2022 Archives – Page 2 of 3 – Anthony Collins Solicitors

Advocating for equal opportunities for everyone

Social mobility is at the core of our mission and values here at Anthony Collins Solicitors.

The fight to overcome socio-economic inequality is tougher than ever. Many of the factors influencing social mobility have been exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic.

At Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), we focus on building a culture that supports everyone, whatever their background. We recognise that entering work can be difficult for people with no connections, no paid internship opportunities and no mentors.

What does this look like?

Tackling this issue starts with being an accredited Living Wage employer, hiring trainees from non-red-brick universities and recruiting with wide socio-economic reach. For employees, we support their growth, encourage everyone to have a live career plan to map their progression and report pay gaps.

It’s not just about our employees though. To make a change, we know we need to help the next generation too. Our team give up their own time to mentor students from disadvantaged backgrounds through A-level, degree and LPC, as well as hosting discussions with other organisations.

What have we achieved in 2021?

We know it can be easy to talk about why social mobility is important, but it can be much harder to translate that into practical steps to deliver change.

In March 2021, we hosted a roundtable discussion to encourage business leaders to share best practice. The event was attended by Kate Green MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, as well as a range of senior colleagues from housing associations, the co-op movement, the care sector, and PwC and Timpson.

In November 2021, we launched The Social Mobility Toolkit: A handbook for UK businesses. The aim of this toolkit is to support employers in addressing the social mobility challenge. Divided into three broad sections, it covers all stages of the employment journey, including helpful wording and case studies to help employers formulate a new strategy and put it into practice.

Raising awareness and making changes to tackle social mobility is vital for creating a more equal society and more diverse workforces.

It’s up to all of us to take action that gives everyone access to employment on merit and successful careers without limits. That’s why, in 2022, we plan to launch a regular forum for employers and other organisations to discuss the latest research and collaborate on their strategies.

Helping care providers navigate new regulations

With vaccines becoming mandatory for care home workers, we’ve created toolkits for employers.

As the vaccine roll-out began, care providers approached us about whether they could make them mandatory for new staff. The Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) team spoke at events, provided legal advice and produced a toolkit for employers.

When the UK Government announced in July that everyone working in care homes would need to be vaccinated by November, we were already experts in the area and ready to help providers navigate the new regulations.

Facing staffing challenges

Many employees in the sector were against vaccinations. However, because of the length of time they had worked for their employers, a high number were entitled to 12 weeks’ notice. So, although the Government had set out a 16-week grace period, employers were left with a very limited window of time to implement the regulations.

With 14% of roles in the sector vacant, care homes were increasingly worried about their staffing. There were also a whole host of complexities around who would be clinically exempt. The Government promised to release guidance around this, but it never happened.

A toolkit for care providers

Following the announcement, we supported providers to understand and implement the new regulations. This included our pro-bono work with umbrella bodies National Care Forum and Care England. We spoke at events, reaching a huge number of providers in the sector.

When the new regulations came into force, we produced another toolkit that explained all the detail, included template letters and set out how they could create a vaccination policy.

Extending the regulations

In late November, the Government announced they would be extending the mandatory vaccination policy to cover all CQC regulated settings, which includes home care and supported living. This could have impacted over 100,000 unvaccinated care workers.

We continued to provide guidance and produced another toolkit to prepare providers for the new regulations coming into force in April, as well as giving urgent advice about what to do when the Government made a U-turn and announced plans to withdraw the regulations.

“At Anthony Collins Solicitors, we have a deep understanding of this sector. We can talk about developments as they happen and give unique insight on a timely basis. We helped the National Care Forum by speaking regularly at their forums and understanding people’s views so they could respond to Government consultation on both sets of regulations.”
Matthew Wort, partner, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Creating a better business for people and planet

From closing pay gaps to tackling the climate crisis, we’re starting conversations and taking action.

Here at Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), we believe building a better business starts with better awareness of issues in today’s world, more transparency around pay gaps and concrete plans to improve.

Many businesses say they promote equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), but in our case, these values are central to the way we do business. Fulfilling our commitment to work with a social purpose depends on having a community that fully embrace every aspect of ED&I.

Celebrating diversity

Even when we couldn’t be together due to Covid-19, we continued to celebrate the diversity of our teams in different ways, from marking religious occasions to supporting Pride Month and International Women’s Day together. The pandemic also meant it has been more important than ever to find ways to adapt to our employees’ needs and protect their mental wellbeing.

