Jonathan joined Bermans in 2013 following a stellar career with leading national firm and was the Liverpool Law Society’s “Solicitor of the Year”. He has become a key member of the asset based lending team. He will be a familiar face to many of you assisting lenders with commercial recovery work and he has worked on some highly complex cases, including acting for a US commercial financier in a claim under a Connecticut law guarantee against a UK based guarantor.
As we write, the Supreme Court has begun the three-day hearing in the conjoined appeals in the Close Brothers litigation referred to above, concerning so-called secret commissions paid to brokers by lenders in the motor industry. The key issues to be examined by the Court include:
Keen readers of this newsletter will recall the discussion of Frischmann v Vaxeal Holdings SA [2023] EWHC 2698 (Ch) (Spring, 2024). To recap, Frischmann was a challenge to the assignment of rights under two loan agreements and a guarantee. This involved consideration of the requirements of a valid legal assignment (sometimes called a statutory assignment), i.e., one pursuant to section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (“LPA 1925”). Among other things, s.136 requires the assignment to be in writing and “under the hand of the assignor” – in other words, signed by the assignor.
A business’s terms and conditions can be a life saver if care is taken when drafting them. Of the many points which ought to be considered, addressing the fixed recoverable costs (FRC) regime introduced in the courts recently should be high on the list.
Sophie joined Bermans in March 2025 as a Trainee Solicitor and is currently working in our Employment team in Liverpool.
She obtained a First Class Law Degree from the University of Liverpool before completing her LPC and LLM at the University of Law.
Sophie assists the team in representing SMEs and PLCs on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters. Her responsibilities include advising on disciplinary procedures, drafting employment contracts and Settlement Agreements, and representing clients in Employment Tribunals.
Outside of work, Sophie enjoys reading, travelling and long walks with her dog.
The Government has published its response to its recent consultation on modernising industrial relations. As a result, it plans to make several changes to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) relating to trade unions.
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Trainee Solicitor
