Legal briefs: Brabners, Cobbetts and Linder Myers

LAW firm Brabners Chaffe Street has advised the shareholders of Mobcast, the digital book platform provider, on its £4.5m sale to Tesco.

Mobcast provides a digital book retail platform with a catalogue of more than 130,000 of titles which can be bought and read on smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

Brabners Chaffe Street corporate partner, David Bowcock, and associate, Mark Morrell, advised Mobcast’s shareholders on the sale.

He said: “We have worked with Mobcast for the past four years supporting the growth of the business. Being part of a global group like Tesco represents a fantastic outcome and opportunity for Tony Lynch, Andy McNab and their team.”

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A Manchester lawyer and his team have been recognised for their contributions to the public sector after being selected for two of the country’s most prestigious awards.

Kevin Jaquiss, who is a partner at Cobbetts and also leads the public services team, has been shortlisted for success by the FT Innovative Lawyers and Education Investor Magazine.

The firm has been nominated by the FT Innovative Lawyer Award for its client service with The Co-operative joint venture and the Mutual Business Detector, developed with the London Borough of Lambeth, which is a means of establishing which council services would be most suitable to be operated within a mutual structure.

Likewise, the Education Investor ‘Legal Advisor of the Year’ nomination reflects the firm’s efforts to improve the education sector building on the development of the co-operative trust school model, which has now been adopted by over 200 schools across the country.

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LINDER Myers has launched a free service for a limited period offering local businesses a review of their employment contracts and handbooks.

The initiative comes as the firm has noticed a significant increase in employment disputes arising from often simple omissions in contracts such as the exclusion of restrictive covenants which can help protect businesses from the competition.

Alan Lewis, head of employment at Linder Myers said: “Employment contracts are the basis on which a business can set terms and conditions for employees agreeing the parameters, expectations and rewards for individuals while under its employment.

“In the current economic climate, ensuring these are up-to-date can help protect businesses for example, the inclusion of covenants restricting employees from contacting clients and suppliers for a set period after the termination of their contract can eliminate risk. It is advisable to review contracts on an annual basis to ensure that they continue to meet business needs.”