Replenish your Childhood energy and fly!
by Guest Blogger, April 27th, 2012
Dwindling confidence plays havoc with the human basic instincts. The Daily Mail carried a feature this week, about consumers cheating at checkouts, allegedly a third of us admit to this, and to me it is a sad symptom of a nation of people who are gripped with fear about the precarious economic climate.
Fear sadness, guilt and anger, being basic human emotions, can hold many of us back in life and are both nature and nurture within all of us.
As young children for example, if our Mother was frightened of spiders, then there is a good chance that so will you, or one of your siblings be.
If you had an angry father, then you are likely to have similar tendencies to fly off the handle, unless you are conscious about this particular trait, and you may have, perhaps through harrowing childhood experiences, at the mercy of an angry parental outburst, made positive steps to address what may be considered as a weak gene?
With economic restraint, fuelling human fear and enhancing the other basic human emotions, what tends to happen is that we revert to childlike behaviour: leaving the house ten minutes earlier so that you beat your colleague to the best parking space outside your office, pondering over your inbox so as to avoid your turn in team tea making duties and so on.
Time management is affected too, not helped by the multi hat wearing expectations lain upon you by your overstressed boss; the need to meet sales targets with fewer personnel to help you, noticing that you simply do not have enough hours in the day to return calls, or answer emails.
The hard economy ripples over us all and can be all consuming but with some small attitude tweaks, we can replenish our energy levels, which in themselves are perhaps the most damaging crosses we have to bare; drained energy leading to apathy, result: poor productivity both at work and home.
Start by siphoning those inner child qualities within you and draw upon the endearing qualities you had and still have when you were a child and the abundant sense of energy which is so empowering.
Do you remember sharing your packed lunch with Susan, the little girl with her sun kissed cheeks? The little girl who’s Mother regularly forgot to pack her sandwiches. How your kindness energised you and enhanced your sense of wellbeing?
Perhaps you remember Ben, the fantastic footballer at your local club. You felt sorry for him because he never did have the correct gear; you lent him yours often enough, because you admired his talent, his great humour and yet felt for him because his parents were so neglectful and his spirit drive and energy, shone over your whole team, fuelling you all with hope and possibility, uniting you in such a positively infectious way, that in 1989 your team represented your county!
Take ten minutes in your lunch break and reflect on your childhood memories, good or bad, focus on an event which fuelled you with energy, recall how positively people responded to its outcome then use that energy supply to gently shift your attitude in the week ahead.
I for instance was born with cerebral palsy and am so lucky that it’s mild, only affecting my right hand side. My childhood was difficult yet I found pleasure in talking to my pets and making up stories to read my siblings. I suppose in my case I drew comfort from fantasying because in real life, my childhood was challenging. I was also a victim of bullying and believe me; its affects are long lasting.
With my purpose being to help primary school children be kind to one another, I’ve written a book drawn from my own energy, the flight and fight attitude I learnt through my experiences as a frightened little girl, subjected to daily taunts, and from small acorns who knows, perhaps it will engage children, parents and teachers alike and help to educate them in the important anti- bullying message.
Emma Andrews www.dillysdog.co.uk www.thebusinesspromoter.co.uk
Social Media Sceptic
by Mike Bowen, March 14th, 2012
I went to a talk by our BD team on social media this week and I did learn a few things:
1 )My blog posts are the best read compared to my colleagues. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both of you for reading my blog.
2) Without knowing it my posts get tweeted and facebooked
3) Apparently my blog has an “edge” which I find quite funny because in the words of Howling Wolf (google it) I am built for comfort I am not built for speed. I am rotund so I have no edges. Edge is the name of a guitarist in that popular music combo called U2 I understand.Our Head of BD is called Edge
4) Apparently social media is required to increase ones profile. Personally I do not really see the point, I have not really got the time or inclination to twit. ‘La La’ our BDM spends ½ an hour per day twitting. I do not have ½ hour spare each day but I have decided to give it a go but only if I get 10 twits to tweet @GrumpyConvey me at then I will fill you all in on my exciting life as a conveyancer. Now I know ‘La La’ and she will get 10 mates to tweet or like me on facebook so you are probably going to get lots more tweets soon.
Apparently if you tweet something enough it goes viral. ‘La La’ will tweet my blog on the First Time buyer scheme and we will see if it goes viral as it was in the news this week.
