iPhone app combats tinnitus:

Tinnitus suffers have new assistance to help reduce the effects of the condition in the form of an iPhone app, Tinnitus Pro.  The app uses Notched Music Therapy to filter out an individual’s specific tinnitus frequency, whilst enabling them to continue to listen to their own music.

The app is based on research previously carried out into the condition by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Muenster in Germany and has been endorsed by the Tinnitus Research Initiative.

It is claimed that over time those using the app will benefit from a substantial reduction in the volume of their tinnitus.

The news should come as a welcome advancement in the treatment of tinnitus, with the developers saying it will provide a more cost-effective, consumer-based remedy than those currently on the market.

Another music star reveals tinnitus trauma:

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay has revealed he suffers from the debilitating ear condition tinnitus.

The condition, characterised by a constant ringing in the ears, can cause painful headaches, and Martin says it is these symptoms he suffers from.  In a recent interview with the Daily Mirror he is quoted as saying “I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, but since I started protecting my ears, it hasn’t got any worse.”

To help protect against further damage, he says that he, along with the rest of the band use moulded filter plugs when performing.

The singer is now helping to front a new campaign, Action on Hearing Loss, with help from other music stars who suffer from tinnitus.

If you are affected by tinnitus or other hearing-related conditions as a result of exposure to noise in the workplace, then please do not hesitate to contact the Industrial Disease team at Stripes Solicitors.

News update: 08/05/12 – Tinnitus news:

iPhone app combats tinnitus:

Tinnitus suffers have new assistance to help reduce the effects of the condition in the form of an iPhone app, Tinnitus Pro.  The app uses Notched Music Therapy to filter out an individual’s specific tinnitus frequency, whilst enabling them to continue to listen to their own music.

The app is based on research previously carried out into the condition by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Muenster in Germany and has been endorsed by the Tinnitus Research Initiative.

It is claimed that over time those using the app will benefit from a substantial reduction in the volume of their tinnitus.

The news should come as a welcome advancement in the treatment of tinnitus, with the developers saying it will provide a more cost-effective, consumer-based remedy than those currently on the market.

Another music star reveals tinnitus trauma:

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay has revealed he suffers from the debilitating ear condition tinnitus.

The condition, characterised by a constant ringing in the ears, can cause painful headaches, and Martin says it is these symptoms he suffers from.  In a recent interview with the Daily Mirror he is quoted as saying “I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, but since I started protecting my ears, it hasn’t got any worse.”

To help protect against further damage, he says that he, along with the rest of the band use moulded filter plugs when performing.

The singer is now helping to front a new campaign, Action on Hearing Loss, with help from other music stars who suffer from tinnitus.

If you are affected by tinnitus or other hearing-related conditions as a result of exposure to noise in the workplace, then please do not hesitate to contact the Industrial Disease team at Stripes Solicitors.

News update: 08/05/12 – Tinnitus news:

iPhone app combats tinnitus:

Tinnitus suffers have new assistance to help reduce the effects of the condition in the form of an iPhone app, Tinnitus Pro.  The app uses Notched Music Therapy to filter out an individual’s specific tinnitus frequency, whilst enabling them to continue to listen to their own music.

The app is based on research previously carried out into the condition by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Muenster in Germany and has been endorsed by the Tinnitus Research Initiative.

It is claimed that over time those using the app will benefit from a substantial reduction in the volume of their tinnitus.

The news should come as a welcome advancement in the treatment of tinnitus, with the developers saying it will provide a more cost-effective, consumer-based remedy than those currently on the market.

Another music star reveals tinnitus trauma:

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay has revealed he suffers from the debilitating ear condition tinnitus.

The condition, characterised by a constant ringing in the ears, can cause painful headaches, and Martin says it is these symptoms he suffers from.  In a recent interview with the Daily Mirror he is quoted as saying “I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, but since I started protecting my ears, it hasn’t got any worse.”

To help protect against further damage, he says that he, along with the rest of the band use moulded filter plugs when performing.

The singer is now helping to front a new campaign, Action on Hearing Loss, with help from other music stars who suffer from tinnitus.

If you are affected by tinnitus or other hearing-related conditions as a result of exposure to noise in the workplace, then please do not hesitate to contact the Industrial Disease team at Stripes Solicitors.

One thing that really annoys me as a business lawyer at a commercial law firm is the lack of commerciality from other members of the profession.

It has always been my understanding that when negotiating a contract the two parties starting positions are at different ends of the spectrum and by negotiation the parties reach a happy consensus, usually somewhere near the middle.

