Launched in a pandemic? They must be mad. This wasn't a view shared by solicitors Jonathon Stokes and Angela Curran.
Friends for over 20 years, it was a lightbulb moment over a cup of coffee that sealed the deal for Angela to join Jonathon’s existing practice and develop a boutique dispute resolution practice. Elmwoods Law & Mediation opened its doors in June 2020 and has already expanded necessitating a move into larger offices at Hoults Yard on the Ouseburn. Collectively they have over 60 years’ experience in litigation in areas ranging from commercial litigation through contested probate to clinical negligence. They are also both qualified mediators. The new practice has been busy undertaking mediations by videolink during the pandemic. Neither were confident that this would work and were nervous about the technology and lack of face to face contact. The process has, however, proven to be very successful. Angela was really unsure about the effectiveness of remote mediation but is now a total convert after having conducted all mediations remotely for eight months during the lockdown. There are the obvious cost benefits to all the parties in not having to travel plus it’s less stressful because the participants are in familiar surroundings. Elmwoods settlement rate for remote mediation has actually been higher than for face to face mediations. The message, says Angela, is more than ever we need to be creative about the manner in which we seek to resolve disputes. Not unsurprisingly, both urge people to consider mediation generally as an alternate to long, drawn out litigation. Each is keen for prospective litigants to understand how the flexibility of mediation, and the settlement options it gives, could assist them far more than the ‘win or lose’ outcome of a trial. Angela, a clinical negligence solicitor, has been busy since June with no perceivable change in pace in her litigation work as a result of the pandemic. One noticeable feature has been the increasing number of enquiries from people worried about the effect of delay in medical treatment that the pandemic has caused. Her view is that the scale of this will become increasingly clear over the next few years and reminds people that the NHS is still open for business. The practices employment and HR team have been particularly busy since June. Employment law is a core part of the business but HR issues have become very significant over the summer months. Jonathon explained that many micro and small businesses cannot afford an HR department and we have found ourselves giving HR support to many such businesses who have really needed this during the pandemic. We are able to offer this through our in-house HR professionals as well as the traditional employment and tribunal advice through our employment lawyers. Small businesses have sought our advice on a range of matters from grants, loans, the furlough scheme, self-isolation and day to day issues through to assisting them with restructuring and, regrettably, the redundancy process. It was in fact this HR need that produced the recent expansion when in September 2020 the practice brought local HR consultancy, Hadrian HR, under its wing to form part of the Elmwoods business. Solicitor, Paul Lott, who heads HR services at Elmwoods and works closely with Hadrian’s HR and employment law specialist Deb Tweedy (as chartered member CIPD), is of the view that the provision of HR support to small business clients is the way forward. It has been challenging and full on during the pandemic. The clients have been incredibly appreciative of help with often confusing schemes and procedures. Hadrian HR offers an HR support package which has proven very popular and is tailored to the size and particular needs of each business. Essentially it allows a business to pay a monthly fee which purchases a raft of documentation and a fixed number of hours support per month. These hours can be rolled over to subsequent months if unused. Disappointed at not being able to have a traditional launch party mid pandemic Jonathon and Angela did consider a zoom champagne reception but for this occasion decided there were absolutely no benefits, so opted for a cup of tea instead. However, they will be having a bash for their supporters as soon as the restrictions are lifted. If you would like more information about the practice and its’ services, contact either jonathon.stokes@elmwoods.co.uk or angela.curran@elmwoods.co.uk