We should all be eternally grateful that Mrs B has not discovered twitting the tinternet would crash under the weight of banal twittings. “I saw Gill you will never guess” actually I could but I have a life “phoned Mike at work to tell him whilst he was looking at a lease that he had a letter at home – he was one of the 7 Dwarves and it was not happy”
5) Future generations may expect us todeliver our service by this media -
“Yo Thx for UR mail. IIRC I told U I needed the dosh for ex L8r – LOL-Not”
To be serious I can see it has advantages for profile etc so I will give the tweeting a go but I really can not say that it is going to be very exciting for you.
We’ve merged with Allen Ticehurst
by Jason Edge, January 3rd, 2012
It’s an exciting start to the year for all of us at Mayo Wynne Baxter as we’ve today merged with East Grinstead solicitors Allen Ticehurst. The deal makes us the largest law firm in Brighton, Eastbourne, Lewes and now East Grinstead.
Allen Ticehurst Solicitors’ 17 employees join more than 160 of us at Mayo Wynne Baxter.
Founding Partner Peter Ticehurst set up the merger to secure the firm’s future after he retires later this year. Managing Partner Stephen Bird will become a consultant and all other employees are staying on in their current positions.
The team at Allen Ticehurst are particularly experienced in personal matters such as family law, conveyancing, employment, personal injury and Wills as well as business law and dispute resolution. These services will complement the niche specialisms that we’ve developed at Mayo Wynne Baxter. For example our experts in clinical negligence, commercial litigation, agricultural law and contentious probate will now be available to clients in the Gatwick diamond area.
Explaining the move our Chief Executive Chris Randall said “We’re always exploring new possibilities and this merger fits our core strategy. Despite the difference in size there is a great cultural match, with both firms committed to evolving legal services to deliver what customers want. Allen Ticehurst’s people have just the right combination of expertise and ambition. I look forward to welcoming them.”
Stephen Bird said “This merger is a fantastic opportunity to build on our success in the region. We’re looking forward to offering clients a wider range of services with the same commitment to excellence.”
Mayo Wynne Baxter Sponsor Meads Music Festival
by Jason Edge, April 7th, 2011
We are proud to be sponsors of the 
Meads Music Festival, a completely new venture to bring a series of Classical Music concerts to Eastbourne. The venue for the Festival is the delightful All Saints Chapel just off the seafront in Meads. The festival will take place in May each year and it is proposed to hold the concerts on each Sunday afternoon in May. For the inaugural Festival five concerts will be held commencing on the 1st May 2011.
Eastbourne has a tradition of good classical music stretching back over the years from the Palm Court orchestra which were resident in The Grand Hotel to the visit of Debussy in 1905 when he is reported to h ave completed his work La Mer. Nearby Friston was the home to a much neglected English composer Frank Bridge. The London Philarmonic have a residency in Eastbourne and play to capacity audiences at the Congress theatre. It is with this background that we wish to develop and promote the availability of top quality music in Eastbourne. The cultural offering of Eastbourne has huge potential and with the highly acclaimed Towner gallery for visual arts there is an opportunity to enhance this cultural offering with a Classical Music Festival. In fact the whole of Sussex has a rich cultural identity and attracts visitors from all over the world to it’s prestigious venues such as Glyndebourne Opera House and Charleston Farmhouse.
In order to give the Festival an identity of it’s own we have chosen specific aims which we want to address in our programme planning and concert promotion. Our aims are as follows:-
- To bring international artists to Eastbourne
- To promote and present young artists who have been recognised as outstanding in their chosen field.
- To include local talented musicians and provide them with an opportunity for performance within the festival programme.
- To attract a wide range of visitors and promote classical music to new audiences.
- To involve the local people of Eastbourne and Meads so the festival develops and maintains a community spirit.
- To support and utilise the significant facility in All Saints Chapel.
Our festival will be for non profit making and any surplus monies will be used to develop the artistic integrity of our concerts through facilities, artists fees and programme development. In order for such a venture to take place we will need financial support from sponsors, time and talent from a dedicated committee, a team of volunteers and assistance with administration from local authorities.
The 2011 preliminary programme has been put together and artists contacted but will depend on financial support and Festival costs.
