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Dear Clients and those of you who are interested in our legal services, herewith we are bringing to you our Internet Presentation. In the Presentation we inform you about the core, subject matter and content of our services, as well as about other connected issues. Thus we share with you our attitude to legal issues, findings from our practice and at the same time we present our conception of the services provided by us to you. All of this also sums up and represents our attitude to you.
We build on many years of practice gained in various legal specialisations and based upon the unified approach to theory and practice, ways of law application and legal thinking in general. It all enables us to provide our clients with comprehensive legal services. We provide our services in Czech (Slovak) and English languages.
We are ready and glad to inform you specifically about our attitude and our philosophy for our common journey through the rough waters of law.
Mgr. Filip Záděra, Ph.D., attorney at law/advocate. Legal practice since 2003. Advocate since 2007. During his practice, he has been focused mainly on the area of private law – provision of legal services as well as theoretical issues connected with establishment, existence and internal relations of commercial companies (corporations) and other legal entities, their (business) activities and administration of their business. At the same time he deals mainly with the matters from commercial and civil law, labour law, IT law, copyright law and transport law (including the issues of international freight transport and CMR convention application). Besides that he is also focused on the issues of business activities of foreign entities in our territory, establishment and existence of multinational forms of corporations, including all the connected aspects, and on settlement of employment relationships and their specific features in case of companies transformations. During his practice he has been providing legal services to significant businessman (entrepreneurs) active both in the area of sale (distribution) of goods and in the area of provision of services (logistics, consultancy, IT).
Ichtius Project
The Ichtius Project is implementation of our ideas of how to provide services to you, our clients, in the necessary extent and for a consideration which is adequate. Our approach requires a thorough insight in the matter or case submitted by you, consideration of all the facts and connections decisive for you, including your timely and complete information about the state of the case.
The name of the Project, i.e. of what our work should be like according to our opinion, and also the graphic appearance of our presentation are based on the words "ichthys" and "ius". While the latter is characteristic for our field of activity and it is the Latin word for "law", the former is derived (in our name used in an abbreviated form) from the Greek word for "fish" which is commonly understood as a symbol of "purity".
By connecting both words we express our deep commitment to provide legal assistance in quite a wide range of areas we know in order to express your ideas and interests legally as aptly as possible and at the same time to connect them efficiently with possible legal protection. We pride ourselves on mutual trust and cooperation thanks to which it is possible to get to the actual core of the case we are solving together. Entrusted cases are always assessed with regard to what we consider to be adequate to the interests of our client known to us and legal assistance is then chosen in the extent which is capable of causing the intended effect.
The Ichtius Project, which is the core of our activities, is therefore based on an idea of providing our clients with requisite legal assistance using expertise, due insight, cooperation and helpfulness for provision of the most comprehensive and adequate legal services in a reasonable time frame.
We always strive to offer to our clients a fast and comprehensive "turn-key" solution with regard to their future needs or desired activities, as well as to minimise secondary costs – all this for reasonable remuneration.
At the same time, however, we do not decline consultancy in projects the content or importance of which is interesting for us or beneficial for the public interest, even if the remuneration for our services provided within them does not correspond to the time spent and activity performed.
We provide a wide range of legal services in various legal areas (specialisations) for businessman (their associations or groupings), foreign entities, self-administration as well as legal entities not performing business activities (non-profit sector) and natural persons (citizens). Our services are provided from Prague and Ostrava in Czech (Slovak) and English languages.
When providing legal services, we emphasize mainly close and long-term cooperation with a client based upon our mutual trust, knowledge of the conditions and special interests of the client, accentuating providing full information to the client about the legal nature, possible risks and possible solutions of their case and using Cooperating persons where it is useful for solution of your case.
Our philosophy, as it is expressed generally in the section Ichtius Project and discussed in more detail also in the section Remuneration, is to provide you, as our client, with the most comprehensive possible approach and thus also an effective "turnkey" solution of your case in a reasonable time frame, including savings of your time and costs. During our activities, we always try, in the interest of you as your client, to achieve what you expect from us in the maximum possible extent. Within the scope of this we are ready to provide our clients with legal services wherever necessary.
We focus on provision of legal services in the area of legal regulations: real estate (residential and non-residential premises) and legal relations to them, legal standing of businessman and relations connected with business activities, legal entities and legal relations connected with them, (commercial) obligation relations (contracts), labour law relations (both individual and collective ones), banking sector, rights arising from intellectual property and information technologies (IT), insolvency proceedings, inland and cross-border road transport of goods (freight) (CMR).
We provide a specialised legal aid concerning establishment (monetary and non-monetary contributions), existence, management (structure), inspections, dissolving and liquidation of companies (corporations), multinational forms of companies (SE) and other legal entities of both private and public law, including their transformations (mergers, splitting, transfer of company assets and legal form changes), acquisitions, dispositions with enterprise or its part (lease, pledge, deposit or sale) and consultancy in the area of concerns and inland or multinational associations of businessman (consortia, EHZS).
The forms of legal assistance provided by us are: legal consultations, setting of a legal strategy, legal analyses, due diligence, background researches, legal relations reorganisation, preparation or reviewing of contracts, deeds and declarations, internal regulations (rules), instructions and other documents.
Besides legal assistance, we also offer other related services, such as e.g. specialist lectures (seminars) on a selected topic from the legal area in which we provide legal services, (solution) custody of money, securities deeds, two-way conversion of documents and verifying of signatures (including appending an apostille).
We have sufficient technical equipment and expertise to be able to adapt and subsequently to use in favour of our clients all the advantages offered by the established justice electronization (data box, secured electronic signature, electronic filing including proposal for issuing of an electronic payment request (EPR), insolvency register monitoring etc.). Our efforts then bring you, as our clients, a significant shortening of the time required for settling of your case, savings of costs, both material ones including fees, and non-material ones in the form of time, effort and stress.
If you are interested, please see our detailed offer divided according to the legal nature of the persons interested in legal services or forms of your business plan.
Natural persons as businessman (sole proprietors, lessors, authors, free enterprise and other specialist professions)
For businessman, we offer legal consultancy concerning the possibility of implementation of their business plans, impacts of business activities on common property of spouses, preconditions for commencement or extension of their activities, responsible representatives and legal securing of the premises in the registered office, place of business or business premises (lease, purchase). We also offer solution of other matters connected with business activities, such as relations to the relevant chamber or to a professional association, legal issues connected with employing of nationals as well as foreigners, requirements for a business presentation (website, business documents etc.), basic obligations arising from the selected scope of business activities, including solution of the issues of the legal strategy of the business activities, business liability, company management and representation of the businessman, protection of intellectual property, industrial rights, trademarks, industrial design, patents and other rightful interests of the businessman (trade secrets), including the prospects of future restructuring of their company and disposal of it.
In the course of business activities of a businessman, we offer preparation and reviewing of other documents relating to the operation and management of the company (plant), protection of its interests, lease of the business property and other asset values (rights) and solving of matters concerning the relations connected with the business, such as relations to other entrepreneurs (suppliers, customers), consumers, economic competition, business practices and other relevant business and legal relationships.
At the same time we offer consultancy concerning uniting and connecting of businessman, joint procedure for protection of their interests, a possible change (transfer) into another form of business or ownership interest in it (commercial company, silent partnership, association etc.) and competitive relations.
Besides that we also offer representation of a businessman in the matters connected with registration in public registers (trade register and commercial register), in the proceedings held at trade supervisory office or another office in the matters of its activities and court proceedings or arbitration proceedings for protection of its rights and rightful interests (collection of receivables, damage compensation etc.), as well as during execution of a ruling (distrainment) and in bankruptcy proceedings (issues of bankruptcy, registration of receivables, reorganisation etc.).
Legal entities as businessman (commercial corporations etc.)
For businessman who have the legal form of one of commercial corporations (general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, European (joint-stock) company (Societas Europaea), European economic interest group (EHZS), cooperatives (European cooperative companies) or another form stipulated by law (authorised packaging company, state-owned enterprise, mixed chamber of commerce etc.) as well as their (future) founders we offer legal consultancy concerning the preparation and preconditions (criteria) for establishment (foundation) of these corporations, possibilities of their (main as well as secondary) activities and ownership interest in them, including the make-up and structure of their bodies and other connected issues of corporation law.
We also offer legal consultancy connected with existence of these corporations, their business activities, increasing of ownership interest in them, operation of their companies and branches (outlets), including transfer of the ownership interest, layout of the business assets, resolution of relations between the partners or members (founders), disposal of the company (plant) or its part, establishment of multinational (holding) company structures, association with other entities, concern relations, their reorganisation and connected labour law (collective) relations.
