Prevention of Future Deaths Report Released Following Shane Gilmer Inquest
Our specialist Inquest solicitor, Gemma Vine, has today received a copy of the Prevention of Future Deaths report from the coroner at the Shane Gilmer inquest. The report, which a coroner can send if he believes that during the course of the inquest or investigation that there is a matter of concern that if not…
Ison Harrison Launches Empathy Fast To Support FareShare
All Ison Harrison staff, including, non-Muslim employees, are taking part in a one-day fast marking the end of Ramadan and helping raise awareness of the issue of food poverty. Spearheaded by partner and head of employment law Yunus Lunat, staff from all 17 Yorkshire branches of Ison Harrison are being encouraged to take part in…
5 Minutes With…Iain Cutts, Family Law Solicitor in York
Today we’re chatting to Iain Cutts from our York branch to find out more about him and his role at Ison Harrison. Iain joined our legal team in York in 2020 and previously worked at Ware and Kay Solicitors and Sykes, Lee and Brydson in York. He is a recognised family law expert in York….
UK Campaign To Change The Law Governing Crossbows
Following the recent inquest into the death of Shane Gilmer, who was “unlawfully killed” by a crossbow, our solicitors, together with Shane’s partner, Laura Sugden, are raising awareness of the dangers of crossbows and today we are launching a campaign to encourage new crossbow legislation which ensures that legitimate ownership and use of crossbows is…
Jury Return Conclusion At The Inquest Into The Death Of Shane Adrian Gilmer
Today at the inquest touching the death of Shane Adrian Gilmer, the jury returned a conclusion of ‘unlawful killing’. Professor Paul Marks, HM Senior Coroner said that he would be making a prevention of future deaths report, to raise concerns about the danger of crossbows which are currently unregulated. Campaign. In memory of Shane, his…
Charity Spotlight Interview: INQUEST
Continuing our Yorkshire Law Firm Challenge campaign, we are interviewing each of the 5 charities we are raising money for and this week we are featuring INQUEST. Ison Harrison has proudly supported INQUEST for many years. Here we interview Arnaud Vervoitte (Operations Director) and Lucy McKay (Senior Communications Officer) at INQUEST. Tell us a bit…
Ison Harrison Help Family Look For Answers In Tragic Death of Shane Gilmer
An inquest into the tragic death of a 30-year-old man will open on 12 April 2021 and is listed for five days and Ison Harrison are representing the partner of the victim, who was also injured in the harrowing incident that occurred in 2018. At the time of the incident Shane Gilmer and Laura Sugden,…
Local Leeds Man Recovers Damages Of £50,000 Due To Negligent Shoulder Surgery By Michael Walsh At Spire Hospital
A total of 26 patients have instructed Ison Harrison’s medical negligence solicitors to investigate the care they received by Mr Michael Walsh at Spire Leeds Hospital and Nuffield Health Hospitals Leeds. Here is the case of Mr KL v Spire Healthcare Limited. Mr KL was a very active man with a young family, who trained…
New Employment Specialist Strengthens Corporate Team at Ison Harrison
Press Release – Issued 10th March 2021 Yorkshire law firm Ison Harrison has appointed a new senior solicitor to its corporate law division. Corporate employment expert Ben Palmer will be based at Ison Harrison’s Leeds City Centre office. He joins Ison Harrison’s expanding regional team having previously been head of the employment division at Oakwood…
Ready…Set…Go: The Yorkshire Law Firm Challenge 2021
We are delighted to launch the Yorkshire Law Firm Challenge this month, which will be our charity-focused fitness campaign for 2021. The purpose of the challenge is to get staff active whilst at the same time raising money for 5 charities we have a close relationship with; Barnsley Hospice, Prince of Wales Hospice, Little Hiccups,…
Exit Payments Regulation Reversal Could Lead To Public Sector Windfall
Public sector workers who have received exit payments for leaving their post, may be due for a cash windfall after the Government agreed to revoke a cap on the figure they could receive. The Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020 only came into force last November, and set a cap of £95,000 on…
New Barnsley Legal Clinic Announced
We are pleased to announce that we have a new free legal clinic opening at our Barnsley branch. From 11th February 2021, our legal expert Sally Child will be taking phone calls and queries between 2pm and 4pm every Thursday. Following the success of our other free legal clinics across Yorkshire, we have made the…
Fire & Rehire Tactics On The Rise Due To Pandemic
For most industries, the Coronavirus pandemic has caused serious issues, and this has led to cost-cutting to ensure that companies have the reserves to survive whatever the future holds. This approach has led to a rise in companies using the ‘fire & rehire’ approach to force their employees to change to contracts with fewer benefits….