Draft 2011 Programme
1st May 2011 – recital by an International opera star Christopher Maltman
8th May 2011 - Piano Recital by Alexandra Silocea (outstanding young Romanian pianist who has received great acclaim for her recitals in Vienna) – sponsored by Mayo Wynne Baxtyer
15th May 2011 – Vocal recital by young South African Soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon (winner of the prestigous Kathleen Ferrier prize 2009)
22nd May 2011 – Recital by the Finzi String Quartet – a prestigious young female quartet who were the winners of the Royal Overseas Prize in 2010
29th May 2011 - Choral concert by the Aanna Colls Singers. This group of 18 singers is based in Herstmonceux and has sung at the Glyndebourne Christmas concert over the past two years
For further information on the Meads Music Festival please contact David Irvine on 01323 639309 or visit their website www.meadsmusicfestival.com
Certain volunteers are not covered by disability discrimination legislation
by Martin Williams, February 23rd, 2011
In an important case concerning the extent of discrimination protection offered to non-workers the Court of Appeal has held in X v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau that certain voluntary workers are not protected under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (‘the Act’) or Directive 2000/78/EEC (‘the Directive’) regarding equal treatment in employment and occupation.
The Claimant had volunteered at her local CAB as a general adviser to members of the public. At the beginning of her work at the CAB she signed a volunteer agreement that was described as being binding in honour only and not a contract of employment or legally binding.
When the CAB asked the Claimant to cease her advisory role the Claimant claimed disability discrimination. She argued that the purpose of her role was to determine whether she should be offered employment with the CAB or alternatively, that her voluntary work was vocational training and therefore covered by the Directive.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. It held that, while it was true that many volunteers go on to secure paid employment at the CAB, this was not the purpose of the arrangement and therefore she had no protection under section 4(1)(a) of the Act. Neither was the voluntary work carried out ‘vocational’ training as defined in the Directive.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) had been given permission to intervene on the side of the Claimant and submitted that she was in an ‘occupation’, thereby offering her protection under the Directive. The Court of Appeal held that the term ‘occupation’ overlapped with that of ‘worker’ and European jurisprudence had limited this to persons who are remunerated. Therefore, the Claimant could not be brought within the scope of the Directive or the Act.
Who owns the copyright?
by Martin Williams, January 13th, 2011
The long-standing legal battle between a New York artist and the Associated Press news agency has been settled.
Shepard Fairey sued the Associated Press when they accused him of copyright infringement. They said that he had used one of their photographs as the basis for his political campaign poster “Hope” of Barack Obama. He used a photograph taken by Mannie Garcia, an Associated Press photographer, to create the campaign artwork during Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
The basic rule in the UK relating to copyright in photographs is that the person who takes the photograph owns the copyright of that image. The only exception is where photographs are taken in the course of employment, in which case the owner will be the employer – in this situation, the Associated Press.
However where a photograph is used to create new artwork, we need our legislation to address under what circumstances a copy of something becomes an original, and attract its own copyright.
In this case, Fairey and the Associated Press have agreed that Fairey will not use the photography without first obtaining a proper licence, but they have also agreed to work together to share rights in the “Hope” poster and apparently even collaborate on a set of images that Fairey is to create, using Associated Press photographs as a starting point.
If you would like more information on copyright and infringement, whether specifically relating to photography or not, please feel free to email me on rpitt@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk.
By Rebecca Pitt
We are moving
by Jason Edge, January 6th, 2011
At the end of this month we are relocating our Lewes office from the High Street to brand new premises on the outskirts of the town.
The firm has always had a strong presence in Lewes, going back to the 1860’s when Wynne Edwin Baxter first established the legal practice. Over the years, the firm has gone from strength to strength, increasing our areas of specialism and therefore, our staff to the extent that we have now outgrown our Dial House office in the town centre.
The new location in Bell Lane offers spacious offices and a large meeting room where our legal experts will hold events and seminars for clients and associates.
The premises at Bell Lane are within easy access of all the major roads. The light, airy space offers a very pleasant working environment with plenty of room for us to expand and we are sure that both our clients and staff will benefit greatly from the move.
The relocation is an indication of our success as the need has been largely driven by the local demand for our services.
Dial House has a wealth of charm and character that we are sorry to leave behind. It has an unrivalled location on the High Street and the access to the large car park behind makes it a highly desirable commercial property.