We also solve for you the issues connected with dissolution (liquidation) or transformation of corporations in the form of both inland and multinational merger, splitting, transfer of business assets to a partner, change of legal form, transformation into a multinational (supranational) corporation form or cross-border relocation of the registered office.
Our legal services also include the following:
comprehensive consultancy during establishing of commercial companies (corporations), including possible ownership interest (contributions) and arranging of trade licences, preparation of establishment and organisation documents (articles), preparation of all the documents for incorporation in the commercial and other public registers; in case of multinational companies (SE, EHZS) we also offer an analysis of the individual ways of establishment, organisation of the whole process and preparation of negotiation with the representatives of employees;
consultancy aimed at the scope of the business activity (activities) of a corporation, including setting of the business strategy, relations with suppliers and customers, legal protection of intellectual property and preparation of all the connected documents (contracts, declarations and business terms and conditions);
consultancy and settlement of legal relations between the partners or members (founders), relations between the corporation and members of its (collective) bodies, responsible representatives as well as statutory and contractual representatives (procura holders, management, branch plant manager and others), including the matters of mutual relations (rights to sign, financial assistance, restricted disposal of the assets, transfers between interconnected entities etc.);
preparation of contracts and other documents connected with the selected business or other activities and for ensuring of operation (management) of a company (plant) and protection of assets, rights and rightful interests of a corporation (trade secret, economic competition, intellectual and industrial property, trademarks, industrial designs, patents etc.), including documents enabling disposal of them (licences, franchising etc.);
comprehensive consultancy in labour law matters, in the issues connected with rights and obligations of the employer and employees in labour law relations, in the management positions, in the issues concerning competitive activities, in the basic issues of safety, protection of life and health of employees and safe operation of the company (workplaces) and protection of property and other interests of the employer, relations of a collective nature and relations to the representatives of the employees (trade unions, employee councils), including preparation of all contracts and other internal documents concerning these relations;
consultancy and preparation of documents concerning changes in ownership interest, by increasing the ownership interest in both monetary and non-monetary form, transfer of ownership interest (involvement), including other rights (acquisition), transfer of a company (part of a company/plant) as well as of other assets of a corporation, including all the connected issues (economic competition, coordination of the procedure of the partners or members etc.);
consultancy concerning the establishment and existence of an association with other entities, business groups and concern relations, including controlling contracts and stipulation of relationships in the actual concern;
preparation of all the changes of the establishment deeds or changes of the corporation activities or changes in its bodies, including their incorporation in the commercial or other public register and filing of documents in collection of documents;
consultancy and preparation of documents concerning reorganisation, transformation or winding-up (liquidation) of a corporation, including inland ones as well as international (multilateral) mergers, acquisitions, splitting (demerger), legal form changes, transfer of company property to a partner, establishment of multinational companies (SE) or registered office relocation.
Foreign entities (legal entities and natural persons)
For foreign entities, we provide comprehensive legal consultancy connected with the commencement and operation of their business activities, with protection of investments, with assets investments and protection of intellectual and industrial property, with employing of natural persons and with collective relations, with their stay (visa) and employing of foreigners in the Czech Republic (the EU) and in other connected matters. Our legal services are focused on the issues connected with implementation of their business plans in the Czech Republic, with establishment and existence of an organisation unit and other authorised persons, contractual relations with suppliers and customers, lease of assets, with conditions for development of business activities, with choice of a legal form for business activities, with possible participation in an existing business, including establishment of a legal entity, with issues connected with employing of foreigners, legal conditions of an established business, transfers of a company within the group or outside it, with protection of copyright and industrial rights and with acquisition of real estate (land plots and buildings) for business and other purposes.
In the specified matters, we offer our legal aid during court proceedings (arbitrations) and proceedings before other public authorities, including performance of a decision (distrainment) and insolvency (registering of receivables etc.).
To our citizens, we offer a basic range of legal services in the area of legal relationships of private law. They include mainly the issues of property rights (transfers of ownership and ownership disputes, cancellation and settlement of sharing ownership), personality protection, protection of consumer rights, obligation relations (contracts and other legal acts, securing of obligations), insurance as well as rights arising from unlawful actions (damage compensation, unjustified enrichment). We are also focused on the matters connected with rights pertaining to real property (residential and non-residential premises), as well as their transfer for a charge as well as free of charge, encumbrance (pledges and rights of user), pre-emption rights and other reservations or conditions, settlement of legal relations in the period before concluding a contract and recording rights in the register and lease of real estate. Besides that, we also provide accompanying services, such as negotiations with a financing bank and custody of money for the purpose of its payment to the transferor.
We also focus on the area of labour-law relations and consumer law. We offer comprehensive legal consultancy concerning the position, remuneration, damage liability, rights and obligations of an employee and issues connected with application of equal handling principle, discrimination issues and abuse of the employer's rights in labour law relations, including collective relations (trade unions, employee councils). We also prepare and review employment contracts, management and similar contracts and agreement on work performed outside the scope of employment relationship (contract for work and contract on performance of work and contract on performance of task) and other similar agreements in this area (material responsibility, competition clause etc.). At the same time we provide consultation in the area of standing and rights of consumers and their associations. We also provide consultancy in the area of family law, including preparation of documents concerning premarital relations, divorces, adoption, narrowing and settlement of common property of spouses (by agreement as well as a court decision).
Besides the above specified, we offer consultancy concerning the possibility of commencement of business activities and its legal framework, including the connected risks, ownership interest in corporations and its transfer as well as ownership interest in other legal entities (associations, cooperatives, companies etc.) and solving of "personal bankruptcy" (debt relief).
Non-profit sector
We provide legal services to legal entities the subject matter of which is activities which are not usually connected with making a profit (not oriented on gaining a profit) dealing with administration of the assets of its members (founders) or enforcing of their interests, promotion of a profession or supervision of a professional activity, education, exercise of freedoms guaranteed by the constitutional order, handling of gifts and contributions or activities in the area of community service, such as associations (trade unions), chambers, foundations and endowment funds, community service companies, associations of unit owners, association of hunters, educational legal entities, churches and religious associations and other associations (societies).
For these organisations (their founders or establishers) we offer legal consultancy concerning the conditions of their establishment and formation, internal structure, appointment of members of their bodies, sphere of their main and secondary activities, provision of capital and incorporation in public registers, including preparation of establishment and foundation documents (deeds, contracts, articles and regulations). We also offer our legal assistance during existence of these organisations based on consultancy concerning changes of the establishment (foundation) documents, in their bodies, lease and borrowings of assets, administration of assets and their disposition as well as legal relations between the organisation and its founders (partners) and members of its bodies, labour law and similar relations, relations towards the state, self-administration and third parties, including preparation of all the connected documents. At the same time we offer legal services concerning dissolving and liquidation of these organisations, including their possible transformation and restructuring.
We also offer legal aid during court proceedings (arbitrations) and other public administration bodies, including execution of a ruling (distrainment) and insolvency (registration of receivables etc.).
For territorial entities (public corporations), interest and professional self-administration entities (chambers and associations), we offer legal services connected with their entrusted (transferred) as well as independent competence, their other activities, relations between their bodies, management of their assets and ownership interest in other entities, relations arising from exercise of their transferred (entrusted) competence as well as relations between these entities (unions, associations) and towards the state (public administration bodies).
In the same extent, we also offer legal aid to allowance, budgetary and other organisations (educational legal entity) in regional self-administration units (schools and educational institutions, centres of social services, libraries, hospitals and other institutes), including the issues of exercising of entrusted competence, extent of activities, changes of their establishment deeds and in their statutory bodies and their incorporation in the public register, solution of their relationship towards their founder, management of the entrusted assets and labour law issues.
We focus on legal consultancy concerning handling of assets (municipalities or regions), establishment (monetary and non-monetary contributions) and management of corporations controlled by a municipality or a region, including appointing members of their bodies, extent of their force and liability, exercise of rights of a partner or shareholder, including changes in the area of ownership interest (increasing of the registered capital, transfer of ownership interest). We also offer our legal assistance in the area of public support and during participation of a municipality or a region in various projects and partnerships with other entities.