5 Minutes With…Claire Loftus, Bingley Branch Manager
With our newly opened Bingley office marking the 15th branch of Ison Harrison solicitors across Yorkshire, we would like to introduce you to our Bingley Branch Manager and new member of the Ison Harrison team, Claire Loftus. Claire is an experienced property expert and previously worked at Gordons LLP in Bradford as a conveyancing executive….
Press Release: New Year, New Bingley Branch
Press Release – Issued January 2021 One of the region’s largest law firms is starting the New Year by opening its fifteenth – and newest branch – in Bingley. The move into the market town by Ison Harrison, its first in the Bradford District, further strengthens its foothold within the White Rose County and enhances…
The murky world of Unexplained Wealth Orders- and why legal advice is critical: Part One
Of the tools developed to assist investigators in recovering supposedly ill-gotten gains, the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) are a favourite of the press as they allow salacious reports of cases involving eye-watering sums of money. Here, we look at what UWOs are and what is needed before the authorities can try to secure them. What…
New Bingley Branch: Be One Of Our First 100 Clients & Get Rewarded
To celebrate the opening of our new Bingley branch, we are running a reward scheme for new clients. The first 100 clients of our Bingley branch will be gifted a £20 reward voucher to spend at a local Bingley business. We’ve teamed up with 10 local businesses who are helping to welcome us to the…
Legally Speaking Webinar: How to Grow Your Business Through Talented Staff
We are delighted to announce that the first of our free Legally Speaking webinars will take place on Wednesday 13th January 10.30am – 11.30am. Partnering with some genuinely talented speakers Emma Easton, Anna Masheter and Nick Green and lead by Richard Coulthard, Partner and Head of Corporate at Ison Harrison, this event is aimed at ambitious and growing businesses…
Legislation Changes For 2021 – What Can We Expect?
2021 is expected to be a year of wide-ranging change in legislation terms as the UK manages the end of the Brexit transition period, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the normal programme of legislative change that is still able to be progressed. Given that Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic have created unprecedented…
Latest Stats Show A Significant Rise in Divorce Rates
The number of couples getting divorced in England and Wales surged by almost a fifth in 2019 to the highest level in five years according to figures released by The Office of National Statistics. Data shows that there were 107,599 opposite-sex divorces in 2019, an increase of 18.4% from 90,871 in 2018 – the highest…
Can you get out of a commercial lease early?
The impact of COVID-19 has been significant on almost every business in the UK. For many office based businesses remote working practices mean that they may no longer require the same amount of office space. In some cases therefore, it may no longer be commercially viable to pay expensive rent on office space that is…
A Post-COVID Property Boom?
Property experts are reporting an unexpected post-COVID property boom, as the effects of weeks and months of lockdown have made people re-evaluate their lifestyles and priorities and kick-start a market analysts expected to flounder throughout the rest of 2020. Pre-Brexit uncertainty does not seem to have put people off as a definite seller’s market has…
The Conveyancing Industry Bands Together In The Face Of Unprecedented Challenges
Almost every industry has faced challenges due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, and the conveyancing and home buying markets are no exception. In fact, due to the halt on home sales during the pandemic and the backlog now facing the industry, the home buying market has faced even more challenges than most. The backlog is…
Ilkley based accountants keep clients updated with the latest government support during the pandemic
Julia Forrester from TaxAssist Accountants based in Ilkley spoke to Ian Oliver, manager at our Ilkley branch. From 20th March Julia and her teams shut their offices and worked from home. “We were lucky really because we were able to adapt quickly to lockdown as all of our systems are cloud based and everyone was…
Inquest Opens Into Alfie Gildea Death
An inquest is about to start into the death of four-month-old Alfie Gildea, with his mother Caitlin anxious to see that it sparks several procedural changes relating to the wider circumstances surrounding his tragic death in 2018. Alfie was found by his mother with head injuries in September of 2018 and died two days later….