Our recent success in winning Law Firm of the Year (Independents) at The Lawyer Awards 2021 is partly due to our truly diverse and inclusive culture. In our latest internal engagement survey, we were delighted to see diversity scored as the highest of all 60 categories, with 94% agreeing that they feel they are treated fairly, regardless of position or any protected characteristics.

Advocates for equality

We have delivered on last year’s commitment to sign the Women in Law pledge. Now we’re making good progress with our ongoing targets to improve gender diversity across the firm, particularly at senior and leadership levels.

At the time of writing, 74% of our fee earners are women. We have also appointed two women onto our non-lawyer senior management team where no female representation previously existed.

Our climate pledge

Being a better business isn’t just about our people. It’s also about looking after our planet for everyone’s benefit. We’re committed to doing everything we can to make sure our clients, our firm and our people are thinking and behaving as sustainably as possible.

To show our commitment to change, we’re taking action by creating our own climate pledge. Our journey to net-zero has officially begun.

“It’s not enough that we advise our clients on delivering their own green agenda and sustainability pledges. As a business ourselves, we need to lead by example and that’s why we’ve made the pledge to be a net carbon zero business by 2030, which is a full 20 years ahead of the mandated 2050 deadline for the UK.”
Peter Hubbard, senior partner, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Our commitments for 2022-2023

1. Sign the Race Fairness Commitment – we will join other law firms making a commitment to racial equality by ensuring fairness at work for people of all ethnic backgrounds.

2. Review our internal and external recruitment processes – we will make our processes fair to all (e.g. using blind CVs) and advertise our posts widely. This will include specifically working with agencies that attract people from ethnic minorities and diverse backgrounds. We will also make sure this continues to apply to our trainee programme intake.

3. Increase targeted mentoring and coaching – we will support women and employees from ethnic minorities with strong career trajectories. We will help them grow into leadership positions by identifying talent pipelines and providing strong role models.

4. Women in Law pledge – now we are accredited, we will fulfil our action plan. This will involve reviewing our promotions policy to support our under-represented employee groups, as well as our flexible working offer. We will also deliver our ambitious line management development programme.

Supporting colleagues during the pandemic

From laptops to mental health first aiders, we went the extra mile to help the team.

At Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), our purpose is ‘to improve lives, communities, and society’. This is not only reflected in the clients we work with and the sectors we support but also in how we serve our own people.

When the pandemic hit, everyone experienced fear, uncertainty, and a host of other emotions. Our clients relied on us for legal advice as they tried to navigate the unknown. To do this effectively, our people also needed emotional and practical support.

The ACS central management team explored the best ways to help everyone, from individuals facing mental health issues as a result of lockdown to employees who needed the equipment to safely and effectively carry out their role at home.

Emotional support

When the ACS team realised the need for an informal way to reach out to others, ‘Anthony’s’ was born. To combat the feelings of being alone at home during lockdown, this virtual social club ran after work hours. Anyone at the firm was encouraged to join for a friendly chat, providing a connection between old and new colleagues. It offered more than just conversation with breakout rooms where there were activities such as virtual jigsaws.

Within the firm, we also have seven mental health first-aiders. At the height of the pandemic, they used their training to spot the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues, provide support, and guide individuals to seek professional support when they felt it was needed.

“Taking the course was beneficial to my own mental health and I am happy to use the training to help where it is needed with my colleagues.”
ACS mental health first aider

Practical support

Working at home has meant changing the way we work at ACS. To address this shift, we introduced our Hybrid Working Policy which was designed to help managers maintain a supportive and collaborative culture while teams work more remotely. This was created with the input of employee representatives and line managers, giving the ACS community the opportunity to raise suggestions, questions and concerns.

When remote working was enforced, the demand for IT equipment rocketed, but we distributed laptops to all our people as soon as practically possible. This meant everyone at ACS could work flexibly and comfortably either at home or the ACS offices, without being fixed to one place during working hours or using older and slower IT systems.

What’s next?

As the pandemic continues and hybrid working has become the norm, it’s good to know that our purpose supported us through an extremely difficult time and will be there for us in the future.

“We are definitely nowhere near where we started 23 months ago. We are a more confident, capable, social purpose law firm that is committed to serving our clients and wider society at such a challenging time. We have all played a part in our success during the pandemic; being committed and supportive to our colleagues has allowed us to continue giving wise counsel to our clients who turn to us as an essential partner for social change.”
Peter Hubbard, senior partner, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Bringing a brother and sister closer together

The local authority wanted to keep him in Croydon, but the family in Richmond disagreed.

