The Devon and Somerset Law Society’s Legal Awards 2017 have been officially launched.

The best of the legal profession were invited to afternoon tea at the Deer Park Hotel in Honiton to celebrate the initiative designed to recognise the achievements of the Westcountry legal profession.

DASLS president Mark Roome said: “DASLS legal awards demonstrate the quality of legal services provided by solicitors in Devon and Somerset.

“Along with gaining great publicity, winners and shortlisted entries are able to stand out as leading the way in the solicitors’ profession. Now is the time to submit your entry for one or more of these prestigious awards.”

Lawyers and legal practices are being invited to submit nominations. There are 12 categories and the deadline for entries is Friday, October 21.

DASLS has teamed up with DC Media, publisher of titles including the Express & Echo and Western Morning News, to organise the event.It is headline sponsored by specialist legal software company SOS.

Graham Colbourne, SOS managing director, said: “Following the outstanding success of last year’s awards, we are delighted that SOS is headline sponsor for the Devon & Somerset Law Society’s Legal Awards 2017.

“Several people told me last year that they didn’t make any nominations. I would encourage them to go against their natural modesty and nominate their firms or colleagues for this year’s awards. We know Devon and Somerset law firms are amongst the most progressive in the UK and as such I think they have a lot to be proud of.

“I very much enjoyed judging the entries last year and look forward to having an even harder job this year.”

Mr Colbourne will be joined on the judging panel by Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis; Judge Erik Salomonsen; Rob Varley, chief executive of the Met Office; Richard Edwards, interim head of the law school at the University of Exeter; Stephen Roberts, chief executive of North Devon Hospice; Bill Martin, regional editor-in-chief with DC Media; Stephanie Henshaw, corporate audit partner at PKF Francis Clark and Anne Blackburn, founder of the Sidona Group.

Last year, more than 400 members of the legal profession came together at a gala dinner to showcase the profession and celebrate practitioners.

The ceremony is being held at Sandy Park in Exeter on Thursday, March 2, 2017.

There are 12 categories for firms and individuals to enter:

Innovation Award sponsored by SOS: Innovation is key to the future success of any organisation. We want to hear how firms and organisations have innovated to develop their business. Private practice law firms, in house lawyers from commerce or public service are invited to enter for this award.

Corporate and Social Responsibility Award: Businesses have a responsibility towards the communities they serve. Demonstrate how your firm gives time freely to good causes and community projects. This award draws together many of the qualities sought in other categories to find the small or medium size law firm that has a winning formula. The Judges will be looking for excellence in firms able to demonstrate a clear vision for their business and how that is being achieved.

Law Firm of the Year Award (11+ partners): This award draws together many of the qualities sought in other categories to find the small or medium size law firm that has a winning formula. The Judges will be looking for excellence in firms able to demonstrate a clear vision for their business and how that is being achieved.

Law Firm of the Year Award (1-10 partners): This award draws together many of the qualities sought in other categories to find the small or medium size law firm that has a winning formula. Entries are invited from any firm with 1-10 partners including small niche practices and general high street firms.

Team of the Year Award: Great teamwork is an essential part of modern business especially in a legal practice where a combination of skill sets is needed. Teams from private practice law firms and in house lawyer departments in commerce or public service are invited to enter for this award.

Client Service Award: Great client service is at the heart of all solicitor firms and fundamental to their success. The judges will be looking for those firms that have a culture of putting the client first and a pro-active approach to continual improvement.

Solicitor of the Year Award sponsored by PKF Francis Clark: The Solicitor of the Year may be recently qualified or have many years of experience and can have practised in any type of organisation and discipline. They will be an exemplar for the solicitors’ profession and will likely to have achieved particular recognition for their professional work.

Leader/Law Manager of the Year Award: This Award will be presented to the individual who has inspired their organisation to achieve through their leadership and/or management skills.

In-house/Public Sector Lawyer of the Year Award: Entries for this category will be from members of in-house corporate teams and those working in public bodies. They may be recently qualified or have many years of experience.

Support Team Member of the Year Award: Nominations are welcome from firms or clients for legal executives, paralegals, secretaries, cashiers and others who support Devon & Somerset Law Society solicitor members.

Legal ‘Hero’ of the Year Award: Legal Heroes make a real difference to their clients. They may work in any area of practice going the extra mile for the client’s desired outcome be that a house move, settlement of a dispute, a claim for compensation, formation of a company or the resolution of a family matter.

Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by The Law Society: This award will be presented to the individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the reputation of solicitors during their career as a solicitor in Devon and Somerset. While entries could be based on any number of criteria, candidates will be an exemplar of the legal profession having demonstrated high standards of integrity in their endeavours.