Understanding Discrimination in the Workplace
If you have Erb’s Palsy, or any disability, you should be comfortable in your workplace. You should be afforded the same opportunities as your colleagues, and adjustments should be made to the work environment to facilitate this. If you suspect you are being discriminated against at work, you should seek advice. In order to assist…
The Impact of Lockdown: Interview With The Erb’s Palsy Group
This year took an unexpected turn with the pandemic and the various restrictions that have followed. The lockdown forced a lot of people to change the way they work and deliver services. For many people this meant fully embracing the digital world. At Ison Harrison the use of video conferencing enabled us to carry out…
Supporting Each Other: Ison Harrison & The Erb’s Palsy Group
As part of Erb’s Palsy Awareness Week 2020, our Head of Clinical Negligence, James Thompson, talks about his longstanding relationship with the Erb’s Palsy Group. How did you get involved with the EPG? I was lucky enough to have been trained by Cathie Delaney who is a specialist clinical negligence solicitor and former Midwife when…
What Is Erb’s Palsy? Infographic
To support Erb’s Palsy Awareness Week 2020, we have created this infographic detailing the key facts about Erb’s Palsy.
How We’re Helping To Make Our Branches Covid-Safe
At Ison Harrison, we understand that it can be a difficult and anxious time for clients who may need to seek legal advice but are apprehensive about visiting us in branch. To help reassure our clients about our visiting one of our Yorkshire branches during Covid-19, we have put together a short video detailing the extra…
Barnsley Clothes Shop Uses Social Media To Keep In Touch With Its Customer Base
Anne Robertson from our Barnsley branch spoke to Claire Swallow, owner of Closet Queen in Barnsley which is a clothes shop offering fashion for ladies of all ages, shapes and sizes. Claire opened her shop in Barnsley two and half years ago and moved to bigger premises in January. “It was bad timing really as…
An Important Ruling on COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance
A high court judgement relating to business interruption insurance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, could prove to be a lifeline to thousands of small businesses in the UK. However, much uncertainty remains following the verdict and there is a possibility of further court proceedings. Eight high profile insurance companies were taken to court…
Martyn Phillips Retires After 50 Years Working as a Property Solicitor
The team at Ison Harrison in Garforth along with managing partner Jonathan Wearing were keen to mark this amazing achievement by inviting Martyn along to their Garforth branch where he spent more than twenty years practicing as a property solicitor. “We would have liked to have invited some of Martyn’s clients to share in this…
Chapel Allerton Café Introduces Drive Through In Response To Covid
Geraldine Levison, branch manager at Ison Harrison’s Chapel Allerton branch spoke to Nicola Newlove who owns Crust and Crumb Café about the challenges they have faced during and post-lockdown. Nicola has certainly been very creative in the service she is providing to locals. She has even introduced a ‘drive through’ service at the rear of…
York’s City Host Scheme Introduced to Provide Help & Advice to Visitors
The York BID (Business Improvement District) has implemented a City Host programme to provide help and advice to people visiting the city and to provide reassurance post-lockdown. The programme is due to end on the 25th September but has been well received by those who have used it. Olivia Williams, Wills and Probate Solicitor at our…
What happens if business owners have a fall out?
