Brentwood School Annual Careers Convention

On 7 March 2012, Anne Elliss, Warren Hawkings, Shereen Elkins and Rachel Brown attended the Brentwood School Annual Careers Convention to advise 4th, 5th and 6th form pupils and their parents on the legal profession and careers in it.

The School invited advisers from a wide range of professions and universities, many of which were "Old Brentwoods", to provide guidance to pupils on future careers and university choices.

With over 90 advisers attending from around the country the Annual Careers Convention was very well received and we received many interesting questions.

We were delighted to have been invited to participate in the Convention and were encouraged by the enthusiasm of the next generation of would be lawyers.

Sabrina Khan

We are please to announce that Sabrina Khan completed her training contract at Wortley Byers LLP and qualified as a solicitor on 1 March 2012. Sabrina has started her new role in the firm's Property Department assisting primarily with all aspects of commercial property work, including landlord and tenant matters and the sale and purchase of land.

5-A-Side Football

The Wortley Byers 5-a-side football team has continued in action in 2012 with a 3-match mini tournament in Basildon in January against Price Bailey, BDO and Lloyds TSB and in February a match against Kingston Smith in Hainault. In Basildon, youthful stamina was their undoing when they came a valiant 4th but it was a sustained effort in the face of adversity. Our team of regular players David Chapman, Aaron Cane, John Southan and Paul Flower of Wortley Byers and David Gifford of Oakwood Asset Management (joined on the last two occasions by players from Hilbery Chaplin and others) are certainly improving in technique and using subs more efficiently to keep the action at a rapid pace for the hour long matches. They were blessed with the more balmy weather of Spring for their second match and are now in training for an imminent match against Rickard Keen in Southend.

Charity Bowl

On Tuesday 13 March 2012 Rachel Brown, John Southan and Anne Ellis took part in the Handelsbanken Charity Bowl in aid of Farleigh Hospice and The J's Hospice. The team were cheered on by Jane Winfield. The event was a great success and raised £1750 for the two charities.

Sleeping Beauty

On 15 November, Managing Partner, David Chapman, Head of Property, Jane Winfield and Head of Training, Anne Elliss entertained clients at the Royal Ballet's widely acclaimed performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The party dined in a delightful private dining room converted from former dressing rooms and, after a glass or two of champagne, were privileged to witness a demonstration of développés by David Chapman who will be taking his first ballet examination next year.


All those present thoroughly enjoyed the performance by the Royal Ballet principals Marianela Nuñez and her real-life fiancé Thiago Soares (pictured above) supported by the Company and were left eager to visit the Royal Opera House again.

Children in Need 2011

The 'Great Wortley Byers Bake-Off' was held on 19 November in aid of Children in Need. The event was a great success with much baking and eating taking place in equal measure! There were lots of tasty treats on offer for all those who made a donation and an enjoyable time was had by all. Most importantly we raised £142.30 for Children In Need!

First Prize for the 'bake-off' went to Linda Plant (below, left) for her Chocolate Bombe Surprise, Ros Plumb (below, right, with a selection of cakes) came second with her Big Cake and third prize was awarded to John Southan for his Rum Cookies!

Wine Tasting

The Litigation team hosted a wine tasting evening on 1 December presented by Neil Hornsby of Drinks of France. The evening was well attended by professionals from Aspect Plus, Bird Luckin, CBHC Chartered Accountants, Keith Ashton, Lambert Smith Hampton, MacIntyre Hudson, Moulton Johnson, Rodliffe Accounting, Savills and Walkers Estates.

Guests enjoyed 8 fine wines from different regions in France of both the white and red variety and were accompanied by carefully chosen cheeses, pates and a range of delicious desserts. As the wine flowed freely so did the conversation and a merry evening was had by all. The event was held to be both interesting and informative and by the end of the evening some guests had even found their new favourite wine!

Help for Heroes

As one of the sponsors of the Help for Heroes Cookbook we are delighted to report that 4,000 books have now been sold in eight months. Over £30,000 has been raised through the sale of the book with all the proceeds going entirely to the charity.

The book was masterminded and conceived by Gill Mass in her captaincy year at Thorndon Park Golf Club. It is entirely through her efforts that such a marvellous sum has been achieved.

The book has been sold all over the South East and has been featured in newspaper articles and many magazines. The Royal Princes both have a copy!! (Not, unfortunately, bought at our offices).