The deadline for entries is Friday, October 21. Shortlisted companies and individuals will be announced late in November. Enter the DASLS Legal Awards at digital-thisis.co.uk/dasls/

Read next: Wise Words: AnTech MD Toni Miszewski shares his business tips in new video series

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LAW firms MacRoberts and Morton Fraser have refused to comment on speculation that they are in merger talks after news of a potential deal was reported in trade title The Lawyer.

MacRoberts managing partner John Macmillan said that the firm regularly talks to “individuals, teams and firms”, adding that “it would be inappropriate to make any comment on the existence or otherwise of any such conversations”.

Morton Fraser chief executive Chris Harte, meanwhile, said his firm regularly has “exploratory discussions with third parties around a wide range of potential opportunities”.

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“We don’t, however, comment on speculation regarding any such conversations,” he added.

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An elite California law firm is using the change in administration at the White House to its advantage.

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP said Wednesday it is hiring Donald Verrilli Jr., who stepped down as solicitor general in June, to launch a Washington, D.C., office for the firm.

The move is a return to private practice for 59-year-old Mr. Verrilli, who worked as President Barack Obama’s top appellate attorney for five years…

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A Chicago attorney has been nominated as Vice President of Business Law Network, which is a group of business-focused attorneys who run or work for small firms and solo practices. The network is for attorneys who wish to collaborate and share expertise on a case-by-case basis so that their clients can receive a wide range of services from lawyers who are experts in specific fields, maintaining the boutique and personalized client focus common among small firms and solo practitioners.

Chicago, IL – A Chicago attorney has been nominated as Vice President of Business Law Network, which is a group of business-focused attorneys who run or work for small firms and solo practices. The network is for attorneys who wish to collaborate and share expertise on a case-by-case basis so that their clients can receive a wide range of services from lawyers who are experts in specific fields, maintaining the boutique and personalized client focus common among small firms and solo practitioners.

In the words of Junilla Sledziewski, the nominee and an attorney at Statman Harris & Eyrich LLC, “It’s a great pleasure and privilege to be nominated by my peers to represent them in the group as their Vice President. The network was formed to provide clients a personalized experience across a wide range of legal industries. It is my goal as Vice President to solidify the connections within our network to ensure continuity of client service, whatever needs might arise for any particular client.”

Junilla is an experienced attorney practicing in Chicago. She offers her services and expertise in banking, real estate, creditors’ rights, and commercial litigation. Her clients include financial institutions, small to medium sized business owners, individuals, and She’s licensed to practice in New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida. She graduated magna cum laude from the famous University of Miami School of Law in Florida.

Through Business Law Network, attorneys can work together to find the best ways of representing a client in and out of court by leveraging their specific areas of expertise. Members of the group are drawn from various areas of focus on business, thus assuring clients of experienced and competent legal representation for all of their business needs.  The group serves clients by allowing attorneys to network and share knowledge, pursue further legal education and co-counsel.

For more information on the appointment of Junilla Sledziewski as the new Vice President of Business Law Network, and how the organization helps clients, get in touch using the contact details published below.

About Company

Statman, Harris & Eyrich, LLC

30 S. Wacker Dr. #2200

Chicago, IL 60606

(312) 313-1119

Email: junilla@statmanharris.com

Website; http://www.statmanharris.com/

Media Contact
Company Name: Statman, Harris & Eyrich, LLC
Contact Person: Junilla Sledziewski
Email: junilla@statmanharris.com
Phone: (312) 313-1119
Address:30 S. Wacker Dr. #2200
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
Country: United States
Website: http://www.statmanharris.com/

Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. Frankly and this Station make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact pressreleases@franklyinc.com

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The federal bureaucracy is openly breaking the law by turning away job seekers who don’t hold security clearances.

The Public Service Commission is investigating more than 50 job advertisements that allegedly breach the Public Service Act.

The list of online ads, which Fairfax Media compiled earlier this month, involved 17 recruitment firms offering work in Commonwealth agencies across Australia.

Most ads explicitly excluded candidates who lacked a clearance, describing past security vetting as a “minimum requirement”, “essential” or “mandatory”.

Another eight ads said the agencies would consider applicants without clearances but warned that people who were already vetted would be preferred – discrimination that is unlawful but nonetheless rife in Canberra.

Several ads were withdrawn or rewritten soon after the commission received the list.

Two senior public servants who work in staffing, speaking on condition of anonymity, said agencies had little choice but to breach the act.

They were often restricted to hiring temporary workers and couldn’t afford to wait months for security vetting, which can cost almost $10,000.

Job seekers are not allowed to pay for their own vetting; employers must sponsor the applications. This leaves some government job vacancies effectively open to former public servants only.