No matter what type of business you run it is sometimes unavoidable to become involved in disputes between owners. Disputes may have a detrimental effect on the business, therefore it is important to get these resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible. Disputes between owners arise often because one owner or a group of owners…
Rave Off? The Impact of the New Coronavirus Rules
In 1994, parties across the country were criminalised by the passing of the Criminal Justice Act. The hugely controversial Act was a response to the government’s displeasure at rave culture and all that it entailed, not least the raves themselves (sections 63 to 66 are entitled ‘powers in relation to raves.) Where s.63 applies to…
How To Sell Your Business Quickly Post COVID-19
Sellers should be aware that preparation required for a business sale, post COVID-19, may look different to what has been the norm over recent years. Nonetheless, our corporate team have extensive experience in advising business owners in all aspects of the sale of a business from preparation all the way through to completion. Firstly, you…
Otley Mobiles- Keeping Connected During Lockdown
Sarah Laughey, Head of Family Law based at our Otley Office spoke to Ish from Otley Mobiles to see how Coronavirus has affected his business. Ish closed for 3 months and for the first month downed- tools completely, but it wasn’t long before he was receiving messages to his Facebook page asking if he was…
Charity Shop Sees Massive Increase In Donations
Amy Kwil, Wills and Probate Solicitor at our Huddersfield branch popped down to Kirkwood Hospice’s charity shop on Byram Street in Huddersfield to speak to the team there. Donna Weston, Head of Retail for Kirkwood Hospice’s charity shops said “we have been overwhelmed with donations since we started to re-open our shops. People have used…
To Confiscate or Not to Confiscate? Proceeds of Crime in CV Fraud Cases
An eye catching case recently came before the Court of Appeal. The main facts are interesting enough on their own, but those involved in confiscation cases will find it especially noteworthy. In the wake of a Supreme Court case called Waya, changes were made to the Proceeds of Crime Act. A key amendment was made…
The Orchard Florist Otley in full bloom post-lockdown
Our Licensed Conveyancer Laura Lavelle-Marshall, who is based at our Otley Branch spoke to Alishia Easthope who owns The Orchard Florist, Otley located next door to our Otley branch. Alishia had only been open for 8 weeks when she was faced with shutting shop due to the lockdown. “I cried for two weeks. The timing…
First Draw of the Pudsey Lottery Takes Place at our Pudsey Office
Ison Harrison Pudsey branch was delighted to host the first draw of the Pudsey lottery on Tuesday 4th August. The lottery has been set up to support businesses looking to bounce back following lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – and encourage people to shop local. Pudsey Business Network Forum, which was revamped last year to support businesses…
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020
On 25 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act received royal assent and came into immediate force. The Act introduces temporary changes which the Government has advised seek to ‘relieve the burden on business during the coronavirus outbreak.’ It also introduces permanent reforms to English insolvency and restructuring law. Temporary changes: Easements for Annual…
How To Get The Legal Structure Of Your Property Investment Right
Property is becoming increasingly popular as an accessible and lucrative form of investment. But many people underestimate the importance of the legal side of property investment, and this can lead to your property portfolio not growing as it should, or it becoming a damaging financial burden. This is usually because your investments are not structured…
Settlement Agreement Scheme Will Help With COVID Job Losses
Ison Harrison have launched a ‘same day’ settlement agreement scheme to help employees with the expected surge of redundancies in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Just this week, major companies across the UK have announced up to 12,000 job losses, as redundancies start to become the norm in the run-up to the Government’s furlough…
Sarah Laughey Announced As New Head of Family Law
Press Release – Issued June 2020 We are delighted to announce we have appointed a new head of private family law at Ison Harrison. Sarah Laughey who originally joined the firm’s family law service in February 2017 and promptly headed up the firm’s family law service at the Ilkley, Otley & Guiseley branches, was made…
Reopening Of Schools And Workplaces During The Coronavirus Pandemic – The Employment Law Issues
Following the announcement by the Government that schools would see a gradual phased reopening, Ison Harrison has had a steady flow of enquiries from teachers querying their rights. Many are naturally concerned at feeling pressured to return to work whilst there is still a very real risk of catching Covid-19. This feature discusses the rights…
Divorcing in a Pandemic
I handle client divorce cases all day every day. It is my daily diet. There is the divorce itself, the dissolution, the concluding of a marriage. Some have been years in the making, others represent a short lived union, either way they have arrived in the same place. Alongside the divorce come other disputes: What…
Online & “Quickie” Divorces – what they don’t tell you
We see increasing numbers of people applying for divorces online – but please be aware that they’re not without their faults. For those who petitioned online, they face at least a six month wait before they can say they are no longer married – and that’s before the family money is divided. Many of these…