Escalate, the ground-breaking commercial dispute resolution process, has been named ‘Best Collaboration Initiative’ in The Lawyer Awards 2018.
This is the second national award that Escalate has won in the past 12 months, having previously triumphed in the ‘Innovation of the Year’ category at the British Accountancy Awards last autumn. The process was also highly commended at the recent Legal Week Innovation Awards.
Escalate helps SMEs to achieve a prompt settlement to a wide range of commercial disputes, with fixed fees payable only on a successful outcome and no upfront costs.
All shareholders in UK companies have certain rights in relation to their shares and in relation to the company. Whilst the precise rights that a shareholder enjoys will vary depending on the size of their shareholding (the larger the shareholding, the greater the number or rights enjoyed by the shareholder), certain basic rights and protections apply regardless of the number of shares held.
Last July we wrote this article about three recent cases of identity fraud in property sales. In each case a fraudster impersonated the vendor and then absconded with the proceeds paid by the would-be purchasers, leaving the latter to try and sue either their solicitors or the ones acting for the fraudster.
If you are a director of a limited company in the UK, then you owe a wide range of duties to that company. Breaches of duty can give rise to personal liability and, in some cases, criminal sanctions so a proper understanding of your duties and responsibilities is essential.
Often, a director will be ignorant of his or her responsibilities (or some of them). Sometimes, a director will also be a shareholder and/or employee of the company and this can lead to confusion as to how the director is to exercise his or her powers. Both of these situations can lead to serious problems if they result in breaches of the director’s duties, whether those breaches are deliberate or not.
Gareth joined Bermans in 2018, following qualification as a commercial litigation lawyer in the City and previous to that a successful career as a Premiership and international footballer.
He has accrued a wealth of experience in a wide range of white-collar crime matters, including SFO investigations and corporate compliance. The fusion of this specialist grounding and Gareth’s contact base has meant that he has developed niche expertise in complex high value tax fraud litigation and associated negligence actions as well as claims for restitution from mis-sold financial products.
He has also developed significant expertise in sports law, building on his extensive practical experience in the sporting industry.
He has been involved in numerous transfers and disputes concerning current and former players, including a leading Court of Arbitration for Sport case which resulted in changes being made to the rules. In addition, he is a member of the Football Association’s Judicial Panel and sits on both the Chairman’s Panel and the Football Panel. He is a member of Sports Resolutions’ independent Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators.
For the first time in contested proceedings since the law came into force in 2011, a commercial organisation has been convicted of failing to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010.
Escalate, Bermans ground-breaking commercial dispute resolution process for SMEs, has been named ‘Innovation of the Year’ at this year’s British Accountancy Awards.
Adam graduated from the University of Huddersfield in July, having completed the Masters of Law and Practice, having received a First Class Law degree and a Distinction in his LPC.
Adam is currently working in Bermans Insolvency and Litigation departments, working on the resolution of commercial disputes and cases involving breach of contract.
Prior to working at Bermans, Adam worked in conveyancing at a Stockport based law firm.
In his final year at University, Adam was a student advisor, at the Huddersfield Legal Advice Clinic, giving members of the public pro-bono advice for cases they may not have been able to pursue.
During the Winter Adam goes snowboarding in the Czech Republic, as he is half Czech and his family have a cabin in the mountains to the north where there’s a lot of Winter sports activity.
Matthew is currently a first year Trainee Solicitor based in Liverpool, he joined Bermans in September 2017, and is currently assisting in the ABL and commercial litigation departments.
Matthew studied Law at the University of Liverpool before completing the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice part-time at the University of Law, Manchester.
He has gained a vast amount of experience and knowledge in both Commercial Litigation and Insolvency, through working as a Paralegal in London and Manchester before commencing his Training Contract.
Matthew is highly motivated by delivering excellent client advice and service.
1 October 1987, a typical grey autumn day in Manchester, a far cry from the hurricane-strength winds that buffeted Britain exactly 2 weeks later. But a big day for me; after 6 years of study and training, I was finally admitted as a solicitor. I had a moderately exciting morning serving a search order on a defendant although the location (a block of multi-storey flats) was about as unglamorous as it could get!
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