Amar* has a long list of medical complications, including a severe learning disability, medication-controlled epilepsy and blindness. On top of this, he can’t walk without help and he’s not able to communicate verbally. He needs support in every aspect of life.

However, the care home he was living in served notice on him. Amar’s sister, Jayanti*, believed that the alternative suggested by the local authority wouldn’t meet her brother’s complex needs. She contacted Rebekah Sambrooks at Anthony Collins Solicitors to help get a court order so Amar could move closer to her and be more involved in family life.

Navigating tricky relationships

The local authority wasn’t the only one trying to keep Amar in Croydon. The official solicitor, who represented Amar, said he should stay in the town. And Jayanti and Amar’s sister, who also lived in Croydon, didn’t want him to move either. Their parents, who had lived in Croydon, had both died, so the situation became a bit of a battle between the two sisters.

Jayanti’s sister produced evidence about the family history and Jayanti’s character. Jayanti wanted to respond to this but we advised her to focus on the facts and keep Amar at the centre of the proceedings. Jayanti had been very involved in Amar’s life and had lots of knowledge about his medical needs. She was much likelier to visit Amar regularly if he moved as, despite living further away, she already visited twice a week (her sister in Croydon visited him once a fortnight). Jayanti had found an alternative care home in Richmond which she believed was better than the one the local authority was recommending. And finally, Amar’s life would be enriched by being more involved in activities with Jayanti’s family.

Fortunately, the judge agreed with our arguments.

A rare win against the official solicitor

We believed we had a solid case for moving Amar and, as specialists in Court of Protection welfare matters, we felt confident we could present a strong argument. But it was our client’s testimony that helped win the day.

We made sure she felt very prepared. We explained the logistics. Went over the sorts of questions she would be asked. Helped her familiarise herself with her past statements. Jayanti spent a whole day giving evidence and came across well thanks to the work we put in.

The court order was finalised one year after Jayanti first contacted us. Now Amar can be closer to his sister, and Jayanti will no longer have to make the three-hour round trip every time she wants to visit.

“Such a brilliant outcome for Jayanti and more importantly for Amar who can now be surrounded by the love of his sister and involved in family life much more than he has been for several years. Seeing Jayanti’s tears of joy will stay with me for a long time, as will a win over the official solicitor, which very rarely happens!”
Rebekah Sambrooks, solicitor, Anthony Collins Solicitors

*Client names have been changed.

A more affordable pathway to homeownership

We created a legal framework to support Frontier Development Capital’s ‘Help To Own’ scheme.

Getting onto the property ladder is a great source of pride for many. It’s also a means of creating long-term wealth for families and individuals. But for a significant proportion of the population, it’s not that simple.

Demand for housing far outweighs supply in many parts of the country, and the subsequent increase in long-term prices means that those on low incomes struggle to save enough for a deposit.

Market renting to homeownership

This is the problem Frontier Development Capital (FDC) is trying to solve. The company created a financial model that provides a pathway to homeownership through market renting and set up NewCo My Generation Group Limited (MGM) to support the delivery of the scheme.

‘Help To Own’ allows tenants to rent a property over the long term. After 25 years of renting, they can purchase the freehold for £1. MGM instructed us to create a legal framework to bring ‘Help To Own’ to fruition.

“Help to Own is a unique concept that sits between traditional tenancy and intermediate homeownership models. Working with MGM, we identified the different obligations the parties had to each other and then worked through the legal challenges to make those obligations enforceable.”
Jonathan Cox, partner, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Creating the right framework

ACS put together a legal framework that identified what the blockers were and found ways to work around them. The final framework contained key features such as:

No-rent deposit
A Loyalty Premium which links to rental increases which can be taken as cashback/rebate if the tenant decides to leave the scheme, or use to extend the initial tenancy
The option for tenants to leave at any time giving three months’ notice

HTO2 LLP was formed as a joint venture between the West Midlands Combined Authority and Wolverhampton City Council, who purchased 100 brand new homes at The Marches, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton. The homes were a mix of 29 x 2 beds, 50 x 3 beds and 21 x 4 beds reflecting the needs of the community.

“If you factor in that you require at least a 10% deposit and an excellent credit rating to get a mortgage … then you’ll understand how good this ‘Help To Own’ scheme is. This is a good scheme and it’s non-binding, unlike a mortgage. Buying and owning a house isn’t cheap but this scheme is giving certain individuals a helping hand”.
Facebook comment

Insatiable demand

A ‘Help To Own’ website was created through which applicants could apply. Applicants went through a strict process to ensure that only those who could not raise a deposit were considered for homes.

