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Hopkins News
Hopkins Solicitors: Professional legal advice with excellent customer service guaranteed
Local law firm Hopkins Solicitors has been awarded Lexcel Accreditation. This is only awarded to Solicitors who meet the high management and customer care standards set by The Law Society.
Martyn Knox, Managing Partner at Hopkins Solicitors says “We are only one of a small number of law firms in Mansfield to have the quality mark. I am proud of the hard work put in by our staff to achieve the high standards set by The Law Society.”
“By successfully gaining Lexcel accreditation, Hopkins Solicitors is proving their commitment to delivering a high quality service”, commented Law Society President, Paul Marsh. “The Law Society’s Lexcel standard is a prestigious achievement for any practice. Clients can feel reassured that they will receive a service which is first class, committed, focused and businesslike.”
Local man impaled
Local Law firm Hopkins Solicitors, are representing Edwinstowe man Terry O’Hare, who is seeking compensation after suffering life threatening injuries whilst at work. Mr O’Hare was working as a trainee wood machinist at Kybotech Limited when a piece of wood pierced his abdomen and bowel in July 2008.
He had to undergo emergency surgery as a result of the accident, during which 18 inches of bowel had to be removed. He now faces more surgery and possibly a lifetime of problems. He has been unable to go back to work as there is the fear that any heavy lifting may cause a hernia in the surgical wound.
Kybotech Limited, who are based in Tuxford and produce and sell garden, home and leisure products, have denied liability. Though they accept that Mr O’Hare was following the correct procedures and was entirely blameless, they are saying that the machine was properly set up and this was just an unforeseeable accident. They have offered him a nominal amount of compensation to go away without any admission of liability.
Ian Corbett from Hopkins Solicitors, who is representing Mr O’Hare says, “I am confident that we will be able to prove that there was a problem with the machine. In this day and age with strict health and safety laws, acts of God type accidents simply do not occur.”
Where there's muck there's...litigation?
People go to court over the funniest things. Daniel Bennett is suing university of Leeds. The university allegedly disposed of items Daniel had collected for research purposes whilst in the Philippines. He says “items” – he actually means five stone seven pounds of lizard excrement! Daniel spent seven years studying lizards and collecting their poop. He was proud to say “I knew more about lizard faeces than I had ever thought possible”.
Daniel alleged that, having been out of the lab for some time, he found another student occupying his desk space. He found most of his personal effects safely stored in boxes lamented “there was no sign of my 35 kilogram bag of lizard sh*t…..its loss left me reeling and altered the course of my life forever.” It would!
Apparently, ever efficient lab technicians had taken the poop away and incinerated it, to make more space in the lab. Some sixteen months after Daniel’s research went up in smoke, the university offered an assurance that such a thing would not happen again, and £500.
Daniel was not satisfied. He argued that it would be immensely difficult to collect similar working sample in the field. For instance, if the lizards encounter humans they never return to that area. If he wins this case, he may get damages to reflect the loss sustained by his destruction of property used in the course of his professional work and possibly any consequential shock.
Indeed, back in 1938 the Court of Appeal recognised that compensation could be awarded to someone who suffered shock from witnessing the loss of something less important than human life. We tried to think of a moral to this story, and the best we could come up with is: “Don’t mess with other people’s sh*t”.
Generally, we at Hopkins Solicitors like to ensure that people keep out of the excrement.
Weird and wacky laws from across the world
A collection of weird and wacky laws from across the world:
In France, it is forbidden to call a pig Napoleon
In the UK, it is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British Monarch upside down
Under the UK’s Tax Avoidance Schemes Regulations 2006, it is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you don’t want him to know, though you don’t have to tell him anything you don’t mind him knowing.
In Vermont, Canada, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.
Source: www.business.timesonline.co.uk
Why recession can be a good time to start your own business
Given all the doom and gloom surrounding the current economic conditions, you may be surprised to hear that during a recession could actually be a good time to start your own business.
Business gurus advise that provided you choose the right type of business, and go about it in the right way, you can still succeed. They point out that if a business can thrive in a recession, it will soar when the times are good again.
As well as businesses offering ‘value’ products performing well in a recession, affordable treats are also popular. An example of such a product is Haagen-Dazs ice cream which was successful in the last recession of the early 1990s.
Other reasons for start-ups to be optimistic during a recession include the fact that commercial rents are lower so you can pick up good property bargains. Also, the job market will be flooded with talented people made redundant by struggling businesses, these people have the drive to work with you to be the next market leader.
Many people may be put off by the idea of launching their own business because of worries that banks have cut back on lending. However, this could actually be a blessing in disguise as it forces business owners to refine their business plans and look at the finance that they actually need since it will be these people who will still be able to get finance.
For advice on setting up your own business, please contact Martyn Knox or Rob Siderfin on 01623 468 468.
Sources: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk
www.bytestart.co.uk
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