Gartsides Solicitors

Covid-19 Updated Statement 24 August 2020

Gartsides are proactively monitoring and responding to the evolving Covid-19 situation and continuing to follow all guidance issued by the NHS and the Welsh Government.

Behind the scenes, we have worked hard to ensure that our premises are Covid secure so that our legal teams are on hand to support you and all our services can be accessed safely.

For the protection of our staff and clients, we are continuing to restrict face to face contact and can offer consultations by telephone or video call. Face to face meetings can be arranged where this is unavoidable, but this must be by pre-arranged appointment only. In those circumstances, clients will be asked to follow our safety procedures by sanitising their hands upon arrival and wearing a face covering. Protective screens will be available in meeting rooms. Face coverings can also be provided on request. In our Newport office, we have put Covid secure IT facilities in place to assist our clients where necessary with remote court hearings.

CONTACTING US

Our current opening hours are 9am-4pm. Closed for lunch 1pm-2pm

Most of our lawyers are continuing to work remotely, so please contact us by telephone or email wherever possible.

Existing clients: Please continue to email or telephone your usual lawyer and team

New clients: Please telephone one of our main office numbers at the office most convenient to you, or alternatively, please use the contact details on our website and we will put you in touch with a lawyer as soon as possible.

Newport - 01633 213411 Abergavenny - 01873 857555 Ebbw Vale - 01495 302109

Email: www.gartsidessolicitors.com

We are continuing to attend all criminal courts and police stations in accordance with

government guidelines, please see below for more information.

We thank you for your continued support in these difficult times.

A copy of our risk assessment can be provided upon request.

Court & Police Station Attendances during COVID-19 26 March 2020

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic our clients and their families should be made aware of the following:

COURT HEARINGS

NO person due to answer bail at either the Magistrates Court or Crown Court are required to attend. All hearings to include trials have been/will be adjourned to a future date. The Court will NOT issue any warrant for your arrest.

THE COURT will in due course send directly to each person who was/is due to attend court, a letter confirming the future date when they will be required to attend unless circumstances change further. The letter will be sent to the last known address that the court have on record for you.

We at GARTSIDES SOLICITORS will continue to liase directly with the courts to ensure that we are kept appraised of all developments in this regard however in terms of onward court dates we cannot at this time confirm when these will be. YOU as our clients are likely to receive confirmation before we do.

GARTSIDES wish to ensure that as always we are there to support our clients and so we would be extremely grateful if you could upon receipt of any future date advise our offices accordingly. This can be achieved by sending a text message to our Out of Hours telephone number which is being monitored 24/7 07977540142 or via email at anashharding@gartsides.com or lrhead@gartsides.com

Your future court date will then be added to our diary system. This is the best mechanism for us to ensure that our Legal Team can be at court to represent your best interests.

POLICE STATION INTERVIEWS

We at GARTSIDES are committed to making sure that we continue to deliver a quality professional service to those who have been arrested by the police/have been requested to attend as a volunteer to be interviewed under caution or are due to answer bail at the police station. The current pandemic means that in many cases our advice to you will be provided over the telephone or via applications such as SKYPE. This is to protect EVERYONE and ensure that the virus does not spread further.

GARTSIDES are currently liasing directly with Gwent and South Wales Police to put in place the appropriate measures to achieve this. We are very much still there for you! The procedures adopted in no way will affect your right to have free and independent legal advice and a high quality service. Please therefore ensure that should you be arrested or asked to attend as a volunteer then as normal you request that a representative of Gartsides be contacted in the usual way.

Again please direct all queries or concerns by contacting our out of hours office number – 07977540142 or anashharding@gartsides.com or lrhead@gartsides.com

Many thanks for your patience and support during this difficult time.

COVID-19 23 March 2020

As the situation regarding COVID-19 develops daily, at Gartsides we are doing everything we can to ensure we keep our staff safe while continuing to deliver a high quality service.

We have already put measures in place to ensure that our business can continue to operate efficiently throughout this national emergency.

With immediate effect, some of our members of staff will be working from home. We have ensured that they have the systems and equipment in place to allow them to work remotely, meaning that there will be no noticeable change to the service we deliver to you.

We have scaled down the number of staff in our offices in line with government advice, but still have a physical presence in all three offices.

However, we would ask all clients to arrange appointments by telephone and not to call at the office. We are confident that consultations can be conducted effectively by telephone and we can also offer video calls where required. Much of our communication is electronic and we recommend that you continue to use emails to communicate with us.

We are continuing to attend police stations and courts in line with government advice. Certain hearings may take place by video conferencing or even by telephone in future, and we will update you about this as government advice evolves.

We are committed to ensuring that our service in these difficult times remains at the same high standard and we look forward to working with you through this period and beyond.

Gartsides Solicitors fundraise for Macmillan Cancer Support October 2019

Thrilled to announce that we have raised a fantastic £1,039.79 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

£849.79 from our 12 Mile Sponsored Walk and £190 from our Coffee Morning.

Thank you so much to all our staff who participated and to all the wonderful people who sponsored them!

Gartsides Solicitors GDPR Privacy Notice May 2018

UK Data Privacy/Data Protection Law will change significantly on 25th May 2018.

The General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR for short) is a positive step towards you having more control over how your data is used and how you are contacted by us.

If you are an individual, the rights you have under the GDPR include the following:

The right to be informed
The right of access
The right to rectification
The right to erasure
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

The changes will also help to better protect your Personal Data. We have therefore updated our privacy notice to reflect these changes.

Gartsides Solicitors become Official Sponsors of Tranch AFC October 2017

We are delighted to announce that we have become Official Sponsors of the Tranch Football Club.

Tranch AFC is a community football club based on the borders of the Wainfelin, Brynwern and Pontypool electoral wards in Torfaen, South Wales. The club plays its football in the Gwent County & Gwent Central League.

Our Gartsides logo will appear embroided onto the clubs polo shirts and a large banner will be displayed at all home games.

See our photos below of when our Partners Lynda Rhead, James Campbell and Solicitor Alan Jones attended the unveiling of our official banner with the Tranch AFC players and affiliates.