Over 4,000 people registered their interest in the scheme, with 563 applications submitted for the 100 tenancies available. Offers were granted and the profile of successful applicants revealed the reality of the problem: 37% were key workers, 75% were joint applicants, the average age was 34-39 years old, and the average household net income was just under £38k.

“ACS’ in-depth knowledge of housing law was truly invaluable to us. ACS recognised the potential impact HTO could have for people who are otherwise trapped in market renting; for them, HTO is life-changing. We are indebted to ACS for the advice we received, as well as the work undertaken to navigate the complexities of the scheme and reflect them in both the lease and loyalty premium agreements which we now use on each and every plot at our pilot site.”

Chrissy McKenzie, head of operations, Help to Own

Are decision makers prioritising positive change?

Our Ethical Business Project uncovers a profound shift in UK businesses.

UK businesses are under more pressure than ever before to demonstrate positive values. The disruption of Covid-19 combined with the climate crisis and focus on social inequalities have put businesses of all sizes under the microscope.

Businesses are being scrutinised across all areas, from the treatment of staff to their impact on the environment. Organisations viewed as ignoring their impact or not making changes are at risk of suffering reputational damage, financial losses and even business failure.

‘An ethical business makes a conscious effort to ensure that its operations are positive, contributing to the long-term wellbeing of individuals, communities and society. This type of business looks to more than just its profits and also prioritises positive social and environmental impact.’

Carrying out our own research

At Anthony Collins Solicitors, we decided to investigate the approach of UK businesses. Working with research partner, Opinium, we surveyed 300 senior decision-makers across the UK about their ethical approach for their businesses.

“We hope The Ethical Business Project will provide businesses with both the impetus and knowledge to become more principled organisations, benefitting their employees, suppliers, stakeholders and customers.”
David Alcock, partner and social business lead at Anthony Collins Solicitors

The results of the survey revealed a profound shift in how we are doing business. Nine in ten (91%) of businesses were already adopting ethical practices or committed to becoming more ethical. Many (78%) recognised the impact of the pandemic in that process.

A new handbook for businesses

While showing the move towards more ethical practices, our survey revealed businesses still face barriers when it comes to adopting them. In response to our findings, we developed The Ethical Business Project handbook to support businesses in taking on a more values-based approach.

The handbook is broken down into sections authored by experts across the firm. Readers can find information and resources on a range of ethical business topics, such as creating better workplaces for employees, minimising waste and energy consumption, and securing ethical funding.

Making a positive impact

The handbook explains how, by embarking on the ethical journey, businesses can positively impact the society and environment around them, while improving workforce engagement and market reputation, leading to new opportunities.

“Businesses do not face this journey alone. Please do engage in the ethical conversation with us – looking at your business and how you are seeking to embed positive impact in what you do. We are all on the same journey. Let’s travel the road together.”
David Alcock, partner and social business lead at Anthony Collins Solicitors

A life-or-death situation for a client in China

A hospital in China was about to turn off life support for our client’s partner. We had to act immediately.

While Miss M and Mr P were working at an international charity in Chongqing, China, Mr P was hit by a car on his way to work. The hospital announced he’d suffered brain injury and was now in a coma.

On top of the devastating diagnosis, Miss M was told that she needed to pay for the treatment. With bills adding up every day, the hospital was threatening to stop treatment – effectively a death sentence for Mr P.

The hospital explained that they would keep treating their patient if Miss M started a personal injury claim against the insurers of the driver that hit Mr P.

A desperate situation

While it sounded simple enough, Miss M couldn’t just start the legal proceedings. The couple had only lived in China for a year so were still governed by English law. And Miss M didn’t have the legal authority to act on Mr P’s behalf – she couldn’t instruct a lawyer in China or deal with his finances at home. After she was turned down by another law firm that couldn’t accommodate the urgent timeframe, the court of protection team at Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) heard about the case and decided to take it on.

A nine-month application in just a few weeks

The situation was urgent. We got a doctor in China to complete a capacity assessment to confirm Mr P couldn’t make decisions for himself. We then drafted a deputyship application for Miss M to act on her partner’s behalf so she could start negligence proceedings and deal with finances like paying the mortgage.

With witness statements explaining why the court should act quickly, we got the deputyship order in just 13 days. But the hard work was only just beginning.