However, the act requires all employment decisions to be based on merit and demands that jobs be open to “all eligible members of the community”.

The commission tells public service agencies and recruitment firms they must not “exclude applicants who are not holders of a current security clearance where they indicate a willingness to undergo the clearance process”.

Almost all federal bureaucrats now require a clearance, which used to be limited to senior executives or officers working with defence and intelligence documents.

The Auditor-General reported recently that the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency was struggling to cope with its workload. It completed just over half of clearances within its target time frames, which ranged from one to six months.

A spokesman for the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association said the firms that published the allegedly discriminatory job ads had acted on their government clients’ instructions.

“[Association] members and professional recruitment firms respond to the requirements of their clients in advertising for roles.”

The spokesman said the association was unable to comment on public service recruitment policies and referred questions to the government. However, the recruitment firms would not name the agencies that had listed the jobs, which covered a wide range of roles and levels, mostly for fixed-term contracts.

A former public service commissioner, Australian National University public policy professor Andrew Podger, said “there appears to be reason for concern as there is clear guidance from the commission that having a security clearance should not be a selection criterion, as it is not a reflection of merit”.

“In cases of urgent and temporary appointments it may be justified as a requirement in order to get the work done, but it is not clear from the job descriptions given that many were genuinely urgent and temporary,” he said.

Australian Human Resource Institute chairman Peter Wilson, who is a former federal Treasury executive, said public servants appeared to be caught between the law and today’s ramped-up security culture.

“My empathy is with the public servants, whom I have very high regard for,” he said.

“They’re just trying to get the job done and there are these unintended consequences. That’s the dilemma they’re dealing with.”

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NEW DELHI: The government has put out a draft law proposing a mechanism to deal with bankruptcy in banks, insurance companies and financial sector entities, which when passed will complete the legal framework for dealing with failed business. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2016 has been put out for stakeholder feedback.

Parliament has already passed a bankruptcy law to resolve failures of non-financial firms and also changes in debt recovery and the Sarfaesi (Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) laws to empower lenders to deal with non-performing loans.

The government has simultaneously released the report of a committee set up to work out a draft code. Comments and suggestions have to be submitted by October 14. The draft report has recommended setting up of a Resolution Corporation to maintain systemic stability in the country.

Its board will comprise representatives from financial sector regulators including the Reserve Bank of India, nominees from the central government and two independent members.

This is similar to the mechanism in the bankruptcy law. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget speech for 2016-17 said the government will bring a comprehensive code on resolution of financial firms.

“This code, together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, when enacted, will provide a comprehensive resolution mechanism for our economy,” Jaitley had said.

The government had later set up a committee under an additional secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs to work out the code.

“Recent experience and research have shown that resolution of financial institutions requires a special regime that is faster than any traditional insolvency procedure, where rights of the creditors and other stakeholders can be overridden in the interest of the financial system (including the consumers) and the economy,” the committee said while detailing its proposals.

The committee in its report has said that the corporation will be the authority responsible for providing deposit insurance in the country and will replace the existing Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

“The draft Bill consolidates the existing laws relating to resolution of certain categories of financial institutions which are presently scattered in a number of legislations, into a single legislation, and provides for additional tools of resolution,” it said.

The report states that the corporation may use merger, acquisition, liquidation, transfer of assets and liabilities, and bail-in among other tools for resolving the covered service provider.

“The resolution has to be completed within two years, with the provision for an extension of one additional year, except in the case of liquidation,” it said.

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Treasury secretary Henry Rotich. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By DAVID HERBLING, hdavid@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted 
Wednesday, September 28  
2016 at 
18:44

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A panel tasked with drafting a bankruptcy code for financial service providers such as banks, insurance companies and payment systems has proposed classifying companies into five categories based on their vulnerability and also suggested setting up a Resolution Corporation.

The panel’s report was made public on Wednesday for comments. It has also recommended that some of the bigger firms be classified as systemically important financial firms (SIFIs). “These are financial institutions whose failure might pose a risk to not just their consumers or the sector they operate in, but rather to the overall financial stability of the country itself,” the panel said it in its report

In the report, the panel said the proposed resolution corporation would contribute to the stability and resilience of the financial system by carrying out speedy and efficient resolution of financial firms in distress, providing deposit insurance to consumers of certain categories of financial services and monitoring the systemically important financial institutions.

It will also protect consumers of financial institutions and public funds. After the enactment of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2016, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation will be dissolved and all its functions will be carried out by the Resolution Corporation.

“This board will comprise representatives from financial sector regulators – Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Board Exchange of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority – representatives of the central Government as well as two independent members,” the report stated.

