Welcome to the September edition of our newsletter, keeping you up to date with all the latest legal news.
Workers to Launch Legal Action over Toilet Break Pay Deductions
A number of factory staff who are required to clock in and out when visiting the toilet are set to take their employers to an employment tribunal over the deductions that are made to their pay as a result. They claim that these deductions take their earnings below the National Minimum Wage and employees such as those who are pregnant or who suffer from conditions that require regular toilet breaks are being discriminated against. This is a very unusual story but we will keep you up to speed with developments.
HMRC Suffers Defeat over Tax Deduction on Landlord Repairs
Landlords won an important victory over HM Revenue & Customs when the organisation was forced to back down over their challenge of tax deductions for repairs that were part of a refurbishment project. The ruling confirmed a landlord's right to offset the cost of legitimate repairs against rental income, even when they are part of a major refurbishment or rebuilding project. Victory for David over Goliath is rare but when it happens it has big consequences. Landlords are urged to learn more about this case by speaking to one of our professional legal experts. Worry over Wills?
A recent TV documentary that focused on the issue of will writers has left many people confused and dubious as to the legitimacy of their will. The Panorama programme “Wills - The final RIP off?” highlighted how some unscrupulous – and unregulated – will writers are acting in anyone but the clients’ best interests. The difference between a will writer and a solicitor is important to understand. Our Private Client Lawyers can help you if you have any queries about your will or wish to make one. Don’t take chances in protecting your family’s future.
Neves News
Congratulations to Kiera Brennan who qualified as a solicitor on Wednesday 1st September following 7 years of training which included obtaining a law degree, diploma in legal practice and finally admittance as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Kiera joined Neves on 3rd March 2008 as a paralegal working in our residential property department. Kiera brought with her a wealth of knowledge of both commercial and residential property matters, having previously worked at a local solicitors as a fee earner in their property department. Kiera commenced her training contract in September 2008 initially continuing to work in the Residential Property department at our Milton Keynes office. She then moved to our Litigation department where she remained for 7 months before moving to the Commercial department for 3 months and finished the last 3 months of her training contract in our Wills and Probate department. This rotation through departments during the training contract enables the trainee to develop knowledge and skills in a variety of subject areas, before finally qualifying and deciding upon a particular area (or areas) of the law in which to specialise. Now that she has qualified, Kiera is going to help with the expansion of our Northampton office whilst continuing to deal with both commercial and residential property matters from Milton Keynes.
Congratulations also to Jennifer Duckett and Joanne Norris who have both now started their two year training contracts to (hopefully!) qualify as Solicitors in 2012.
As many of her clients will know, this time last year Jane Joseph (a solicitor based at our Harpenden office) was unable to walk due to an infection that she had contracted in her spine. She has overcome this illness with her usual determined attitude and now sets her sights on completing yet another triathlon, hoping to raise money for charities that she supports. To read more about Jane's triathlon attempt and how you can sponsor her please read her article on our website. | 
An easement (such as a right of way) is a right over someone else’s land. A right of easement, once granted, is quite often forgotten about. However, a recent case involving two neighbours shows how important it is to make sure that an easement does not lapse through disuse. If an easement is not enforced, then when a property is sold it will be hard for the new occupier to rely on a right that the previous occupier had failed to enforce. Do not forget about easement judgements as it could have consequences for you or future tenants. Read this story in full on our website.
As the saying goes, always read the small print. Unfortunately for one company, they did not read the small print in their contract with their financial advisers, and as a result were forced to pay their entire success fee to their previous financial advisers who had been shown the door before the deal was completed. There was a clause included in the financial adviser’s contract which stated that they would be due the entire fee even if the letter of engagement was terminated before completion. Before taking drastic action such as terminating a contract, ask one of our experts for advice on any element of contract law to prevent any such event happening to you. More can be found on our website. 
