Apple customer nearly loses out on $10,000 i Tunes gift card

Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, nearly missed out on a $10,000 gift card from Apple before because she thought she was being harangued by a time-wasting prankster. Her daughter was the lucky Apple customer to have purchased the 10 billionth application from Apple's store with her purchase of the virtual paper airplane app "Paper Glider"

“I thought it was a prank call,” said Davis. "I said ‘Thank you very much, I’m not interested’ and I hung up.”

Having told the legitimate Apple representative to go away, Davis frantically tried to phone the company back, after her daughters told her the "prank" might have been genuine.

All was resolved when she got through and received her award.

More than 1,000 solicitors support Will Aid charity scheme

Monday 24 January 2011 by Jonathan Rayner

'More than 1,100 solicitors have participated in a will-writing scheme that is set to raise at least £1.5m for nine UK charities.

Solicitors all over the country took part in November 2010’s Will Aid campaign, forgoing their usual fee for preparing a will, and instead asking clients to make a donation to the British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Age UK, NSPCC, Save the Children UK and other major charities'.

Read more on the Law Society Gazette Article  on Will Aid Charity Scheme : http://bit.ly/hAJlB5

RBS Six Nations Fixture List

RBS Six Nations Rugby - a total of 15 exciting games involving England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France & Italy.

Fri 4 Feb - Wales v England - Millennium Stadium - 19:45

Sat 5 Feb - Italy v Ireland - Sadio Flaminio - 14:30

Sat 5 Feb - France v Scotland - Stade de France - 16:00

Sat 12 Feb - England v Italy - Twickenham - 14:30

Sat 12 Feb - Scotland v Wales - Murrayfield - 17:00 

Sat 13 Feb - Ireland v France - Aviva Stadium - 15:00 

Sat 26 Feb - Italy v Wales - Stadio Flaminio - 14:30

Sat 26 Feb - England v France - Twickenham - 17:00

Sun 27 Feb - Scotland v Ireland - Murrayfield - 15:00

Sat 12 Mar - Italy v France - Stadio Flaminio - 14:30  

Sat 12 Mar - Wales v Ireland - Millenium Stadium - 17:00

Sun 13 Mar - England v Scotland - Twickenham - 15:00 

Sat 19 Mar - Scotland v Italy - Murrayfield - 14:30 

Sat 19 Mar - Ireland v England - Aviva Stadium - 15:00

Sat 19 Mar - France v Wales - Stade de France - 20:45 

Boy who suffered brain damage at birth awarded £6.4 million

It has today been reported that a boy who suffered severe brain damage during his delivery at an NHS birth centre in Hertfordshire has been awarded £6.4 million in settlement of his medical negligence claim. The payment to Theo, who cannot sit up without support and will never be able to walk, will be made by Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust on behalf of the Edgware Birth Centre in north-west London. After the hearing, the family's solicitors said the trust "has admitted the birth centre was negligent and was responsible for the appalling injuries suffered by little Theo".

The Solicitors statement said: "Janet and Earnie were told the midwives at the birth centre were better trained and more experienced than many midwives working in hospitals.

"They were also reassured the birth centre would be safer for their baby and in the event their baby needed to be delivered in hospital this would be arranged as fast if not faster than for a woman already in hospital.

"Sadly this was not the case. Janet was left in the care of a student midwife. Theo's heart rate was not properly monitored and the student midwife failed to realise that Theo was in severe distress and needed to be delivered.

"Theo was gravely ill when he was born because he had been deprived of oxygen and there were further delays in arranging for him to be transferred to Barnet General Hospital."

Conservative MP says Lawyers have vested interest in opposing Legal Aid Cuts

Conservative Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns who backs reform to Legal Aid Cuts has labelled those working in the legal profession as lacking objectivity. He said: "Of course, some of these strongest opponents come from the legal profession whose incomes depend on the money that comes from legal aid so I hardly think they're the most objective people. There's a significant amount of waste and a significant amount of expenditure that could be drawn from elsewhere."

Rich coming from someone who has not had to struggle over the years on a very low hourly rate and who probably has no idea how difficult it is now becoming for a person on limited funds to gain access to the legal system.

UK Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has proposed cutting legal aid by £350m a year by 2015. The UK government has said it hopes this will lead to "cheaper and more efficient justice". Funding for a wide range of disputes, including some divorce cases and clinical negligence, is to be axed.

As with most of these cost cutting announcements the Government has not given any detail about the figures quoted, nor has it given any thought of the long term cost of making these cuts. If this forces more litigants to go it alone, how will this impact on Court time and resources? Furthermore by introducing competition this will lead to younger and inexperienced advocates and the number of appeals will no doubt increase as will dissatisfaction amongst the end user.

Despite media perception of the law, most lawyers practising these days are very cost conscious and have had the merits of mediation and conciliation drilled into them from an early age. By making it easier and less expensive to instruct a good and competent lawyer issues particularly those of as social nature are more likely to be resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of the end user than they would if left to the individual or less experienced lawyer to handle. Many lawyers also play the role of a 'social worker' to many clients and help to ensure clients receive the support they need - by removing the lawyer from this environment the Government could very well face larger 'bills' in other areas of social support, and even perhaps increased social unrest.

The message is simple: think long and hard about the impact of these cuts – do not make knee jerk decisions as these could prove costly in the long run.

Latest iPad Rumour

News from 9to5Mac has just emerged to suggest that the rear-facing cam on the tablet's sequel will only be a paltry 1-Megapixel number.
The website delved into the SDK of the upcoming tablet and found in its depths references to the camera as being 1-Megapixel, but the report claims that this will in fact be the same 0.7-Meg lens as is found on the 4th generation iPod Touch. That camera is limited to shots 960 by 720 pixels deep and video at native 720p. Not all that special, given the iPhone 4's excellent 5-Meg cam. The report added: 'The front camera is also said to be the same as is found on the Touch – a 0.2-Meg VGA. Obviously, this cam will be good enough to take part in Apple's Face Time video conferencing, but it's still not awe-inspiring'.

Possible Savings on Stamp Duty

If you are purchasing in excess of £250,000 you may be able to save money on stamp duty. At MJP we can put you in touch with Tax Planners who may be able to save you money. If you wish to take advantage of this service please speak with your case handler when instructing us. Remember our conveyancing fees start at £250 plus VAT. For further information please call Shelley on 01603877001 or e-mail shelleygrint@m-j-p.co.uk