Our services include legal meetings, legal standpoints, preparation and reviewing of contracts, internal regulations and representation during negotiations with third parties. We also offer legal aid during court proceedings (arbitrations) including execution of a ruling (distrainment).
Remuneration for legal services represents a consideration for what you receive as our client and beneficiary of legal services which are presented generally in the section Legal Services. Below we will try to describe briefly our basic principles for determination of the amount of our remuneration and provide you an idea of its amount in standard cases.
We always take into account the intensity of the relationship which is being built between us and our client and which is based on our mutual trust and on knowledge of the client's situation with the aim to achieve a long-term cooperation. This specific and gradually formed relationship usually influences also our remuneration for legal services.
However, at the same time we do our best to make sure that our legal services are available also to natural persons and legal entities not performing any business activities and therefore we adapt our attitude to their conditions. Besides that, by adapting the amount of our remuneration to the possibilities of the person interested in a legal service, we also try to support businessman starting their businesses or in various development stages where our mutual communication may develop in future. The same approach is also taken in projects the content or nature of which is close to the public interest or serves directly to it (pro bono).
In standard cases, the remuneration for our legal services ranges from CZK 2,000 to 4,000 per hour according to the applied law, language and form of the required legal service and also according to the complexity of the matter. The amount of our remuneration is determined without the corresponding value added tax rate. On the basis of the above specified principles, the remuneration is determined and negotiated with a client or a person interested in our legal services always individually according to the above specified criteria. Upon their request, a client or a person interested in legal services will always receive explanation of the reasons for the proposed remuneration, the expected extent of legal services and an estimate of the connected costs.
Besides an hourly rate, we also offer remuneration determined according to the budget which covers the needs of the assigned case regardless the time demands of the individual tasks within the legal services or a flat rate which includes solution of a number of matters which are not restricted in advance and which are assigned to us by a client for a determined period of time (a monthly rate).
If you want to establish a corporation or another legal entity or carry out a transformation, which is usually inquired in the form of a budget, we will inform you upon your request (after you provide closer specifications) about the total amount of our remuneration as well as an estimate of our further estimated expenses. A similar principle also applies to our remuneration for contractual transfer of items and rights, as well as for connected custody of financial funds as counter-value for the implemented transactions.
As regards possible issues concerning remuneration for advocates, costs of proceedings and other important information connected with provision of legal services, please see the section Rules of Legal Services.
Rules of Legal Services
As our goal is to provide you, our clients, with legal services at the highest achievable professional level, we consider one of the basic conditions to achieve this goal to be the highest possible degree of trust between you, as our client, and us, as legal assistance providers, including maintaining you fully informed about the basic issues connected with performance of legal profession.
We are convinced that mutual trust must be established and built from the very beginning of our cooperation which starts from your decision to approach us and use our services. In order to have enough information for your decision-making processes as well as assessment of our attitude to you, we have prepared for you a summary of the general information relating to provision of legal services in the Czech Republic. The individual parts include information concerning remuneration and compensations of advocates (solicitors), awarding of compensation for costs of proceedings, nature and content of the relationship between the advocate and the client as well as some measures interfering in the relationships between the client and the advocate in the public interest.
We do believe that the below specified information will serve to you as the basis for your further decisions as well as for assessment of the facts specified by us in Remuneration.
General information about remuneration and compensations for advocates
In Act No 85/1996 Coll. on legal profession, as amended, the stipulation of the amount or way of determination of remuneration for an advocate for legal services (counsel fee) is basically made by agreement between the person interested in provision of the legal service and the advocate approached by them and it is therefore governed by the contract concluded by and between them (so-called contractual remuneration). Specifically, as regards agreements about contractual remuneration, quite usually you can come across "hourly" remuneration (time-based remuneration) or "lump-sum" remuneration (task-based remuneration) which is connected with achievement of a certain legal situation or another goal or with efforts spent on this achievement, regardless the amount of the time actually spent on it. As regards the hourly remuneration, the client is entitled to ask the advocate to prepare a statement for the remuneration amount, i.e. an outline of the tasks performed by the advocate in favour of the client. And a commenced particularly agreed time period particular in which the advocate's task was being performed is always counted, according to the concluded contract. If lump-sum remuneration was agreed, then the advocate is entitled to the amount agreed for a particular time period regardless the time demanded for the tasks carried out by the advocate. Despite the advocate's remuneration being agreed in this way, it only includes the tasks which are subject matter of the agreed legal service. If the advocate performs tasks for the client also in another matter or tasks not included in the lump-sum remuneration, the advocate is entitled to charge for these tasks beyond the lump-sum amount.
You can also find e.g. proportionate remuneration tied with the revenue (the value or result) of a certain case or so-called "lump-sum" or "budget" which represents an amount agreed for a particular time regardless the amount of the cases or matters solved during that time or aiming to achievement of a certain goal regardless the actual demands of the performed tasks of legal assistance. It is also common to combine the above specified ways of advocate's remuneration.
In all the cases, the client should always realise that principally, as regards origination of the advocate's title for remuneration, the main criterion is not achievement of the expected result (solicitor's remuneration is not result based) but exerting all their possible efforts which can be required from the advocate and which are aiming to the desirable result. Therefore, unless agreed otherwise between the advocate and client, even if an advocate does not manage to achieve the aim expected by you despite exerting all the possible efforts, the advocate is entitled to the agreed remuneration.
Besides remuneration for legal services, the advocate is also entitled to request so-called compensations. It is a lump-sum compensation for the lost time and compensation for the out-of-pocket expenses (overheads) spent purposefully, all this again principally according to the contract with the client. The out-of-pocket expenses include mainly the court and other fees (duty stamps), travelling expenses, postage and telecommunication fees, vidimation and legalization, translation, price of expert opinions and other professional statements which were spent by the advocate in connection with provision of the legal service to the client. An advocate is entitled to compensation for lost time mainly for tasks performed outside the registered office of the advocate and for the time spent travelling there and back as well as for any delays with commencement of proceedings before the court or another public authority, their cancellation or adjournment without negotiating of the matter.
The above specified might suggest that negotiation of remuneration of a advocate is totally up to the will of the parties, but in reality it is not the case. While a person interested in legal services has no limits when negotiating the remuneration, despite the above declared freedom, an advocate has to take into account mainly the legal regulations binding for advocates and issued by the Czech Bar Association (CBA) (professional regulations) which include ethical principles, ban of certain agreements in favour of a client and rules of competition for advocates (adequate remuneration etc.). It is also necessary to add that a person interested in a legal service is always entitled to ask for a contract to be concluded in writing as well as to consult such a contract (favourability of its conditions) with another independent advocate.
In case contractual remuneration has not been agreed and the parties agree on provision of a legal service, so-called out-of-contract remuneration (tariff) shall be applied and its amount, or the way of its calculation is stipulated by the Ordinance of Ministry of Justice No 177/1996 Coll. on remuneration and compensations for advocates for provision of legal services, or so-called advocate's tariff. Calculation of out-of-contract remuneration is based on so-called tariff values of the individual (typical) legal service tasks enumerated in the ordinance regardless their time demands.
We have to point out that if an advocate is a value added tax payer, the advocate is obliged to add this tax to the calculated remuneration and possible costs and to pay the tax at the corresponding amount. The total charged amount therefore must be increased by the corresponding rate of the value added tax.
About compensation of costs of proceedings and contractual remuneration
It is necessary to add that if advocate's remuneration was agreed for representation in proceedings before court or another public authority body, that when determining compensation of costs for the legal representation (if at least one participant is entitled to it) the compensation of which is awarded to the client by a decision of the court or another body (predicate), the agreed advocate's remuneration as a cost of the proceedings of the client will not be taken into account and its amount will be acknowledged according to the advocate's tariff. Calculation of the costs of proceedings based on representation of a participant by advocate made by a public authority body is thus based on the amounts specified in the advocate's tariff (according to the number of tasks carried out by the solicitor).
Basically, as regards the costs, a public authority body can thus award to the participant of the proceedings only the amount specified in the advocate's tariff, not the amount (remuneration) which the participant really spent on the particular legal service. A person interested in legal service based on representation in proceedings when compensation of costs may be awarded should ask the advocate about this and take it into account when negotiating the remuneration.
About the nature of relations between the advocate and client
