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The President’s Foreword
The President’s Foreword
AUTUMN 2024
I am delighted to be writing this foreword, the first for me having been installed as President of Westminster & Holborn Law Society at our recent AGM. It is an honour to takeover this role from our previous President, Phil Henson, and my thanks go to him for his considerable contribution to the society over the last year, culminating with a spectacular annual dinner at the House of Lords. We all had a wonderful evening as described by Nedra Daniel on page 12 of this edition of our Central London Lawyer magazine and I want to thank our sponsor, Handelsbanken, for their generosity and support which was very much appreciated.
I am looking forward to building on the work Phil and all the many Presidents before him did for the society and you, our members. We exist for our members and all of us on the main committee and sub-committees work hard to try to ensure we are offering the support, educational and developmental opportunities and networking events you want from us. However, if there is something you think we should be doing for you and we are not then please do get in touch with me to let me know. Do also contact us if you would like to join the society and especially if you would like to help on one of our subcommittees - both our Junior Lawyer’s and Pro Bono and CSR sub-committees are seeking willing and enthusiastic volunteers – see pages 15 and 25 for more detailss.
We are planning a series of brilliant events over the next 12 months, starting with our Junior Lawyers Division’s Speed Mentoring Event on 20 November, which is already fully sold out and promises to be an excellent chance for members early on in their careers to benefit from the experience of more senior legal professionals. I have no doubt that it will be a fun and informative night for everyone involved.
Next year, we look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day in March and we will soon be starting to organise our annual summer party. Already underway are our international sub-committee’s plans for an event with our twinned bar associations in June 2025, which promises to be a wonderful networking opportunity with our international friends.
In this edition of our magazine we celebrate pro bono work, and the benefits it brings not only to those in need of help and advice who cannot access legal services otherwise but also to all of those who volunteer with one of the many pro bono organisations. David Abbott provides us with some first-hand examples of the work of volunteers at the Free Representation Unit (FRU), which offers representation to employment, social security and the criminal injuries compensation tribunals (read David’s article on pages 16 and 17), whilst (on page 20) Katarzyna Jurkun highlights her work at the Polish Social and Cultural Association. If their articles inspire you to get involved then Toby Brown, the Chair of UK Pro Bono Organising Committee, provides details of the charities and organisations you can support. Please do get involved if you can as we all know such services are needed now more than ever.
I hope you enjoy this Autumn 2024 edition of the magazine, brought to you by our amazing WHLS Editorial Team. My grateful thanks go to them for their hard work in putting together what I hope you will agree is another interesting and inspiring read.
All the best.
