President’s Foreword

INTRODUCTION

President’s Foreword

One of the stranger aspects of becoming president of the Law Society is taking on the role of custodian of the society’s memorabilia. A three-handled ‘tyg’ and an impressive ceremonial medal.

I was sure that each of these splendid artefacts was valuable and must have an interesting backstory, but I had only very scant information about either of them. Fortunately, I am an avid follower of Bargain Hunt on TV, so I knew just who to ask. Christina Trevanion’s auctioneering & valuations business is based in Whitchurch, and to my delight she not only offered to give a view on valuation and provenance, but volunteered to write an article too. Her fascinating piece is on page 16 and the medal is on this edition’s cover.

On 6th October I will be hosting the President’s Annual Dinner at the Mercure Hotel in Telford. Proceeds from the evening will go to my chosen charity for the year, Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service, and it was because of this connection that I invited Nazir Afzal OBE to be my guest speaker at the Dinner. I was thrilled when he accepted the invitation. Mr Afzal has had an incredibly distinguished career prosecuting perpetrators of violence against women and girls, including honourbased violence. A brief biography of Mr Afzal appears on page 6.

This edition also contains features on the perils of work emails; Eton fives alive and kicking in Shrewsbury; how you can support the Access to Justice Foundation; a Diary of a Baby Lawyer; a Case Study by Andy Howarth; a Junior Lawyers’ update; Gardening and Life Tips from the wonderful Tim Wilderspin; and of course our Prize crossword and the best of Legal Twitter.

The first edition of the magazine was very well received; in my opinion the second one is even better. I do hope you agree.

Gemma Hughes

With all best wishes,

Gemma Hughes

President