Basically, it is possible to say that while an advocate is a person who achieved the prescribed education, completed his/her legal practice and his/her professional experience and knowledge have been duly verified by the Czech Bar Association (CBA) during a advocate's test and therefore it is a person who should know and understand law (is professionally capable of providing legal assistance), a person interested in legal service and the advocate's future client is usually a person who perceives law rather spontaneously and requires legal aid for achievement or protection of their interests. These aspects turn the relationship between an advocate and his/her client into specific relationship based mainly on their mutual trust, which bring a number of obligations for the advocate. Existence and duration of their mutual trust is a crucial precondition for continuing of the relationship between the advocate and the client. Its absence or later partial or complete loss should principally lead to termination of provision of legal assistance by the advocate.
The relationship between the advocate and the client is based on the fact that the advocate provides legal aid to the client as an independent, unbiased (impartial) person who protects and enforces the interests of the client, acts according to the client's instructions and maintains strict confidentiality concerning all the facts the advocate learns about during this. The client should provide the advocate with timely and complete information about his/her matter, submit complete documents for solution of his/her mater and take into account his/her recommendation. Besides that, the client should inform the advocate about the nature of his/her interests in order to enable the advocate to choose a corresponding strategy or perform tasks of legal services in time. It is a usual practice that if according to the knowledge and practice of the advocate, enforcing of the client's interests is connected with an inadequate risk or if the client waives the required standard of legal protection for his/her interests, that the advocate will inform the client about the connected risks.
In this connection it is necessary to add that even though the basic obligation of the advocate as the mandatary is to follow the instructions (orders) from the client, the advocate is not obliged to perform the instructions if they are in contradiction with legal or professional regulations. In some cases, the advocate is even ordered by law to refuse an instruction from the client or to delay its fulfilment. Therefore we recommend discussing the content of the mandate and the individual aspects of the expected legal aid with the advocate in advance in order to prevent such situations which weaken the nature of the mutual relations.
Special interests of the client and their enforcing by the advocate
Special interests of a client may include interest in acquisition or transfer of a certain item or right or another advantage with a person (persons) selected in advance as counterparty (propriety interests). In these situations, the relationship between the advocate and client is determined a priori by this special interest of the client when the advocate becomes de facto an intermediary between the client's interest and subject matter of the interest (e.g. a certain real estate). In these situations, however, the above described principles will be applied when the advocate protects rightful interests of the client which also include achievement of the necessary degree of his/her legal protection, or an effort to avoid a situation when the client's rights would be with absolutely no legal protection, and therefore the advocate must attempt to enforce these principles even if the goal desired by the client will not be achieved after all. A reason for such a procedure, besides the actual reason for engaging an advocate in the matter, is mission of the advocate as a person independent of the subject matter of the client's interests in order to achieve the required degree of legal protection and prevent possible disputes in which the client would be left without legal protection for which he/she basically asked. Therefore when giving instructions to the advocate, the client should always take into account his/her recommendations, even in cases when his/her special interests are not achieved (e.g. real estate is not acquired).
Advocate's liability and insurance
When providing legal assistance (legal services), an advocate is obliged to proceed with professional care corresponding to their qualification and exert all the efforts (appropriate attitude) which can be reasonably required from the advocate in order to protect the client's interests as much as possible and to provide the client with the achievable legal protection. We can state that such an attitude is naturally expected by the client and with awareness of these facts the client also entrusts its matters to the advocate. The law therefore outlines special liability and connected obligations of the advocate. Besides others, the advocate is also obliged to maintain indemnification for liability for damage caused during provision of legal services (performance of legal profession). The minimum insurance coverage differs according to the way of performance of legal profession (an independent advocate or various associations of advocates) and according to the type of the provided legal services. As an example we can state that an individual advocate or association of solicitors are obliged to have indemnification at the amount of CZK 3,000,000 per an advocate (each member of the association). This basic amount of insurance then covers almost all the areas of applicable law, only in case of law of exchange, the advocate is obliged to arrange an additional insurance.
With regard to the range of the services provided by us and significance of interests of our clients, we are insured for the total amount of CZK 10,000,000 for each case of a mistake and solidary liability, including application of law of exchange.
Advocate's duty of confidentiality and its exclusions
Due to the nature of their profession, an advocate has a statutory duty of confidentiality from which the advocate can only be released by the client or his/her legal successor. Even in such cases, the advocate is obliged to maintain confidentiality if it is clear from the circumstances that the client or his/her legal successor released the advocate from this obligation under pressure or in distress. Advocate's duty of confidentiality survives even after his/her licence for performance of legal profession ceases to exist and it includes all the facts about which the advocate learnt in connection with provision of legal services to the client. With regard to the needs of the advocate's business, this obligation is stipulated by law also for his/her employees. An advocate as an employer should require observance of this obligation from his/her employees in an appropriate manner.
However, the advocate's duty of confidentiality will not be applied in case of certain measures aimed at prevention of criminal activities stipulated by law or by a legal norm of a higher legal force. Typically, except the below specified cases, these include e.g. an obligation of the advocate to prevent commitment of a criminal offence when the advocate is obliged to prevent commitment of a criminal offence in the phase of their preparation in case of criminal offences specified in law or to report their preparation to the prosecution bodies.
Finally, from a somewhat different point of view, it is necessary to mention an initiative of the client to release the advocate from the duty of confidentiality in relation to other entities performing activities for the client (e.g. auditors, accountants and other expert advisers etc.), which is desirable in some cases when on the contrary a mutual exchange of information between the advocate and persons engaged by the client is desirable for protection of the client's interests or when it is often necessary for provision of the services by the advocate. However, even this release from the advocate's duty of confidentiality should be included in the contract with the advocate or should be expressed otherwise in writing.
About measures against legalisation of revenues from criminal activities and financing of terrorism and about competences of proving executor
Advocates belong in a group of so-called obliged entities to which some specific obligations apply which are stipulated by Act No 253/2008 Coll. on some measures against legalisation of income from criminal activities and financing of terrorism (act on money laundering), as amended, and in relation to it also by the issued professional regulation. We have to point out that these specific obligations, which are, however, connected only with some activities of a solicitor, represent interference in the advocate's duty of confidentiality and they represent an interference in the client's privacy; all this in the interest of declared fight against legalisation of income from criminal activities and financing of terrorism through the financial system (in the public interest). However, an advocate is an obliged person only if he/she performs so-called monitored activities. These include activities based on custody of money, securities and other assets of the client and also services based on acting on behalf of the client or on his/her account during (i) sale and purchase of real estate, company or its part (ii) administration of the client's assets and opening of bank accounts (iii) establishment, management and operation of trading companies, business groups or similar entities and gaining (gathering) funds for these purposes and (iv) activities aimed at flow of funds or its direct initiation, mainly collection, payments, transfers, deposits or withdrawals within cash and noncash payment system.
If an advocate is a participant of statutorily qualified business, before its performance (unless a statutory exception is applied), the advocate is obliged to identify the client or his/her representative/attorney. Within this, the solicitor may copy submitted documents, process the obtained information and file it and the client is obliged to provide the required cooperation to the advocate. Besides identification of the client, in statutorily identified cases, the advocate is also obliged to perform checks of the client in the extent specified by law unless a statutory exception applies to the client, and to report every suspicious case to the Czech Bar Association, or in case of some transactions, to delay the client's order minimum by 24 hours after such a report is made.
However, a advocate does not carry out inspection of the client or reports if it is information about the client which the advocate obtained from the client or otherwise when providing legal services, mainly legal advice (consultations) and representation before courts.
Another case of interference in the advocate's duty of confidentiality is stipulated by Act No 120/2001 Coll. on proving executors and distrainment activities and on change of some other acts (distrainment regulations), as amended, within the statutorily ordered obligation of the advocate's cooperation with the proving executor when performing distrainment activities. Upon a written request from the executor, within the scope of the distrainment activities the advocate is ordered to provide the executor with the data concerning the account numbers of the client as the obliged party, as well as their balance and changes on them. An advocate is also obliged to inform the executor about the client's assets, his/her items, deeds or registered securities if the advocate administers the specified assets of the client or has it in his/her custody. However, it is conditioned by the fact that the client is specified in the request as the obliged party (debtor) and the executor submits to the advocate an order to perform the distrainment of the assets of the client as the obliged party and only in connection with its performance (forced performance of the distrainment right).
Filip Záděra | advocate
Slezská 949/32, 120 00, Prague 2, the Czech Republic
kancelar@ichtius.cz
Branch in Ostrava:
Nádražní 731/165, 702 00 Ostrava- Přívoz, the Czech Republic
kancelarov@ichtius.cz
Invoicing details and bank connection:
Bank connection for payments in CZK:
UniCredit Bank Czech Republic, a.s., Acc. No. 2104181001/2700
ID No. 71465553, VAT No. CZ7902165612
Mgr. Filip Záděra, Ph.D., advocate
Registered in the list of advocates maintained by the CBA under registration no. 11 615, email: filip.zadera@ichtius.cz, Data Box ID: umbpar9
PHONE > +420 222 519 980 | E-MAIL > kancelar@ichtius.cz | WWW > www.ichtius.cz | ADDRESS > Slezská 949/32, 120 00 Prague 2