Wortley Byers Conveyancing Quality Recognised

At the time of going to press, Wortley Byers is the only firm of solicitors in Brentwood to be accredited by the Law Society under its "Conveyancing Quality Scheme". CQS identifies firms which follow conveyancing protocols with efficient and prudent procedures, showing integrity, good practice management standards and supervision.

The firm was put through a rigorous assessment of its conveyancing and management and CQS accreditation now supplements Lexcel accreditation and membership of the Legal 500.

Partner, Anne Elliss says: "We are delighted to have achieved this recognition. CQS accreditation is an official acknowledgement that we follow best practice in residential conveyancing. It assures those instructing us or thinking of instructing us that we will progress their transactions efficiently and keep them fully informed from beginning to end."

For further information please contact Anne Elliss aelliss@wortleybyers.co.uk or 01277 268368.

Code of Conduct 2011

From 6 October 2011 solicitors will be governed by a new Code of Conduct which sweeps away the extensive, detailed and complex rules which have governed us for many years. Solicitors will now be bound by ten fundamental principles, six of which are well established rules of integrity and independence. Four new principles relate to the conduct of business and its governance.

The Solicitors' Regulation Authority which authorises and regulates the conduct of solicitors is moving to "outcomes focused regulation". Compliance with the ten fundamental principles will be evidenced by the achievement of numerous outcomes in our dealings with clients, the courts and others and within the business itself.

Managing Partner, David Chapman has conducted a series of seminars with all staff to bring the new Code to their attention. David comments "This is an important change in the way law firms are regulated and I am delighted that our people, systems and procedures have a track record of meeting the highest professional standards and will continue to do so under the new Code of Conduct".

Thorndon Stride 2011

We are delighted to announce that we will be the overall sponsor of this year’s Thorndon Stride event in aid of Cancer Research UK and their work into researching and beating breast cancer.

The event takes place on Sunday, 9 October and involves an 8km walk around Thorndon Country Park starting at 11am (registration for walkers an hour earlier).

The Thorndon Stride is a great way to get together and spend time with your friends. By taking part in the walk, you can help us join the fight for women’s survival and raise much needed funds for our vital research into breast cancer. Walkers come from all over the Brentwood area and beyond to stroll through the beautiful Essex countryside at Thorndon.

We would be delighted if you could join us in supporting this worthy charity by joining us on the route and taking in the beautiful Essex woodland. Our Managing Partner, David Chapman, will be leading the firm’s contingent of partners and staff on the day. Friends and family are also welcome to attend.

If you would like to register in advance (it’s cheaper than on the day!) and enter yourself or even a team then all you need do is visit: www.cancerresearchuk.org/breastcancer/events/ThorndonStride/

We hope you can be there to support this worthy event.

Wortley Byers Netball Team

Wortley Byers challenged its client Océ (UK) Limited to a game of netball on 12 May 2011. The game took place at Shenfield High School. After a landslide defeat the team are keen to organise another game. If your organisation would like to challenge the firm to a game of netball please contact Rachel Brown on 01277 268365 or by email on rbrown@wortleybyers.co.uk.

SME Event – 15 June 2011

Small to medium business enterprises are at the heart of our economy and Wortley Byers is delighted to have co-sponsored an event for SMEs at the Holiday Inn, Basildon on 15 June.

Addressing well over a hundred business representatives, Wendy Beach, Partner and head of employment at Wortley Byers, outlined the far reaching changes made in employment law recently and gave her insights on the extensive challenges to come and how to prepare for them.

Wendy was joined on the platform by speakers from our co-sponsors Royal Bank of Scotland and Richard Keen LLP accountants as well as Eleanor Chapman from the Instant Group, an SME office location company based in London which ranks consistently in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies.

The event was concluded with a presentation by Royston Guest a superb motivational speaker who inspired all of us to reflect on the client/customer experience and how critical that experience is to the success of any business.

Aaron Cane

Wortley Byers has appointed Aaron Cane as a Partner.

Aaron qualified as a solicitor in 2005 and joined Wortley Byers the following year. He was made an Associate of the firm in January 2009. Aaron specialises in all areas of commercial property work ranging from development projects, investment acquisitions and disposals and landlord and tenant work. He also heads the Licensing Unit.

Commenting on the appointment Managing Partner David Chapman said "We all congratulate Aaron. He is a real asset to the firm and a valuable addition to the partnership. We wish Aaron the very best for his future with us."