Cross-border confusion

The legal documents issued in England weren’t valid in China. They had to be authenticated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as the Chinese Embassy. But with the embassy only open to authenticate documents once per week for a few hours, our client was running out of time.

ACS staff from the Manchester office were commandeered to visit the embassy in person to get an appointment. It took the intervention of a lawyer in China to eventually get an exception to the usual wait time.

Finally, the documents became officially recognised and Miss M could begin the negligence proceedings to keep Mr P in hospital. Their journey is far from over, but here at ACS, we’re pleased to have been able to play our part to help resolve the situation.

“I had a call from the very panicked partner of a patient in a hospital in China. She’d been told that the only way the authorities would let him stay is if she started negligence proceedings against the insurer. She had no idea where to start, and the case was really too urgent to take on. But I just had to do it.”

Puja Desai, solicitor, Anthony Collins Solicitors

Supporting our client back to sport

An accident turned Jaden’s world upside down, but now he’s learning how to help others recover.

Jaden Payne’s world revolved around sport. However, a few years ago, a road traffic accident threatened his future and suddenly stopped him from doing what he loved. Serious head injuries led to months in hospital, lying in a bed attached to tubes and wires. Jaden’s prognosis was poor, and his chances of returning to sport seemed non-existent.

At Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), we act on behalf of Jaden in the road traffic collision claim. While his case isn’t finished, our team have managed to secure the support Jaden needed throughout his focused recovery, rehabilitation and return to sport. With specialist tailor-made therapy and support programmes in place, we’ve watched him progress in leaps and bounds.

Life after his injury

After his injury, the future was uncertain for Jaden. Now, thanks to specialist support and sheer determination on his part, and that of his parents, he hopes to be able to reset his goals and maximise his potential. Next on his agenda is achieving his degree in sports rehabilitation.

“The Child Brain Injury Trust and Anthony Collins Solicitors have supported me on my journey allowing me to get to university today. I am studying sport rehabilitation as I’m an aspiring physiotherapist, which I hope to do at a master’s level. I want to get back to the children’s hospital, working on ward 10 where I was treated.”

Client testimonial, Jaden Payne

A big ambition

The charity Make-A-Wish gives children and young people living with a critical condition the chance to turn their dreams into reality. For Jaden, this ambition is to meet his hero, Usain Bolt. While Make-A-Wish couldn’t make this happen, the charity arranged for Jaden to meet another sports champion, Hannah Cockroft MBE – British wheelchair racer, world record holder and winner of multiple gold medals from the Paralympics.

After appearing in a promotional video for Make-A-Wish, Jaden and Hannah were interviewed by ITV news. The pair shared how the charity’s work led to them meeting and how Jaden will continue to do what he loves, despite his injuries.

As a result of this, Jaden’s story reached thousands of people nationwide and touched the hearts of many. There was one kind lady in particular who contacted Make a Wish to say she had a special gift for Jaden – a signed photo of Usain Bolt. Although calling it a ‘photo’ is a bit of an understatement as it’s so big it took two men to deliver it. While it’s still not quite the real thing, it’s a possession he’ll treasure forever.

Reaching out to others

During his recovery, Jaden has felt it’s important for him to educate others and help young adults who face similar challenges. While he was at college, he would regularly give presentations to peers and teachers on acquired brain injuries, recognising they are often misunderstood.

When the pandemic put a pause on his studies, Jaden saw his spare time as an opportunity to reach more people. He focussed on his own lockdown project – a blog. This became a small corner of the internet where he could share his story with people from all walks of life and explain the challenges he faces as a result of his brain injury.

Impressive progress at university

In September 2021, Jaden returned to university. Without our help securing him one to one buddy support and a specialist case manager, this would have been impossible. They help overcome challenges he faces as a result of his injury, such as navigating his way around campus and exploring London safely. He recently sat his first exam and passed with flying colours, achieving an impressive mark of 78/100.

The ACS team continue to support Jayden on his journey. Moving to London away from his family has been a huge step for him and we’re all so proud of how far he’s come. And we hope one day his dream of meeting his hero Usain Bolt will come true too.

“Despite everything he’s faced, Jaden is a really happy, smiley person. We’re so proud of how far he’s come. He now has the specialist support he needs to reach his potential post-injury which is really rewarding to see and we look forward to supporting him in the future as he goes through his university years and beyond.”
Rankeshwar Batta, head of clinical negligence and personal injury, Anthony Collins Solicitors

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