text:
The O'Brien Press Blog
Explore the imaginations, inspirations and processes that create our books
About O'Brien Press
www.obrien.ie
Call Out for Stories on The Dublin Marathon
Do you have a story to tell about The Dublin Marathon? Did you run it? Did you cheer someone on?
Senior Editor, Helen Carr, tells us about the Dublin Marathon and what it means to her. Helen is delighted to be the editor for our forthcoming book: The Dublin Marathon: 40 Years of Running.
Helen and friend Denise Kelleher cheering on their friend and club mate Caroline Farrelly to her O50 prize in the Dublin Marathon 2018. Photo by Eoin Fegan.
"I've been aware of the Dublin Marathon nearly all my life – as a child, I remember standing in my native Raheny, watching Dick Hooper – local hero, Raheny Shamrock runner and 2hr 12-minute marathon runner – storm through the village on his way to winning in 1980, 1985 and 1986. In the mid-80s, I also cheered on my father, handed out glucose sweets to runners and admired his etched copper finisher's plaque. Back then, my sister and I used to complain that our Hallowe'en costumes were always very thrown together and last-minute because most of the October Bank Holiday weekend revolved around the marathon!
My dad stopped running in the 90s and the marathon moved to the Southside so it didn't loom as large in my life until I joined Raheny Shamrock running club in 2010. Raheny has a long record in the marathon, so from June to October EVERYONE was marathon training. My husband ran it in 2012, so I thought, 'If he can do it, why can't I?' and we both ran in 2013. I've marshalled every year since – once again, the October Bank Holiday means marathon weekend! I like nothing better than cheering friends, family and runners from all over the world to the finish. In 2018, I and my fellow Raheny Shamrock marshalls screamed ourselves hoarse cheering our clubmate Mick Clohisey to his National Marathon win.
And now the Dublin Marathon has come to my workplace too! I'm so excited that The O'Brien Press will be publishing The Dublin Marathon: 40 Years of Running in October 2019! I can't wait to edit this book on the history of the race, the various routes the marathon has taken over the years, famous Irish marathoners, and so on. We're also doing a call out for inspirational stories and anecdotes from Irish marathoners, charity runners and volunteers. So whether you're a runner, a spectator or a volunteer – send us in your stories and photos of memorabilia, and you might make it into the book!"
For more information on submitting material for The Dublin Marathon, please visit our website here.
Helen Carr, March 2019
Alan Nolan on World Book Day, Writing, Illustrating, Animals and Rock Star Grannies
Ahead of World Book Day 2019 on Thursday, 7 March, I chatted with Alan Nolan about his World Book Day book, Sam Hannigan's Rock Star Granny, and the world of books, writing and illustrating!
What's your favourite thing about reading?
A good book will put you directly in the shoes of the characters, helping you see the world through their eyes. That's my favourite thing about reading – understanding and empathising with others.
What's your favourite thing about writing and illustrating?
I love storytelling, and writing and illustrating are two great ways of telling a story. I enjoy them both equally, and I try to get them to work together and complement each other. I tend to think visually – if a character pops into my head, I have to draw them immediately; if a scene comes into my head, I reach for a pencil and get drawing. Then I'll write some notes about what I've just drawn around the sides of the sketch. It always happens in that order: idea, drawing, writing.
Who is your favourite character to illustrate?
I love drawing Ogg the caveman from Conor's Caveman and the Sam Hannigan series. I had a lot of trouble getting him right at the design stage – I knew he was huge and that he wore caveman furs and had chunky, hairy arms, but I just couldn't get his face quite right. His big, stubbly chin worked, but there was something too open and modern about his eyes. Then I hit on it: a huge, bushy monobrow would hide his eyes, making him more enigmatic, and it would also make him look more Neanderthal-like. Ogg is an easy character for kids to draw as well – I can show them how to draw a very convincing caveman with only twelve pencil lines!
Sam Hannigan is a great character. What was your inspiration for her?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a dog. My granny, Lizzie Bunn, lived with us (as did her mum, my great-granny), and she helped me achieve my doggy dreams. She made me a pair of doggy ears out of stuffed brown socks that she stitched onto a Healy-Rae flat cap, and a furry tail that I tucked into the back of my trousers. Sometimes when she'd call us down for dinner, I'd insist that she put mine on the floor. I would eat it on my hands and knees, my 'tail' (actually, my bum) wagging happily as I chowed down without the aid of a fork, knife or spoon, my doting granny looking on. Of course, this only happened when my mother was at work. She would have marmalised me and my poor granny if she knew these canine capers were going on every second day. So I think Sam Hannigan was based partly on me – a dreamer with a lightly loopy grandmother.
Continue reading "Alan Nolan on World Book Day, Writing, Illustrating, Animals and Rock Star Grannies"
Where Are You, Puffling? and Where Did You Come From?
This week we chatted with the wonderful Gerry Daly, co-creator and illustrator of Where Are You, Puffling?. Gerry's uncle Sean came up with the initial idea, and the story developed from there! Gerry tells us all about the journey of this adorable picture book, including working with the brilliant Erika McGann.
What inspired your uncle Sean to write this story to begin with?
When Sean was visiting the Skellig islands he noticed that the puffins and the rabbits seemed to be getting along together as they went about their business. He heard they even share their burrows! Or at least the rabbits move back in once the puffins head out to the ocean for the winter. Sean imagined they might help each other out in times of need, and he thought this could make a good story for his grandsons.
What was it like to work with Sean on this?
Great fun! Sean showed me his finished text, and had the idea that I might add some illustrations to it. He would then have just a few printed up, for the boys and the rest of the family. We had already worked together on a short family history book. That self-published book showed Sean's great interest in genealogy, Irish history and places. His enthusiasm for the Skellig story was very infectious. It wasn't long before we were working on ideas for images and layout. He'd often say, 'I love it, now we're sucking diesel!'
Unfortunately, around this time Sean had been diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away not long after. I was then back at college doing a masters, and didn't have much time to look at the book for a while, but eventually I managed to add the illustrations. I didn't have a title to the story, so my dad suggested 'The Skellig Shenanigans'. I had a few printed up, which came as a nice surprise to family and friends, most of whom had no idea that this had been in the making. I didn't want the story to just be forgotten, and felt it really had to be finished best I could manage.
Continue reading "Where Are You, Puffling? and Where Did You Come From?"
Top Five Tips For Bridesmaids
Ahead of the publication of the Irish Bridesmaid's Guide, Natasha Mac a'Bháird, author of Irish Bride's Survival Guide, chats about her bridesmaid experience and lists her top five tips for bridesmaids.
It wasn't exactly a surprise when my sister asked me to be her chief bridesmaid. She had been mine a few years earlier, I had already been a witness to her civil marriage ceremony, and quite frankly she'd have been in big trouble if she'd asked anyone else. But it was still a huge honour. Knowing someone is planning one of the most important days of their lives, and that they want you to be an essential part of it, is a special feeling. I'd be there for the hairdos, the make-up, helping her get dressed in her beautiful wedding gown. I'd be walking down the aisle ahead of her and holding her bouquet while she made her vows. I'd be at her side while she made a speech, and have tissues on hand for when she inevitably burst into tears.
Bridesmaid Sarah, Bridesmaid Natasha, Bride Áine.
After my own wedding I felt I had built up a whole store of knowledge that I wanted to share with other brides-to-be just starting out – so my first book, The Irish Bride's Survival Guide, was born. With my new book, The Irish Bridesmaid's Guide, I'm hoping to do the same for the bride's right-hand woman. The bridesmaid's role can be as big or as small as you (or more to the point, the bride) want to make it, but what all bridesmaids have in common is wanting to be there for the bride as she starts her married life, whether she needs a friendly ear to listen when she's stressed, a party planner extraordinaire, or just someone to tell her she's got lipstick on her teeth.
So if your sister or friend has popped the question, here are a few tips to get you started.
Want to avoid having to wear the bridesmaid dress from hell? Sound out the bride to find out the general style and colour she has in mind, then go off and search for some ideas yourself. You'll save the bride some work and improve the chances of her choosing something you'd love to wear! Win-win!
Going dress shopping? Wear comfy clothes (it's going to be a long day!), but do bring heels with you so you can try them on with the dress. Put your hair up (a simple ponytail will do) to get a better idea of necklines, and don't forget to take lots of photos!
Planning the most spectacular hen party of all time? Make sure it's what the bride wants! There's no point in organising a wild night of cocktails and clubbing if she's more the afternoon tea sort (or vice versa!). And don't forget to take the rest of the hens into consideration too.
Want to ensure the hen party is one to remember? Make it truly personal to the bride. Come up with a theme based on something she loves; create your own games or quizzes based on how well you know her; or simply make a photo collage of special memories from throughout her life.
Make it all fun! Don't get so caught up in finding the perfect dress or hen party venue that you forget to enjoy what is a very special time. Combine dress shopping with cake and coffee, hen party planning with a trip to the pub, or just invite the bride around to your place to watch Say Yes to the Dress. Ten years from now, when you're both at different stages in your lives, these are the moments you'll look back on as the things that really matter.
Natasha Mac a'Bháird, January 2019
The Irish Bridesmaid's Guide will be published 11th February 2019 and will be available to buy here and in all good bookshops then.
Vacancy: Marketing & Publicity Officer
Vacancy: Marketing & Publicity Officer, The O'Brien Press (Publishing Company)
Independent Irish publishing house The O'Brien Press has a vacancy for a Marketing & Publicity Officer. The position will involve assisting and providing support to the Marketing Manager in all aspects of marketing, publicity and events. It will involve working on new and backlist titles, as well as helping to roll out the overall marketing strategy. The successful candidate will be energetic and enthusiastic and will be able to work well on their own and as part of a team. They will be able to work well under pressure. A strong interest or experience in social media for business and online marketing is preferable. Experience in the publishing industry is preferable but not essential. This is a full-time position beginning in February 2019. Salary commensurate with experience.
Apply with CV before 5pm on Wednesday 16th January 2019 to:
Ruth Heneghan, The O'Brien Press
E: ruth@obrien.ie
It's cold out there … but there's still plenty to see
Juanita Browne, author of the wonderful The Great Big Book of Irish Wildlife, chats about her inspiration for the book and how we can help wildlife in our garden this Christmas.
I have loved nature, for as long as I can remember. My family always had at least one pet dog. There was Brandy when I was a toddler, then Fozzie, Sooty, Lady, and then Teddy, most of them mongrels, and each one a truly loved member of the family. I think it was probably these dogs that began my love of animals and nature.
I was always amazed that you could build this relationship with another species, that you found a way of overcoming barriers of speech, never mind language. That they understood your ways, your moods, and you learned their traits and their individual personalities. These four-legged hairy beasts opened up another world for me and led me out into it, following their wagging tails.