However, occasionally you do get the lawyer who can’t see the “wood for the trees”, who forgets that he is there to serve his client’s needs to get, within reason, the most commercially advantageous outcome for his client and is prepared to potentially scupper a relationship by blindly following a legalistic stand point, rather than weighing the commercial realities of matters on the table to reach a cost effective solution which achieves the client’s commercial objectives.

Good business lawyers are business minded, they understand the commercial context in which they provide legal advice to their clients, they appreciate not only their clients’ legal needs, but also the business needs and wider environment in which those clients operate, they add value to their clients business, they build and maintain relationships with clients, and they become an entrusted adviser.

Almost weekly the cry is that the number of mergers and acquisitions is at such a low ebb because of the lack of facilities for prospective purchasers to be able to borrow money to fund the deals.

“This doesn’t give the true picture,” says Corporate Lawyer Steve Jarman, Director of mergers and acquisitions at commercial law firm Stripes Solicitors. “There are institutions out there who are very willing to make funds available, and many occasions recently when clients have had offers of funding but the deal has still fallen over. The primary reason behind this is the poor quality or obsolescence of the information provided by the Vendor and their advisers.”

“Only once the purchaser has offers of funding will he undertake due diligence and when he does he finds that performance of the business has declined since the Information Memorandum was prepared of the figures for the months since the last accounts are no what they should be.

The lesson according to Jarman should be that “Vendors should be much more aware that forcasts and performance should be achievable and be met and if the rest of the business stacks up, then there will be people out there willing to fund the transcation.”

Stephen Jarman advises both corporate and individual clients from a wide range of businesses on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions.  If you have any queries appertaining to corporate law, please contact Stephen Jarman at Stripes Solicitors.

STEPHEN JARMAN

DIRECTOR, COMPANY & COMMERCIAL

E: saj@stripes-solicitors.co.uk

SURVEYORS’ PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE LITIGATION
Professional negligence actions against surveyors and Estate Agents are currently becoming more common in relation to property valuations between 2004 and 2007 when values escalated and mortgage Companies were prepared to accept low deposits. This is not a new phenomenon and has occurred in previous recessions as falling house markets mean that the equity in property is often nil. As property repossessions increase, financial institutions increasingly look to recover their losses from professionals for sales arising out of repossessed properties in negative equity. Professional negligence claims do not only affect surveyors and Estate Agents, as financial institutions also look to conveyancing Solicitors if they have made a mistake which could affect a property’s value.
The hurdle which the financial institution must overcome in pursuing their claim is whether the valuation was appropriate at the time they were valued, and whether anyone could have forecast falling prices and a recession affecting property values for so long. The scale of these professional negligence claims can be demonstrated from the experience of Countrywide which is the country’s biggest Estate Agency with professional negligence claims against them exceeding £21m over the last two years. During 2010/2011, the costs to Countrywide of the claims is £21.3m which has resulted in the loss that Countrywide have made over the same period of £20.3m. Between January to [ ] there have been more than 100 proceedings lodged against Countrywide in the High Court with many being brought by large mortgage providers such as Northern Rock, Barclays, Bank of Scotland and Yorkshire Building Society.
Countrywide’s Accounts confirm “In common with others in the industry we continue to experience Professional Indemnity insurance claims in our surveying division arising from the property market between 2004 and 2007.” It continues, “an estimate of these exceptional losses was established at the end of 2010 and further data and trends have resulted in an exceptional charge of £9.4m in 2011.”
Countrywide’s experience is indicative of claims which surveyors and Estate Agents face from large mortgage providers. Countrywide’s very active surveying department means that it will have a comparative share of the claims arising from 2004 to 2007 when the property market was spiralling upwards. During the period Countrywide undertook more than 1.7m valuations and overall they consider the claims to be proportionally low. There has also been an increase in individuals pursuing professional negligence claims against Surveyors and Solicitors as they find themselves in a negative equity trap, but unlike financial institutions, they are often likely to be able to pursue professional negligence actions without the benefit of a Solicitor being prepared to work on a “no win no fee” agreement basis (known as a Conditional Fee Agreement ). Financial institutions have deep pockets and will have expectation of commercial settlements out of Court.

NWIX is a leading provider of high-availability, secure and resilient networking solutions for businesses demanding a performance environment and is also owner and manager of the Manchester Internet Exchange.

Commenting upon the NWIX deal, Stephen Jarman, who has acted for NWIX since 2006, but has known the management team at NWIX since the late 1990’s, having worked with them on previous successful business ventures, commented that “it has been a pleasure to continue to work with NWIX to grow a business that has vision and recognises the need to provide bespoke communications infrastructure solutions that exceed industry standards for companies that rely on their web presence to do business.”