The Dial House office has served us faithfully for around 100 years and it is with sadness that needs of the firm have forced a move.
For a map to the new office click here
Seasons Greetings
by Jason Edge, December 23rd, 2010
The Partners and staff at Mayo Wynne Baxter would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Why LinkedIn is a Lawyer’s new Local
by Chris Randall, June 8th, 2010
Reading an excellent blog post by Matt Silverman on Mashable about social media and the legal profession got me musing about how lawyers, Mayo Wynne Baxter included, are actually pretty clued up when it comes to digital marketing. Don’t forget, less than a decade ago law firms were prohibited from doing any kind of marketing or PR. Apart from a listing in the phone book, business generally had to be built up over a few pints of claret at the Wig and Gavel.
Don’t get me wrong, we still firmly believe in “real” socialising, or networking as it’s called in the business community – you can’t beat face-to-face contact and we’re usually up for a beer or two – but we also understand the power of its digital sibling, to the extent that social media has now become as essential to Mayo Wynne Baxter’s communication strategy as traditional PR and marketing.
So, how does social media help our clients? Well, one of the big advantages social media gives us is being able to impart lots of targeted information to our clients in bite-sized, easily digestible chunks. We use LinkedIn, and Twitter to highlight news, legal updates and to direct people to the relevant part of our website that will inform them about their legal process. And it’s all so quick. For example, we can post an update to a change in the law with an explanation of its implications, then tweet the link and hey presto, the world and his wife know about it in less time than it takes to frank an envelope.
We’ve also found social media very useful for engaging with niche audiences, for example, the solicitors in our MACI Team have built up an ever increasing network of “friends” in the media and creative industries. They regularly get together for seminars and workshops and use Twitter and Linked In to keep everyone up to speed.
This brings me neatly to the obligatory note of caution as the last MACI seminar was all about social media and protecting your business’s reputation online. This is something that we are very hot on, both for our clients and also for our own firm’s reputation. Thanks to the huge potential audience, an incorrect or inappropriate post can destroy a firm’s reputation before you can say “who suggested a social media policy?”
As with all Mayo Wynne Baxter’s external communications, our social media content is always overseen by our marketing department. Whether it’s a press release, a brochure for our clients or even this blog, the content must be relevant and appropriate to the audience we are talking to and, above all, must accurately reflect Mayo Wynne Baxter’s professionalism and values.
So, you won’t find pictures of us on Facebook downing pints at the aforementioned Wig and Gavel, nor will you ever see blog posts or tweets about our clients, but hopefully you will find that we’re making law more accessible and easier to understand.
If you would like to find out more about copyright, intellectual property and the legalities surrounding social media, please contact our Media & Creative Industries team to arrange a meeting.
You can read the full Mashable post here.
Thank you to those who attended our ‘How to exploit the power of social networking’ seminar
by Chris Randall, May 21st, 2010
Firstly, we’d like to thank everyone who attended last night’s event, particularly Lighthouse for their fantastic hospitality, and of course our speakers Edward Coxall, Dean Orgill, Cristina Lawrence and Leapfrogg’s Ben Potter for their invaluable insight on social media in the workplace.
Secondly, how many of you today viewed and used your various social networking channels differently? One thing last night’s presentations highlighted was the unrelenting power of social media and how it’s gradually entering our lives, even if some are unaware of it.
The Mayo Wynne Baxter team did themselves proud by delivering the often confusing and exhausting subject of copyright in a more engaging way. It was good to see attendees enthusiastically jot down notes and nod with interest during the course of the evening.
Ben Potter, Sales & Marketing Director at Leapfrogg, imparted his expertise on how social media is integral to modern day marketing, but more importantly, how it needs to be respected and applied correctly in order for it work effectively for your business.
Networking and nibbles then followed the discussions. Smart phones were visible; however guests preferred more conventional methods of communicating, which gave the opportunity for people to ask questions, exchange business cards and generally share their experiences of social networking. It was clear that the majority either liked or occasionally dipped in and out of social networks, but overall weren’t mindful of their capabilities. The power of social media was certainly felt by all!
If you would like to find out more about copyright, intellectual property and the legalities surrounding social media, contact our Media & Creative Industries Team today to arrange a meeting.