BDLS ANNUAL LUNCH 8 FEBRUARY

from Bournemouth & District Lawyer Spring 2023

The President's Column

The BDLS prestigious Annual Lunch this year was, once again, held in the Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth. With 411 people attending, this was the highest number of guests for many years!

After a fabulous lunch, BDLS President, Emma Hamilton Cole, welcomed the top table guests including the guest speakers, Louise Minchin and Lubna Shuja (national Law Society President), and the sponsors. She thanked the guests for supporting the event and commented on the record-breaking numbers. She remarked that since becoming Junior Vice President, there have been many changes – the Ukraine war, the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the passing of the Queen and the succession of King Charles. Her theme for the year is resilience and she paid tribute to the profession for keeping up with all the challenges – changing the way of working in order to best serve our clients. She hopes that there better times lie ahead. Her final reflection was on the need for us to support each other which is essential for good mental health.

Next, Lubna Shuja, the 1st Asian, 1st Muslim and 7th female President in the 200-year history of The Law Society, addressed the audience. She stressed the importance for the Law Society to get out to the regions and talk to the members. She recognises the huge contribution that local law societies make to support the local community. Lubna particularly wants to hear about the challenges faced so that The Law Society can support their members and, in that respect, her door is always open. She regularly updates her LinkedIn followers about what she’s up to – follow her here: www.linkedin.com/in/lubna-shuja-2801711b/

Her time on the reality show “I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here!” was in freezing Wales where she survived on 700 calories a day eating rice, beans and water .. and cockroaches! Saying that she exclaimed that she would definitely do it again!

She was very proud of her achievements as a Triathlete and in particular free diving under ice in the dark! She finished her talk by saying that it is not about the winning but getting to the end and the journey being an incredible story.

Louise spent some time after the Lunch, meeting the guests and signing her book “Dare to Tri”.

Our sponsors were Paragon, ITEC, PKF Francis Clark, Finders, Search Acumen and Barclays. A huge thank you to them for supporting this event.

MANDY HEATH

BDLS Office Manager and Annual Lunch Organiser

SPONSORS CORNER

As a specialist Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance broker, one of Paragon’s skills is to help showcase our law firm clients in their very best light.

It would be great to have the opportunity to explain more about how we can help your firm please and provide you with renewal terms from our exclusive Professional Indemnity facility, which:

does not have a cap on conveyancing work. provides a discount for Lexcel or CQS accredited firms.

If this is of interest, please contact me.

Ryan Senior Senior Vice President

Direct: +44 (0) 20 7280 8254

Mobile: +44 (0) 7827 575652

Email: rsenior@paragonbrokers.com

With the banking and finance needs of legal firms becoming ever more complex, it’s more important than ever to have an experienced partner.

Barclays has had a dedicated Professional Services team for over 20 years and are the banking partner to more than half of the top 100 UK law firms. Today, clients can benefit from the experience and contacts we’ve gained from working with leading legal practices, accountancy firms and insolvency partners across the UK and globally.

To find out more about how we can support your business, call Relationship Director Stewart Bulpitt on 0777 555 2713 or stewart.bulpitt@barclays.com

For another year running, Search Acumen are proud to have sponsored and attended the BDLS Annual Lunch. This is always an important event to us as it provides us with the opportunity to catch up with some friendly faces, as well as meet new ones. If you didn’t have a chance to catch up with our very own Wilfred Gomez and Andy Sommerville at the lunch, please do feel free to reach out, we’d love to hear from you.

Wilfred Gomez, Senior Client Account Manager

Direct: 0777 103 909 60

Email: wilfred.gomez@search-acumen.co.uk

Enquiries

Direct: 0800 240 4746

Email: enquiries@search-acumen.co.uk

Finders International are an award-winning probate genealogy company who trace heirs to estate, property and assets worldwide. We also provide a comprehensive range of private client services from statutory will & deputyship services, to overseas bankruptcy searches. Within the private sector, we work with numerous solicitors, legal executives, corporate & state trustees and financial institutions. Finders International is also the founding member of the International Association of Professional Probate Researchers (IAPPR), which provides regulation and a single authoritative voice for industry professionals. Contact us on Freephone: 0800 085 8796;

Email: quotes@findersinternational.co.uk or visit our website: www.findersinternational.co.uk

PKF Francis Clark is a full service chartered accountancy, business and tax advisory firm with nine offices across the south and south west. With 54 partners and over 850 staff we act for clients across many industries. Our specialist legal services team acts for over 120 legal firms, from highly successful boutique firms to top 100 firms. We also work closely with a range of legal sector groups such as Law Society Law Management Section, SRA and ICAEW Solicitors Group. Two of the senior members of the team are authors of the Law Society 2021 Solicitors’ Accounts Manual.