One of my earliest memories is lying in the long grass in the field behind our house with Fozzie, and hearing the buzzing of insects in the grass. That field was my playground and was full of wildflowers and grasses. I would lie hidden in the long grass, while Fozzie bounced up and down, trying to find me. I would pull my fingernail up along a grass stem, scattering its seeds to the wind. We made daisy chains, and made wishes as we blew hard on dandelion clocks and and watch the seeds float off into the sky. We held buttercups under our chins to see if we liked butter. Simple games, which even in the 1980s were still played.
There was a small, wet ditch at the bottom of the field that was home to frogspawn. Every spring I duly collected it and kept it in the bucket of my builder Dad's old broken dump-truck, which was full of rainwater, to watch it grow. Little did I know back then that feeding the tadpoles plants only kept them happy for a while. When their legs develop, tadpoles became carnivorous — I don't want to think too much about what happened when they were forced to start looking at each other in a new light in the bucket of that dump-truck! The Hunger Games comes to mind.
Continue reading "It's cold out there … but there's still plenty to see"
Our Favourite Inspiring Women from Blazing a Trail
Lauren O'Neill and Sarah Webb accepting their Irish Book Award
Shona Shirley Macdonald (author and illustrator of The Pooka Party), Sarah Webb and Lauren O'Neill at the Irish Book Awards 2018
This week Blazing a Trail won the Children's Book of the Year (senior) Award at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2018. This is a wonderful award and we, at the O'Brien Press, are very proud of this book and the remarkable women who created it. Blazing a Trail – Irish Women Who Changed the World was written by Sarah Webb and illustrated by Lauren O'Neill. Sarah and Lauren have chosen their favourite woman from Blazing a Trail with a disclaimer that this is very difficult to choose because they are all amazing in their own right!
I've spent the last two years in the company of some of Ireland's most remarkable women and it's hard to select one as my 'favourite'. As I read about the women in turn, I discovered the truth about each individual journey – the obstacles they had to overcome, their tenacity, their determination, their hope that Ireland might be a different place for women in the future – and my admiration for all of them grew and grew.
However I discovered that one woman in particular had direct links to my family and also changed the course of my own education and that is Sarah Purser.
Sarah was an artist, patron and businesswoman who was born in Dún Laoghaire in 1848, the town where I live. She studied art in Paris as women were not allowed to study at the Royal Irish Academy (RHA) in Dublin at the time. Later, Sarah became the first woman to be given full membership of the organisation at the age of seventy-five.
She became well known for her portraits and painted some of the most famous Irish people of the time from Maud Gonne to Douglas Hyde.
In 1903, she set up An Túr Gloine (the Tower of Glass) and, thanks to her excellent business skills, it became a world-wide success, exporting glass to churches around the globe. It makes me smile to think that the stained glass windows in churches in Canada and New York and many other places were shipped over (and in many cases created) by Irish women at a time when women's art was not widely appreciated or celebrated. Stained-glass artists Evie Hone and Wilhelmina Geddes and Harry Clarke all made glass for Sarah's company.
Every Tuesday, Sarah held salons in her house for artists, writers and academics. My grandfather, WB Stanford, was a classics professor at TCD and wrote widely on the Greek language. He attended these salons with my grandmother.
Sarah also helped establish History of Art courses in both Trinity College Dublin and UCD. I studied History of Art in TCD; a course I loved. It is responsible for my abiding love of art, illustration and picturebooks.
And finally we share a first name.
Sarah Purser, I salute you!
Lauren O'Neill
It's obviously very tough to choose a favourite among the Blazing a Trail women – they're all very unique individuals. In terms of the artwork, Eileen Grey was probably my favourite to draw, or the aviators, Lilian Bland and Lady Heath. I love how those images turned out! I think the woman who made the biggest impression on me though was Margaret Bulkley, who lived her whole adult life as a man, Dr. James Barry. Her, or I should say his, academic achievements alone were amazing. But he was also the one who made the biggest leap in terms of how he wanted to present himself to the world. You have to admire that level of self conviction! Also he was a big animal lover, which deserves a big thumbs up. He was a very interesting character both to research and to draw.
The artwork for Blazing a Trail was actually a bit of a departure from my usual style in kids' books. Generally I'm more focused on linework but for Blazing a Trail I combined line drawings with figures that felt a bit more painterly, which seemed to work well with some of the more historical subject matter. I mostly work digitally but I always use scanned textures in my work on some level. For Blazing a Trail I sketched out lots of small composition thumbnails in pencil for each image, and chose the one that I felt would work best full size. I would then take a photo of it on my phone, send it to my computer and paint over it in photoshop. At the end, I added in scanned paint textures to give everything a more organic and traditional feel.
Sarah Webb and Lauren O'Neill, November 2018
Blazing a Trail is available to buy here and in all good bookshops
The Making of The A to Z of Being Irish
The dynamic author duo, Sarah Cassidy and Kunak McGann, answered my quick fire questions this week on the making of the hilarious and unbelievably accurate The A to Z of Being Irish.
What inspired you to write this book?
The idea for the A–Z came from a conversation about what makes us uniquely Irish. We wanted a book to reflect both the Ireland we grew up in and the Ireland of today: everything from the Angelus to Zig and Zag, really! We thought a dictionary style would work really well, and so The A to Z of Being Irish was born. That's when the real problems began! For some letters we had no trouble coming up with subjects (B, C and T were full to the brim), but there's no denying that X, V and Z caused us a few sleepless nights!
How did you decide what to include?
There was A LOT of discussion about which entries made the grade. We aimed to cover a range of topics from all areas of Irish life, everything from what we like to eat (anyone for a black pudding sandwich washed down with a glass of red lemonade?), to how we speak and what we wear.
Continue reading "The Making of The A to Z of Being Irish"
Irish Book Awards Shortlisted Titles
The O'Brien Press are absolutely delighted to have two of our books shortlisted for three Irish Book Awards.
Blazing a Trail By Sarah Webb and illustrated by Lauren O'Neill has been shortlisted for two awards:
The Journal.ie Best Irish-Published Book Of the Year
The National Book Tokens Children's Book of the Year – Senior
The Pooka Party by Shona Shirley Macdonald has been shortlisted for the following award:
The National Book Tokens Children's Book of the Year – Junior
If you haven't already heard about these amazing books then here is a little bit about them and a sneak peak!
Blazing a Trail is a book for everyone who dreams of changing the world.
'Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver.'
– COUNTESS MARKIEVICZ, rebel leader and politician
From daring aviator LADY HEATH to savvy gold prospector NELLIE CASHMAN, fearless sea captain GRANUAILE to world-class dancer DAME NINETTE DE VALOIS,
scene-stealing actor MAUREEN O'HARA to record-breaking runner SONIA O'SULLIVAN, activist MAUD GONNE to President MARY ROBINSON, meet the remarkable Irish women who shaped the world we live in.
Discover their achievements, the ways in which they devoted their whole lives to making a difference, and with each original stunning illustration, feel the essence of these important trailblazers.
'We are all made of star stuff.'
– DAME JOCELYN BELL BURNELL, astrophysicist
Packed with fun, fascinating facts and stunning, full-page illustrations, this book celebrates the trail blazers who have shaped the world we live in.
Ready to walk in their footsteps? A world of bravery and discovery awaits you.
Made by two remarkable women, author Sarah Webb and illustrator Lauren O'Neill.
Sneak Peak Below!!
The Pooka is a magical shapeshifter who lives in the mountains all alone; fixing things, painting, dancing and singing. Suddenly, none of this seems fun any more, the Pooka realises that its lonely and hasn't seen its friends in ages!
After having some time to think, the Pooka decides to throw a big party and invite all of its friends. Join the Pooka as it attempts to throw the Pooka party of the century in this fun and beautifully illustrated picture book.
A madcap tale of what to do if you feel sad and lonely, starring one shapeshifting hero with some musical monsters, flying cakes and a guest appearance by the Moon.
Don't forget to Vote – click here!
Elena Browne, October 2018
After a long, hot summer, the sun has finally lowered the temperature from scorching to a low simmer, there's a brisk chill in the morning air, and schools are throwing open their gates once more: September is here. This, among other things, means that Culture Night is almost upon us. Culture Night is a relatively new venture for us here at The O'Brien Press. We participated for the first time in 2017 and we had so much fun at our Pitch Perfect event that we're doing it all over again this year!
Pitch Perfect is a unique opportunity to pitch directly to The O'Brien Press. We're looking for the best unpublished writers to meet with members of our team in Rathgar for one-to-one pitches. This year, we're on the lookout for children's & YA fiction and non-fiction again, but we'd also like to see humour and sports (particularly GAA) books for adults. Places are limited so if you've got a great book idea (and think you can pitch it in ten minutes flat) we want to hear from you! For full details please see https://culturenight.ie/event/the-obrien-press/ or to make a booking email culturenight@obrien.ie.
But if you've missed the deadline for Pitch Perfect, don't despair. The O'Brien Press is open to submissions all year round and all potential bestselling ideas are welcome!
Here are some top tips and a little advice to help you make your submission stand out from the crowd – in all the best ways.
Continue reading "Calling All Authors"
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We had our own booth during The Link, a minor gathering for the locals in Svelvik, Norway. Don't get me wrong, when I say minor, I mean approximately 200 people.
The Link had their own competitions, such as Rocket League and CS:GO. And Air E-Sport won the Rocket League competition, bringing 3000 NOK home. But the most surprising win at The Link must have been the mix E-Sport team who won the CS:GO tournament against all odds. All of the professional teams were taken off guard, and the mixed team could take 15000 NOK home.
Destiny 2 and Quake Champions, besides locating Pikachu, were the most popular competitions at our booth. In our Destiny 2 competition, we held a 1v1 rumble elimination matches in 'Midtown'. Where Troy got the first place again, he also won our Quake Champions tournament last time we were on The Link.
The first place won Ulvespill merchandise such as a coffee cup and a mousepad. He also won Destiny 2 T-Shirt and Destiny 2 Cards as well as a full game code for Destiny 2 on PC.
Even though Troy won our Quake Champions tournament last time, he met a huge struggle this time. As his opponents were strong! The best part of this competition described by the attendees was that everyone won something during this tournament.
Mi5 Communications, who is our PR contact between Bethesda and us gave us a huge amount of digital codes, such as Champions packs, 1xBackpack, and 2000 in-game credits.
Besides different types of competitions, The Link also had their share of cosplayers, streamers and local football players who visited the event during the weekend. Streamers such as RubenGKS who streamed our Quake Champions tournament (video above) had their own "studio setup". The Link also proved this year, that this event is for everyone! The age difference was from three weeks old to *not going to spoil the age* 50+.
We had a blast during this event, and we can't wait to come back next year!
We will also like to thank our sponsors during this event, sponsoring us video game copies, merchandise etc that we could use in our competitions/giveaways!