NWIX has now relocated many of its head office functions to Liverpool but will maintain its network operating centre in Macclesfield. The expectation is that the investment will allow NWIX to increase its turnover by almost over 40% over the next 12 months and create a number of news jobs over the next 3 years.

It was also announced the government are looking at ways of making it easier for sufferers and their solicitors to trace their former employer’s insurers.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan commented on the issue, stating “someone suffering this horrible disease is not making up their cancer to make a quick buck.”

This is welcome news from the government, helping to ensure victims of industrial diseases like mesothelioma can seek to recover compensation without having to worry about funding the costs of their claim.

Most commonly associated with prolonged exposure from noisy industrial surroundings, tinnitus can affect anyone who is subjected to noise from their working environment.

The Voice star recently stated that he has the condition, saying: ‘There’s always a beep there every day, all day…I can’t be quiet as that’s when I notice the ringing in my ears.’

The condition, in conjunction with Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) or occupational deafness, is a common complaint with clients who we advise regarding claims against employers who have failed to protect them from noise whilst they work.

If you are affected by NIHL, occupational deafness and/or tinnitus as a result of exposure to noise in the workplace, then please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012:

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which came into force on 6 April 2012, update the previous regulations surrounding asbestos control.

To summarise, the updated asbestos regulations now include the following requirements:

• Some non-licensed work to be notified to the appropriate authority;
• Medical examinations must be carried out on all employees, including self-employed workers, working on notifiable non-licensed work with asbestos; and
• Brief written records of non-licensed work that has to be notified to be kept and maintained.

Further information on the above can be found by visiting the HSE website:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/licensing/notifiable-non-licensed-work.htm

The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2012:

The purpose of the regulations, in force from 1 April 2012, is to provide for lump sum compensation payments to mesothelioma sufferers or their dependants who are not eligible for a payment under existing legislation.

The new regulations also increase the amounts of compensation paid to sufferers or their dependants under the previous scheme by 5.2% from 1st April 2012.

The new rates will apply to those diagnosed with mesothelioma on or after 1 April 2012 and to dependants where the sufferer died on or after 1 April 2012.

Asbestos danger in schools:

The danger of asbestos exposure in school buildings has again been highlighted in a report published by the All-Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health and Safety.

The report, released to MPs in February this year states that more than 75% of the 33,600 schools in Britain contain asbestos to levels that constitute a significant risk of exposure.

Research into the problem has found that over 200 teachers have died from mesothelioma, a disease commonly associated with asbestos exposure since 1980, and that a further nine children will die for every teacher fatally contracting the disease.

Despite these findings, the Government has no plans for removal of asbestos in schools, preferring a policy of containment and insisting that schools manage the risk themselves.

The claim was brought by Helen Todd and was taken on by her husband, John Todd after she died from her condition.

The Ministry of Defence accepted liability and settled the claim out of court, which resulted in damages being awarded to the sum of £110,000.

Mrs Todd’s death is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by exposure to asbestos fibres, even when not working directly with asbestos itself.

The cause of Mrs Todd’s exposure was from asbestos fibres which had attached themselves to her husband’s clothes during his work. The fibres were then brought into the house and she became exposed when washing the clothes.

The case is particularly pertinent, as it highlights how pernicious asbestos can be; Mrs Todd’s exposure was limited to the times she came into contact with her husband’s work clothes, yet without proper protection she was as vulnerable as if working directly with asbestos.

If you or a family member have been exposed to asbestos and have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease such as mesothelioma, asbestosis or pleural thickening, please call the industrial disease team at Stripes Solicitors for advice.

The litigation had been brought by insurers seeking to determine whether the insurer on risk during the period of exposure or when the asbestos related condition developed should meet the claim. If the court ruled that it was when the condition developed or was diagnosed this could have led to hundreds of people being denied compensation if the company who exposed them was no longer trading at that time and therefore had no insurance.

The Supreme Court has ruled the insurer on risk during the period of exposure to asbestos should meet the claim. One of the judges, Lord Clarke, said: “The negligent exposure of an employee to asbestos during the [insurance] policy period has a sufficient causal link with subsequently arising mesothelioma to trigger the insurer’s obligation.”

This is good news for claimant’s who now have certainty. Arguably this litigation should never have been brought and has led to years of delay for those people affected. It also has wider implications for other work related illnesses.

If you have been exposed to asbestos and believe that you have suffered injury as a result please contact us without delay.