The corporation, in consultation with the appropriate regulator, will specify objective criterium for the classification of covered service providers into five categories based on the risk they carry, namely, low, moderate, material, imminent and critical, taking into account several features of the covered service providers, including adequacy of capital, asset quality, leverage ratio, liquidity and capability of management. The code proposes to give power to the Resolution Corporation to transfer the whole or part of the assets and liabilities of the covered service provider to another person, on terms agreed between the corporation and such person, creating a bridge service provider, merger or amalgamation of the covered service provider, acquisition of the covered service provider and liquidation.

The powers of the corporation as a liquidator include the power to verify claims of all the creditors, take into custody all the assets, property and actionable claims of the covered service provider, sell property, access information, consolidate and verify claims, admit or reject claims and payments of deposit insurance.

“The central government and the Resolution Corporation, with the prior approval of the government, can enter into memoranda of understanding with the governments and their regulators of other countries and exchange information with them to give full effect to the provisions of this Act,” the committee stated.

It further said Resolution Corporation shall have three types of funds – the Corporation Insurance Fund for payment of deposit insurance, the Corporation Resolution Fund for covering resolution fees and a Corporation General Fund for meeting the administrative expenses of the Corporation. The covered service providers shall also be required to pay fees, as specified by the corporation.

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NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Wells Fargo & Company (“Wells Fargo” or the “Company”) (NYSE:WFC) and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California, and docketed under 16-cv-05513, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Wells Fargo securities between February 26, 2014 and September 15, 2016 both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”).  This class action seeks to recover damages against Wells Fargo, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John G. Stumpf, Wells Fargo’s Chief Financial Officer John R. Shrewsberry, and the Company’s former Senior Executive Vice President of Community Banking, Carrie L. Tolstedt, for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “1934 Act”) and SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Wells Fargo securities during the Class Period, you have until November 25, 2016 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.  To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. 

[Click here to join this class action]

Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company that provides retail, commercial and corporate banking services, principally in the United States, and during the Class Period was the largest bank by market capitalization.

As part of the Company’s business strategy, throughout the Class Period, Wells Fargo emphasized to investors, customers and employees that “cross-selling” was a key part of its strategy to increase the number of retail products that each of its customers, or households, used. For example, if a customer held a mortgage with Wells Fargo, the cross-selling opportunity would be to have the same customer open a credit card or a savings account, or get an auto loan. Wells Fargo’s execution on these cross-selling opportunities was considered central to the Company’s business and growth prospects and recognized by the analyst community to be among Wells Fargo’s best performing business strategies.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects.  Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) The Company illegally, through forgery and other electronic means, applied for and opened credit card accounts on behalf of customers without their knowledge or consent; (b) The Company illegally, through forgery and other electronic means, opened bank deposit accounts on behalf of customers without their knowledge or consent; (c) The Company used fake e-mail addresses to enroll customers in online banking services and request debit cards, including the creation of PINs, without customers’ knowledge or consent; (d) The Defendants engineered a sales culture that was designed to incentivize and reward employees for pushing products on customers they did not want or need and rewarded employees for bank and credit card accounts that were opened without the customers’ knowledge through forgery or other means; (e) An ongoing internal investigation had in fact found that in excess of 5% of the employees in the Community Banking segment had engaged in a wide ranging scheme to inflate the Company’s financial performance figures by, among other things, opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts, resulting in mass terminations of employees, ultimately reaching more than 5,000 firings; (f) That, in an effort to conceal the breadth of Defendants’ fraudulent cross-selling scheme, Defendants Wells Fargo and Stumpf agreed that they would not terminate Defendant Tolstedt for overseeing the fraudulent activities in the Community Banking segment, but rather would allow her to retire, notwithstanding her leadership over and oversight of the misconduct in the Community Banking segment, and thereby permit her to pocket more than $90 million; (g) The Company’s reported cross-selling metrics and the financial results derived from them were the product of Defendants’ misconduct; and (h) as a result of the foregoing, Wells Fargo’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. 

On September 8, 2016, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a Consent Order detailing the Company’s fraudulent practices, which were centered on a corporate culture intent on growing its cross-selling opportunities and unlawfully and without its customers’ consent opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts, and imposing a fine of more than $185 million. The announcement noted that these facts were known to the Company through an internal investigation that had uncovered the fraudulent practices, not as a result of an independent government investigation.

Between September 8, 2016 and September 16, 2016, the Company’s stock price declined 9%, from a close of $49.90 per share on September 8, 2016 to a close of $45.43 per share on September 16, 2016, as information about Defendants’ conduct and its impact on Wells Fargo’s operations reached the market, inflicting billions of dollars of harm on Plaintiff and other Wells Fargo shareholders.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:
                    Robert S. Willoughby
                    Pomerantz LLP
                    rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

/EIN News/ —

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