President’s Jottings

INTRODUCTION

President’s Jottings

WINTER 2022

Hello everyone. I’ve given this month’s jottings a lot of thought and in fact this is the second version I have written.

There has been some considerable activity at Surrey Law Society since the last edition.

At the start of December, The Law Society held the second virtual town hall meeting, where local law societies were invited to share their views on matters of concern. The meeting was hosted by Law Society President I. Stephanie Boyce and Vice President Lubna Shuja. Over 35 Local Law Societies were present.

The key issue discussed at this meeting was the closure of SIF. We alerted our members to this meeting and were contacted by some concerned former sole practitioners. Their views echoed those of the general consensus at the meeting on December 2nd, which broadly were that the SRA who are currently responsible for administration of the fund, are somewhat vague in their intent. Post six year run off cover cannot be eliminated, with no replacement being put in place, but little or no assurances have been given beyond the closing date of September 2022.

There are close to £30m in funds currently sitting in the SIF purse. Even when the £10m deduction of prospective claims is taken into consideration, the funds are not insignificant.

At the meeting of 2nd December, I conveyed the feedback from our members that there is a lot of obfuscation and apparent intentional downplay of the impact that closure of the fund will have. I also conveyed the concerns that the undertaking from the late Paul Marsh (TLS Council Member at the time) that The Law Society will always protect its members, is not apparently being observed.

Members are reminded that the consultation closes on 15th February 2022, and we urge individuals and firms to respond to ensure they add their voices to amplify the message of distress.

On 30th November I was invited to speak as part of a panel at the University of Law Guildford’s careers event “Diversity and Inclusion – Accessing the Legal Profession, Panel Event”. It was a pleasure to be able to share some of the personal challenges I have faced in my 25+ year legal career, as a Muslim woman of South East Asian cultural heritage, to an audience of young adults preparing to embark on their legal careers. The panel of speakers discussed the many and varied issues around the impact of cultural diversity, poor social mobility and the unspoken challenges around mental health. We also explored how much more awareness there is on these intrinsic aspects of every career, legal or otherwise.

On that note I’m delighted to let you all know that I have now formed an “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee”.

This is the first time this has been done in the history of Surrey Law Society and I’m delighted to have spearheaded this initiative. It’s much more than a committee and in fact I feel it must form a cornerstone of SLS. Our first meeting will be in early December, and I will update members on the aims and objectives of the committee. If you, the members, have any questions or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Setting up that committee was a specific Presidential objective for me and so I’m extremely pleased to say I was able to announce it at our AGM on 1st December, when I was delighted to have been unanimously re-elected as President.

More happy news is that we now have retrieved full access to our LinkedIn account so please email any content about your firms which you’d like us to share on your behalf. Alternatively do tag “Surrey Law Society” in your posts and we will happily help to share your message to the Surrey legal community. It is our aim and intention to serve our members, and this is one more small way we can achieve that.

Finally, as we approach the festive season, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish you a peaceful and safe holiday season. All the best. ■

Mumtaz Hussain

Mumtaz Hussain

President