The Stansky Book Prize, formerly the Albion Book Prize, of $500 is awarded annually by the North American Conference on British Studies for the best book published anywhere by a North American scholar on any aspect of British studies since 1800. The author must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or Canada and be living in either country at the time of the award. Nominations may be made by the author or by the publisher of the book. A publisher may nominate more than one title each year but should use discretion and not overburden the Prize Committee.


Project Cubby House: Win some Stylish Decorative Pieces for your Cubby or Playhouse!
Well folks, this is the very last post in my Project Cubby series!
I truly hope that you have enjoyed reading this series, and if looking to buy your own one for Christmas time, I hope that this has made things a teeny bit less confusing for you.
Don't forget if you do buy a cubby come Chrissie time, I would love for you to share your pictures over on my Facebook page.
What better way to finish the series than with a giveaway?! None? I agree! 3 very lucky readers are going to have the chance to win some of the fabulous handmade pieces that I have in my very own cubby house!
The winner will have the pleasure to work with Nicole and select patterns and colours that suit their scheme!
I had mine made up in a mix of Mint and Pink, but Lea has these in a variety of colours in her Etsy store - you can select your favourite if you are the fortunate winner!
Ally has a gorgeous range of colours (as you can see above), so you can be sure that you will create the perfect garland for your special space!
Now that the Project Cubby series is done, I will be back in the swing from next week with our Project Extension updates. My golly gosh do I have a LOT to update you on as well embark on the final few weeks - yay!!!
Wonderful competition my Grandies would <3 these items for the cubby house at my place, truly beautiful especially the waterproof bunting!
We have just finished putting together a cubby house for our 4 kids for xmas. These prizes look amazing, the buntings are adorable! !


