alongside Ruky, our Practice Manager, Cheryl and Laura on reception are a really important part of our team.

Cheryl Ward Cheryl has a law degree and huge experience of working in customer

services. A great combination! She enjoys meeting new people and

hearing their stories and likes to help people whenever she can. As

well as working on reception, she participates in training within the

firm striving to deliver the best service possible for clients. She enjoys

going on holidays, but most of all spending the majority of her time

with her one year old little girl who keeps her very much on her toes.

Laura BeneckeLaura is the newest member of the reception team at Ridley & Hall.

She has worked in a reception setting for over 7 years and enjoys

getting to know clients better in order to deliver a great customer

service by understanding their individual needs. Taking part in events

for charity is a passion - she has done a Skydive to raise money for

children with cancer and is hoping to run the Race for Life this year.

Ruky Mahboob is an Associate member of

the Chartered Institute for Personnel and

Development (CIPD). Coming from an HR and

Management background she has over 10 years’ experience in

developing and managing people.

What was the best piece of advice you've received?

To be realistic as you can’t be everything to everyone.

Who is the person you admire most?

A personal friend who I have known for the last 13 years. A positive

and inspirational person whatever life puts her way, both good and

bad. Always making time for others and a fantastic coach in both life

and career.

What was the best moment of your career?

I think two moments for me as I am greedy! 1) Relocating to Bristol

and all that this came with - it was completely out of my comfort zone

and the first time I had been away from home. Had I not done it I

wouldn’t be where I am now. 2) Putting myself forward for a job

opportunity that was completely different to what I had done before,

getting the job, meeting some fantastic people and having a sense of

achievement and most importantly job satisfaction.

What has changed since you started at Ridley & Hall?

Ridley & Hall have always focused on client care, but we are listening more to clients’ feedback.

If you had to describe Ridley & Hall in one word what would it be?

Supportive.

What's your idea of a perfect day outside work?

Being with family and friends, watching movies and eating out – anything that involves food is always a winner for me!

If you could go back in time where would you go?

If I am honest, I like where I am right now. I feel I am very lucky to have what I have and be where I am both personally and work wise.

Which words or phrases are most over used in business?

Fundamentally.

Three favourite songs...

I will listen to anything, I don’t have a favourite. But if you asked me what my favourite films are it would be ‘The Sound Of Music, Dirty Dancing and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

What do you want for next Xmas!?

The perfect present is my soon to be born little baby girl.

James CookChild Care & Adoption

Here to serve you...

Vicky MeddFamily & Mediation

Sarah YoungInheritance Disputes

Jill WaddingtonWills & Probate

Helen WebsterWills & Probate

Nigel PriestleySenior Partner

Jacqui ScottDebt Advice

Alison MasonProperty

Janet WatsonPersonal Injury

Helen DandridgeInheritance Disputes

Ruky MahboobPractice Manager

QUESTION TIME FOR RUKY

Vicky Medd writes about the benefits of mediation when tough relationship decisions have to be made.

Christmas can often be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Whilst everyone tries to be jolly and have a lovely time, for those whose relationship is struggling, the never ending round of relatives

and forced jollity can bring relationships to breaking point.

For some however, it’s a positive resolution to do something about their situation. The idea of making a New Year’s resolution about a relationship can sometimes be cathartic.

January is a busy month in a divorce solicitor’s

calendar. This year, Monday 5th January was even named “Divorce Day”.

Making an appointment with a solicitor can be very daunting as this is the point at which the separation becomes more real. For a lot of people, it is the culmination of many months and years of trying to make a relationship work, before realising that it is not possible.

When going through a relationship breakdown, there does come a turning point when people start to look forward and not back. Experience indicates that choices are made to start to make some decisions about how their future will be, and not concentrate on what went wrong or who was to blame.

For those people, mediation is a really good way of sorting out arrangements for children or finances. It means that the couple are taking control about the way that they want to separate. They make the decisions. There may be some really difficult decisions to make, but at least they aren’t being imposed on them by a judge, who doesn’t know them or their children.

If you want to get in touch to discuss relationship problems, please ring Vicky Medd, our mediator on 01484 558821

Samantha Hirst writes about the need for employers to protect older employees who face an increased risk of serious accidents at work.

