Team news: Court of protection Summer 2016

Posted 16/06/2016

It’s been a busy few months in the Court of Protection Team here at Ashtons Legal!

In with the new

You will have spotted that as from 1 April, Ashton KCJ became Ashtons Legal! Following the successful merger of Ashton Graham and Kester Cunningham John back in 2011 the time was right to streamline the firm name, but all else stays the same and Adrian and Anna will continue to represent the firm at various conferences under our new branding. All email addresses now take the format of forename.surname@ashtonslegal.co.uk but emails sent to previous AKCJ accounts will still be received. 1 April also saw the appointment of three new Partners at the firm; Sharon Allison, Genie Barham and Claire Sleep; from the clinical negligence, commercial property and employment teams respectively.

New beginnings

We welcome to the Court of Protection (COP) Team new Administration Assistant Chloe Blake who joins our busy support team, working alongside longstanding team administrator Christina Findell and under the expert pupillage of COP Support Team Manager Tracy Dumican. Chloe joins us from the Forestry Commission and is currently concentrating on our billing work whilst our Legal Costs Clerk, Nicola Littlewood, is on maternity leave. Welcome Chloe!

Fond farewells

It was with a heavy heart that we bid a fond farewell to Relationship Manager, Jodie Allen, who left the team in June to begin a new adventure ‘Down Under’!  Jodie worked tirelessly for her clients over the last two years and built some fantastic relationships. We are sure you will join us in wishing Jodie all the best for her move to Australia and we look forward to receiving pictures for our next edition of the e-news! Please note, all those who worked with Jodie should have been contacted individually regarding the ongoing management of your cases.

New opportunities
Jodie’s departure from the team has paved the way for a number of colleagues within the team who have stepped up to take on Case Worker roles and offer additional support to our clients. We extend congratulations to existing team members Ross Blows, Emily Green and Rebecca Jones, who have taken on new clients as part of their new Case Worker roles, under the supervision of longstanding Senior Relationship Manager’s, Paul Humphries and Anna Foster, and of course Deputies, Tom Cook, Adrian Mundell and Debbie Holmes.

        Ross                              Emily                          Rebecca

Client service is at the heart of what we do and it is vital to us that you and your clients continue to receive the best level of service during this transition period and thereafter. To this end, we have introduced a new Project Co-ordinator to the team and we welcome Richard Dubery, (previously Financial Administrator) to this post.”   Richard already expertly and meticulously oversees our property purchases and this new role will see his brief expand further in terms of the support he is able to offer to our Relationship Managers and to our clients. Richard’s dedication to his colleagues and clients was recognised by his recent win of an internal ‘core values’ award for his exceptional teamwork, as nominated by his peers and awarded by the Partnership and CEO. Well done Richard!

  Richard

COP in the community

The Court of Protection Team continue to be active supporters of charity and following on from Paul Humphries impressive sky dive for the Silver Lining covered in a previous edition, this quarter we focus on Relationship Manager Daniel Knight who ran the Virgin London Marathon on 24th April. Daniel ran an impressive time of 04.01.33 and has raised over £1,000.00 for Cure & Action for Tay-Sachs, a small charity with local connections that is close to his heart. Tay–Sachs is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder. In its most common variant (known as infantile Tay–Sachs disease), it causes a progressive deterioration of nerve cells and of mental and physical abilities that begins around 7 months of age and usually results in death by the age of four. There is no known cure or treatment.

The CATS Foundation (Cure & Action for Tay-Sahs Foundation) was established in 2011 by Daniel & Patricia Lewi. Their daughter was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs at 15 months and at the time there were no UK based charities dedicated to providing support for families affected by Tay-Sachs. The CATS Foundation’s main focus is supporting families affected by Tay-Sachs whilst also raising awareness of the disease. The charity provides a support network, respite trips and vital equipment so that a sufferers quality of life is as high as possible. The CATS Foundation also provides funding to the research team who are investigating a potential treatment for Tay-Sachs. Anybody still wishing to support Daniel in his fundraising can do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/danielruns