Council Member’s Report

REPORT

Council Member’s Report

We saw in October 2022 the new President Lubna Shuja take office and our congratulations to her. We thank the outgoing President I Stephanie Boyce for all she has done during the 19 months of her Presidentship of the Law Society. We also now have a new Chief Executive of the Law Society Ian Jeffery who is also a Solicitor and congratulate him on his appointment.

The President Lubna Shuja’s vision for the Law Society is for it to be “a leading and influential voice on justice, the rule of law and the value of solicitors. professional ethics. business support –listening to you”.

Just as we approach the end of 2022, we see a number of changes imposed on the profession and the uncertainties for our legal aid practitioners and in the area of criminal work. These are very unsettling times for the profession especially the future of our criminal legal aid firms. No doubt you would have seen the Government’s response to the Bellamy legal aid review which came out on 30 November 2022. The President has had robust discussions with the Lord Chancellor about this. She has also discussed concerns about the proposed Bill of Rights

which has been pointed out by more than 30 large City law firms of its detrimental impact on the UK. They have raised issues about the unintended consequences of some of the provisions of the Bill, particularly around the impact on the UK’s economic competitiveness and the standing of the English and Welsh law and jurisdictions internationally.

Please do continue to respond to consultations as it is vital that our voices are being heard. I would also like to inform you that I have been elected to the Law Society’s Board as a Member of the Board.

As always, if you have any matters that you wish to raise with the Law Society then please do not hesitate to contact me or Alastair. In the meantime, and as we approach Christmas, I would like to take the opportunity of wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous 2023. ■

Sushila Abraham

Sushila Abraham

Council Member and Board Member of the Law Society