We know as a society we are all living longer. As life expectancy increases it is becoming more common for employees to be working past the age of 65.

With an aging workforce comes the growing concern that older workers are at a real risk of suffering a serious injury at work, especially those in manual labour, working past the age of 65.

In July 2014 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released a report that considered health and safety for older workers. They warned that although older workers are less likely to be involved in an accident at work, when they do have an accident is it likely to be more serious, which may lead to disability or even death. This was after the government changed the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) in October 2013, reducing the amount of major injuries that required a RIDDOR report. Some injuries that no longer require a RIDDOR report include:

• An electrical shock leading to unconsciousness, resuscitation or admittance to hospital.

• A temporary loss of eyesight

• Unconsciousness or acute illness caused by a biological agent, its toxins or infected material.

A campaign called ’68 is too late’ was launched in 2012 which is fighting to remedy this situation. This campaign is backed by many unions, including the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), a construction trade union.

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: “The reduction in the requirement to report major injuries is dangerous. Many of these types of injury are potentially life changing for those involved. If companies no longer have to report them then they are less likely to take preventive measures to stop them re-occurring.”

To help protect older workers from an accident at work, the HSE suggest, amongst other things, that employers should:

• Review their risk assessment if anything significant changes, not just when an employee reaches a certain age.

• Not assume that certain jobs are physically too demanding for older workers

• Design tasks that contain an element of manual handling in such a way that eliminate or minimise risk.

I’m concerned that the government isn’t putting enough pressure on employers with regards to health and safety for older workers who are working in physically demanding jobs, where the risk of an accident occurring is high. The message

to employees is clear, anyone doing manual work shouldn’t be afraid to ask their employers to do proper risk assessments – accident prevention must be a priority for everyone. But if you’ve had a

workplace accident, don’t assume it was your fault or that you shouldn’t ‘rock the boat’ by claiming. If your employer is to blame, their insurer should pay you the compensation to which you are entitled.

Resolving relationship problems in the New Year

A Year To Remember

January March

April

OctoberNovember

May

August

December

July

June

September

Solicitor, Vicky Medd,

spoke to Radio 5 Live

about mediation and

the introduction of the

Child Maintenance

Service to replace

CSA.

Ridley & Hall named in Legal 500 for fourth consecutive

year

Managing Partner, Adam Fletcher, was a volunteer on the course at the Tour de France.

The Dementia Action Alliance was launched with Ridley & Hall playing a pivotal role.

Nigel Priestley went on Look North to talk about a case he won on behalf of the right for grandparents to look after grandchildren, despite

social work opposition.

Helen Jar

vis achiev

ed

the landma

rk of

recovering

over £100,00

0

in back p

ayments f

or

carers whe

re

parental c

are was

not possibl

e

Ridley & Hall was re-accredited for Lexcel and IIP, as

well as the Conveyancing Quality

Scheme

Ruky Mahboob was recruited to be our

new practice manager.

We held a fund

raising Massage day for

Macmillan, our

charity of the

year, at Alexandra House Spa.

A link betw

een

domestic vi

olence

and the Wo

rld

Cup was

explored by

the

Family Tea

m

at Ridley &

Hall.

A battle wa

s won

by the Pub

lic Law

team on be

half of a

grandmothe

r who

won the rig

ht to be

paid a fos

tering

allowance

in the

High Court

.

Ridley & Hall had many achievements during 2014 that contributed to our sustained business growth. We have also been active in the community… here are just some of our highlights.

LOOK NORTH

A message from our Managing PartnerWelcome to 2015 and to our refreshed newsletter.

We closed 2014 on something of a high after a very busy year and a lot of great successes for our clients.

In 2015, we are working on a variety of projects that we hope to talk about in future editions, as well as update you on any news we have.

We continue to invest in systems and staff to provide the high level of client service that you come to

expect from us and are looking forward to another successful year.

As always, please let me have any comments or feedback. We are constantly looking to find new ways of improving our service.

Adam

February

The commercial

team offered ‘pep

talks’ for businesses. I’m concerned

that the government isn’t putting enough pressure

on employers

‘68 is too late’ older workers need to be protected from increased risk of serious injury

To contact Sam Hirst please ring 01484 538421