Three New Solicitors at Greene & Greene

Greene & Greene expands its Employment, Company Commercial and Dispute Resolution teams with the appointment of Greg Jones, Megan Radcliffe and Kate Struthers. 

Greg Jones qualified as a Solicitor in 2009. He focuses exclusively on the area of employment law.  He advises on all employment and HR matters including executive appointments and dismissals, Employment Tribunal litigation, HR queries, TUPE transfers, mergers and acquisitions. He is recommended by a leading independent guide to the UK legal profession as “a name to note”. 

Solicitor Megan Radcliffe trained with an international firm in the City.  She has also worked as an in-house lawyer at an offshore marine engineering company.  Megan advises on commercial and corporate matters including business purchases and sales, commercial contracts, corporate finance and fundraising.  She also has experience in both construction and engineering law. 

Kate Struthers qualified as a solicitor in 2014 and advises on commercial litigation, property disputes and insolvency.  Kate has provided in-house legal support to one of the UK’s largest private healthcare providers.  

Chris Thomson, Senior Partner at Greene & Greene said: 

 “We are delighted to welcome Greg, Megan and Kate. These appointments reflect the confidence that we and our clients have in the East Anglian economy. The demand for our services continues to increase so I am very pleased that we have found three such talented people to help us and to help our clients. I wish them every success in their careers here in Bury St Edmunds.”  

For further information please telephone Mark Daly on 01284 717500, visit www.greene-greene.com and follow @greenegreenelaw.

New Partner at Greene & Greene Solicitors

(Originally published by Suffolk Chamber of Commerce on 7 December 2015)

Law firm Greene & Greene has strengthened its commercial team with solicitor Andrew Cooper becoming a Partner.  Having joined the firm in May 2012, his new role in the partnership commenced on 1 December.

Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 2011 after studying in Cambridge and Oxford, and worked for a law firm in Norwich before joining Bury St Edmunds based Greene & Greene.  Andrew advises a range of local and national businesses, recently advising one of London’s largest insurance underwriters on a multi-million pound acquisition of a specialist managing general agent, and the shareholders of a Cambridgeshire based company on a large crowd-funding project.  

Commenting on his invitation to become a Partner, Andrew said:

“I was delighted to be offered this role and I am very much looking forward to the new challenge.  The experience we offer here means we have a wide variety of clients ranging from small businesses in Bury St Edmunds to large and well known national and international companies, and we pride ourselves on giving the same high quality service to all.”

Senior Partner at Greene & Greene Chris Thomson added:  “When Andrew joined us three and a half years ago, we quickly realised that he would be a valuable member of the team.  Greene & Greene has a long standing reputation for delivering the service our clients expect and deserve and Andrew’s new role will only strengthen that.”

The commercial department of Greene & Greene currently operates with five solicitors and three support staff and will see further growth in 2016, with a new solicitor due to join in January.

Alongside his work with Greene & Greene, Andrew is a committee member and founder of the Bury St Edmunds Young Professionals, an active networking group for members of the business community in and around the town.

Please contact Andrew Cooper on 01284 717511 or andrewcooper@greene-greene.com.  For further details about Greene & Greene solicitors please visit www.greene-greene.com or follow @greenegreenelaw.

Professional privilege remains the privilege of lawyers … for now, at least

The Supreme Court has confirmed that, for the time being at least, legal professional privilege applies only to communications between clients and their lawyers, not their other professional advisers, such as accountants or tax advisers.

Wayne Perrin, a Solicitor in our tax department, comments as follows:

“Privilege” means that communications between a client and his legal adviser are generally private.  A client can discuss his case in full with his lawyers, without fear that the information will later be made available to others without his control. Legal privilege has its roots in the sixteenth century and has not been altered greatly in the past five hundred years. 

The Supreme Court case involved a tax scheme promoted by the accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers.  As part of their investigations into the scheme HM Revenue and Customs, relying on statutory powers given to them by Parliament, required disclosure of correspondence and advice sent by PWC.  PWC refused, claiming that those documents should remain private between them and their client; that they were “privileged”. 

The Supreme Court decided that they were not.  It has confirmed that privilege only applies to communications between a client and his lawyers; not his other advisers, even where they are advising on legal matters. 

In due course the case may lead to further lobbying by professional bodies to press for a change in the law by Parliament. Whether the government will give some assistance is another issue.  In the current climate and given the particular subject matter of this appeal, that may be regarded politically as a step too far.

Of course, in the twenty-first century, advice is offered by all kinds of professional advisers in the course of their business. Many are not lawyers. For the time being at least, they will need to continue to remind their clients that their advice remains potentially disclosable.”

Wayne Perrin | wayneperrin@greene-greene.com | T: 01284 717454 | www.greene-greene.com

As a dual qualified solicitor and chartered tax adviser, Wayne works with a wide variety of clients, from individuals to companies. He has recently advised on estate planning and Inheritance Tax mitigation for individuals, as well as advising on partnership structures, particularly for the agricultural sector.

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