Clarke Willmott

To all our clients, colleagues, and peers, we wish you all a joy-filled festive break 🎅 🎄 Read our Christmas message here: https://bit.ly/3OLc3Ad During the holidays, we will be closed from 1:00pm on Tuesday 24 December. We will be open 9:00am – 5:30pm on Monday 30 December and Tuesday 31 December, with usual opening from 9:00am on Thursday 2 January 2025. Merry Christmas!

While January is often referred to as “Divorce Day” due to the surge in divorce enquiries after the holidays, it’s worth noting that there’s no single day when this happens. Instead, it reflects a pattern driven by the New Year’s resolve to make life changes. Chris Longbottom from our Family Law team shares valuable insights on this topic, shedding light on the realities of divorce trends. Unravel the myths and gain a deeper understanding by reading the full article here: https://bit.ly/4goEekB #DivorceDay #FamilyLaw

As a firm, we’re committed to nurturing and investing in early talent. We’re proud to be working with organisations like The Social Mobility Foundation and to be one of the founding firms of University of the West of England 'UWE Futures' (recently shortlisted at the Bristol Law Society Awards for the Community Impact Award!) as well as local schools and colleges to ensure careers in the legal sector are open to all and we’re shining a light on the various pathways into the industry. 2024 has been a fantastic year for our Early Careers team. We have taken part in several initiatives, workshops, and events over the past 12 months. Just some of the highlights from this year include: ✅ The return of our Summer Vacation Scheme – we hosted our largest Vacation Scheme to date, welcoming 22 students across 5 of our offices. ✅ Collective mentoring programme with Aston University – we launched a new collective mentoring programme providing employability skills and careers insights to passionate students. ✅ UWE Futures – at the start of the year, we took part in the pilot Programme UWE Futures, supporting final year students on their career journey into the legal sector. We’re gearing up to welcome three students at the end of January 2025. ✅ We have worked with more schools, colleges and Universities – supporting them with their employability skills and legal insights. Take a look back at some of the initiatives, events and schemes we’ve been part of over the past 12 months in the images below and find out more about early careers at Clarke Willmott here: https://bit.ly/3ZquE9u Meanwhile – watch this space for further updates in 2025! #CWInspire #CWCareers

Partner in our commercial litigation team Peter Brewer discusses a recent case which demonstrates the courts discretion to order remedies (both final and interim) in an unfair prejudice petition. Peter explains the intricacies of the case and how our commercial litigation team can help if you are being unfairly prejudiced as a result of the actions of other shareholders. Read more here: https://bit.ly/41GHbs1 #UnfairPrejudicePetition #CommercialLitigation

We were delighted to advise Langdowns DFK on its recent merger with Shaw Gibbs. The transaction was led by corporate partner in our Southampton office Kelvin Balmont alongside Bryony Warren, Krishnan Pillay Georgia Watson, Sasha Jewhurst and Louise Rogers. The team received fantastic feedback from the client, who said: “We were really pleased with the excellent service we received from Kelvin and the Clarke Willmott team. Having never sold a company before we were reliant on their experience and expertise. They were responsive, hard-working, and proactive in finding solutions and were also enjoyable to work with.” Read more about it here: https://bit.ly/41GnAYZ #CWSouthampton #CorporateMergers

Partner in our commercial property team Sarah Manley was delighted to advise on the letting of a new Sketchers footwear store in Turo. The store which has opened in time for the busy Christmas shopping season underwent a refurbishment in the summer and has created 18 new jobs in the local area. Read more about the transaction here: https://bit.ly/3P1mMqb #CWRetailLeisure

The latest NHS data for England confirms that 1 in 4 babies in England are now born by caesarean section. Senior associate Vanessa Harris explains some of the reasons for this rise and discusses whether medical professionals see a caesarean section as a way to reduce potential birth negligence claims. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3VLaBl7 Vanessa specialises in medical negligence cases that occur during birth for both mothers and babies and is ranked as a recommended lawyer in the legal 500 directory and as a top ranked lawyer in Chambers and Partners. Learn more about Vanessa’s expertise here: https://bit.ly/4ghn3Bf #BirthInjury #Medical Negligence

The festive season is the perfect backdrop for a romantic engagement. While you may not have thought about it, discussing a post or prenuptial agreement can be wise to safeguard your future together. Partner Chris Longbottom from our family law team explains why it’s worth considering a pre or post nuptial agreement before taking the leap and popping the question this Christmas. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3D776yZ #FestiveRoundUp #FamilyLaw #FestiveEngagement

Our Debt Recovery team had a fantastic day volunteering for local charity The Christmas Sparkle Project earlier this week. The team collected gift donations from our #Taunton office and took them to the charity where they then spent two hours wrapping them. The Christmas Sparkle project aim to give a Christmas gift to every child living in difficult circumstances in the Taunton and Wellington community. Thank you to the Debt Recovery team for taking part in their CW Volunteering Day. #ChristmasMagic #CWTaunton #CWInspire

Solicitor Alana Holden from our property litigation team discusses the first of two Consultation Papers considering how Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 might be reformed and updated. The papers from The Law Commission focusses on whether business tenants should have security tenure and if so, how should it operate. Alana discusses the papers in more detail and also explains what tenancies should be covered by the 1954 Act and the next steps. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3OWGpzL #LandlordTenantAct