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The President's Foreword
The President’s Foreword
MAY 2024
As a young wide eyed and enthusiastic undergraduate at the University of Leicester (admittedly a good few years ago!), the academic text ‘Academic Tribes and Territories’ by Tony Becher was thrust into my hand.
That classic text explores the different tribes within higher education, and academic cultures. As law students we walk the well-trodden path of the ‘socialization of becoming a lawyer’. On that journey we develop our own – often tight knit – network of friends and professional colleagues. That socialization, and the development of those networks (or tribes) will continue throughout your professional career, and you should seek to nurture inclusive and diverse networks. We need to remember to support each other, and to help others rise when we rise, and to not forget the individual, and often, hard journeys that we have all taken to get where we are, and to have the confidence to dream of where we want to be.
One of the things that I am most proud of about the Westminster and Holborn Society (and there are a many) is our reputation in the UK and internationally of being an inclusive, pro-active and welcoming local law society. We want to do what we can to help our members, and I want to reiterate that we are open to listening to all of your ideas about how we can add value for our members. Whether that is hosting though provoking discussions (such as the recent excellent event organized by Suzanna Eames and hosted by corporate member firm Farrer & Co) which explored the modern parent working in law; hosting
a speed mentoring event or taking part in international visits (including conferences hosted by our friends at the FBE), or taking part in our many active committees - we want to make sure that all of our members are able to develop, grow and influence.
We want to ensure everyone feels able to contribute and get involved, whether they are part of our growing student membership, or our active junior lawyers to those experienced partners. We want our members to always have a seat at the table, and if there is not enough room at the table, then we will get a bigger table.
I could eulogise all day about our incredible officers and our committees, and I want to express how profoundly grateful I am to all of them for their hard work and effort in ensuring that our members are part of our tribe and helping us to expand our membership. It is crucial that we all spread the good news of what the Westminster and Holborn Law Society does, and the value that it brings, so that we can expand our tribe event further. Thank you.
Very best wishes.
