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February 2004

NEWSLETTER NO 1 – FEBRUARY 2004

 FIRST MEETING A SUCCESS

 Sussex SFE finally came to life on November 24th last year when over 30 of us attended at the Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells to hear barrister James Bogle of 3 Kings Bench Walk talk about the Mental Incapacity Bill.  He spoke for over an hour without notes, providing a stimulating and incisive overview of this important piece of proposed legislation.

 If you edit a newsletter you can write your own editorial and there is no need even to resort to spin.  We enjoyed ourselves and it was good to attend a CPD exercise where there was more to the occasion than listening to a lecture and collecting a certificate.  There was plenty of opportunity to chat over tea and coffee beforehand and over drinks afterwards.  Despite some long journeys back home, the staff at the Spa were practically clearing up around and making subtle hints that it was time to leave.

NEXT MEETING ON 11th FEBRUARY

The next meeting is almost upon us with Master of the Court of Protection Denzil Lush making his way to Tunbridge Wells.  It is his first visit to Tunbridge Wells and we hope we can welcome him with a good turnout.  It is not part of his very demanding job to head out of London and talk to solicitors, but it is part of his personal mission to promote a better understanding of the role of the Court of Protection.  The number of persons under the Court’s jurisdiction continues to grow as does the complexity of their affairs.  The Court not only has to administer the affairs of elderly clients but younger people injured in road traffic accidents and clinical negligence cases.  Last year some 350 cases were referred to the Court for approval with a combined value of £500 million.  Master Lush will therefore be talking about the role of the Court in such cases as well as bringing us up to date on the work of the DCA (or ‘decaff’ as it is now known) in progressing the Mental Incapacity Bill.

The meeting starts at 5.30 pm (tea and coffee from 5.00 pm) at the Royal Wells Inn, Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells. If you are planning to attend please let Amy Paxton know in advance if you have not already done so, so that we can confirm numbers attending and prepare CPD certificates. 

If you have not yet joined Sussex SFE or know anyone who would like to join, get in touch.

LITIGATION LAWYERS WELCOME! 

One of the interesting aspects of elderly client work is that it crosses all sorts of territories that the private client lawyer would normally do his best to avoid.   However where any form of litigation is concerned, this area cannot be avoided and there is often a fascinating overlap between the different areas of law with experts in each providing their own essential contribution to the client’s case.  A number of personal injury and litigation lawyers have therefore asked to attend the forthcoming SFE meeting.  Sussex SFE will never turn anyone away who is interested in its work (we need the reassurance!) and if there are any litigators in your firms who wish to attend then please pass on this invitation. There is however a fee for those attending a ‘one-off’ meeting which will be £50 for the first three delegates from each firm and then £25 for each subsequent delegate. 

FINDING THE RIGHT VENUE 

With apologies for the change of venue, Sussex SFE is not bound to any one venue and you may therefore find us moving around from one place to another.  There is no logic to this except that some of us are keen to try out as many suitable locations as possible before we settle on a more regular venue. Future possibilities include the Hotel du Vin and Salomons and further afield, the Boship Hotel near Hailsham or a venue in Eastbourne or Brighton. 

As for Tunbridge Wells, it is going to be impossible to please everyone in such a large area.  Those who go to the effort of organising meetings are perhaps entitled to some influence in the choice of location! Their feelings apart, it is easier for speakers coming from London to travel to Tunbridge Wells. If we have local speakers then we can have meetings in the depths of East Sussex.  If there are any preferred locations or venues then please let us know. The problem with this type of organisation is that we are all happy for others to make the running rather than put forward our own suggestions.

STILL FINDING OUR WAY 

As you can see, we are still finding our way as an organisation but the early signs are all encouraging. Bear with us to start with as it is only through trial (and error) that we achieve the aim of providing a really valuable resource for lawyers.  We are also working out the right charging structure. So far there have been no complaints and our aim remains to provide value for money and not to eat into our already pressured training budgets. We are perhaps selling ourselves too cheaply but we also wish to encourage firms to introduce younger members to SFE including legal executives, paralegals, trainees and others. We will aim to ensure that the average cost of a meeting is between £20 and £50 per head and with refreshments provided and at least an hour’s CPD that must be a bargain.

To keep costs down (or cover the costs of the all important ‘refreshments’) it might be possible for some meetings to be sponsored by IFAs, accountants or other professionals who appreciate what we do. If anyone has any suggestions then please let us know. Remember, SFE aims to refresh the parts that other organisations fail to reach. 

ALL OFFERS WELCOME

Again asking for help, please do get in touch with any ideas, comments, criticisms or offers of help. These will all be greatly appreciated. After we drew the short straw in starting this, it would be very nice to have some offers of help. It has been far more time-consuming than we had expected and for those solicitors from Brighton who say it is too far to travel, we are open to all suggestions!

JOINED UP PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE ADULTS – 5th JULY

Financial and other abuse is an ever-present worry where elderly and vulnerable adults are concerned. There is a tendency for lawyers and other professionals to work in isolation and overlook how we can help each other and therefore help our clients. To bring the different disciplines together, Professor Hilary Brown of the University of Canterbury and Sussex SFE are organizing a short conference at the Salomons Centre on 5th July.  The session will start late in the afternoon and conclude with an evening reception – weather permitting – on the delightful terrace at Salomons. Further details will be posted but please keep the date free. As this is additional to the main program there will be a fee of £50 per delegate for those attending. 

Professor Brown lectures extensively on adult welfare issues and advises the PGO and Department of Health. She is also one of the authors of ‘The role of the Public Guardianship Office in safeguarding vulnerable adults against financial abuse’ which is now available on the PGO website. 

AN INVITATION TO ABUSE 

On the subject of abuse, the PGO now makes the prescribed form Enduring Power of Attorney available on its website. This has led to several protests from SFE members which have all fallen on deaf ears. The right to information in the public domain is more important than the right to legal advice on a document which potentially allows unrestricted access to a person’s estate. What responsibility do we have to the client and the other parties to a transaction when taking instructions from an attorney where we have no knowledge of the donor’s situation?  

DATES FOR THE DIARY 

KEEP IN TOUCH – CONTACT US BELOW OR VISIT THE SFE WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS NEWS, VIEWS AND DETAILS OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ACTIVITIES:

http://www.solicitorsfortheelderly.com

Sussex SFE, 84 High Street, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 8JG

DX 39100 Heathfield - 01435 865211 - AmyPaxton@rixandkay.co.uk

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