Provide exceptional service to the citizens of Brentwood while implementing Brentwood's vision and values as determined by the City Council and the community.
The City of Brentwood operates under the City Manager form of government. Under policy direction of the City Council, the City Manager serves as the Chief Administrative Officer of the City; assumes full responsibility for planning, administering, directing, overseeing, and evaluating the activities and operations of all City departments.


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Litourgiya () — дебютный студийный альбом польской группы Batushka, выполненный в жанре блэк-метала.

Альбом занял 3 место в списке 20 лучших альбомов 2015 года по версии сайта Metal Storm.

История создания
Группа Batushka была основана в 2015 году Кшиштофом Драбиковски в Польше. Идея ему пришла во время прослушивания церковных песнопений в YouTube: в комментариях, говорит музыкант, он заметил сообщение с текстом «божьи хоралы более металлические, чем любой сатанинский блэк-метал». Тогда он пригласил барабанщика Мартина Белемюка и гитариста Варфоломея Крысюка из группы Hermh, чтобы создать блэк-метал проект, активно использующих церковную атрибутику. Большую часть 2015 года группа записывала альбом в доме близ реки Бяла на юге Польши. Кшиштофу пришлось выучить старославянский язык, на котором были написаны все песни. Это, как утверждает Драбиковски, «было просто», поскольку в этом ему помогло знание русского языка, который он изучал в течение 8 лет в школе.

Выпуск Litourgiya состоялся 5 декабря 2015 года на лейбле Witching Hour Productions. Тираж составил 300 копий двухсторонних дисков. В качестве оформления было использовано изображение Богородицы. Лейбл Mazzar Records выпустил компакт-диски альбома в мае 2016 года. Представитель лейбла заявил, что «желает донести музыку Batushka до российской аудитории, несмотря на сорванные в России концерты».

Отзывы критиков

Херр Мёллер из Metal.de пишет: «Просто поразительно, как Batushka удалось с нуля создать такой хорошо сбалансированный, безупречный альбом. Тот факт, что музыканты, участвующие в проекте, уже получили опыт в других группах, слышен в каждой секунде "Литургии", потому что этот альбом ни на секунду не звучит как дебютный. Batushka гонится от кульминации к кульминации, от сакрального вступления в "Ектения I", которое затем проходит через всю песню, к более быстрой "Ектения II" с её кульминацией в последней части, к "Ектения III", которая с её катарсической, возвышенной соло-гитарой, вероятно, может считаться кульминацией альбома…».

Список композиций

Участники записи

 Варфоломей — вокал
 Мартин — ударные
 Кристофор — гитара, бас-гитара, вокал

Примечания

Ссылки
 Litourgiya на сайте Bandcamp.

Альбомы Batushka
Дебютные альбомы 2015 года

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Benjamin Walker's height, weight. He worked with a personal trainer to keep him ripped
Date of birth: June 21, 1982 (Age 35)
Full name: Benjamin Walker Davis
Born Place: Georgia, USA
Benjamin Walker's body measurements:
Chest: 46" (116 cm)
Biceps: 15" (38 cm)
Waist: 35" (89 cm)
Benjamin Walker is a well-known actor and comedian. Right from when he was young, Benjamin knew what he wanted and went ahead to chase it with all his heart.
He studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy and later proceeded to Julliard. While at Julliard, Benjamin discovered a passion for comedy. He began doing open mic nights because they were not allowed to perform to a public audience. He went ahead to start up a comedy show – Find The Funny.
The movie industry seemed to be anticipating Benjamin's arrival. Right after he graduated from Julliard in 2004, he got his first movie role in Kinsey and 2 years later got into the television industry with his role in 3 lbs.
Throughout his acting career, Benjamin has so far featured in a total of 21 movies and television shows.
Despite his successful acting career, comedy is his true passion. He believes that stand-up comedy is what this generation that has been isolated by so much technology really needs. For him, stand-up comedy takes theatre art to a whole new level, a level of a more interactive connection with the audience.
Though he has lived in the city since his career, yet Benjamin is a southerner at heart and goes fishing to clear his mind. Benjamin does stand-up comedy in order to reflect the love and togetherness he experienced with his family as a child.
While preparing for the American Pyscho Musical, Benjamin had to intensify his workout and diet in order to achieve that ripped figure. He, first of all, set a body goal he wanted to reach and kept pushing till he attained it.
Benjamin also got a personal trainer to act as both a challenge and an accountability partner. His trainer, not only keeps him trim but works like a body sculptor knowing what exercises are needed to achieve a totally rip body.
Ashley Walker's height, weight. How sports gave her a fit figure
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Damon Wayans Jr.'s height, weight. His success journey and body physique
Callan McAuliffe's height, weight. His career and body change
Daniela Bobadilla's height, weight. Her body transformation


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This pattern was designed to be fished when carp are feeding in medium depth to deep water. The head is Tungsten so the fly gets down quick. The negative is that it makes it harder to get a soft presentation. On the other hand, you don't have to figure eight in bead chain eyes... I F'ing hate tying in eyes. This pattern was responsible for my last several fish of the season.
Victim of the curable Crab.


Set behind a white picket fence, this much loved home has been in the same family for 33 years. It offers generous proportions, a large yard and a peaceful rear sunroom with views over the valley. It is suitable to live in now and update over time, rent out, build your new home or take the opportunity to build a duplex on this rare corner block (stca).