Council Member’s Report

Council Member’s Report

BY SUSHILA ABRAHAM

As we approach the close of another year and a new government with new policies and taxes let us not lose hope for a better 2025.

A warm welcome to the National Law Society’s new President Richard Atkinson, Vice President Mark Evans and Deputy Vice President Brett Dixon. Two Surrey junior Solicitors Bethany Walker and Martin Whitehorn were elected to represent the Junior Lawyers Division on the Law Society Council.

No doubt you would have all read the report of the Legal Services Board’s independent review on the Axiom Ince case. We will have to wait to know what the LSB will do to proceed with enforcement action.

In the meantime, the SRA are consulting on potential changes to how and when law firms handle client money, and how this money is protected. I would encourage all of you to take part in the consultation as it will have a great impact on all the firms, especially high street firms. The consultation is open until 21st February 2025.

Our court system remains in crisis and the Law Society continues to work with the justice department on this. Criminal legal aid and the situation with prisons remain in crisis, but The Law Society President Richard Atkinson is continuing his discussion with the Lord Chancellor’s department in relation to more investment into the criminal justice system. Presently the backlogs are as follows:

• the Crown Court backlog reaching a record high 73,105 by the end of September 2024, 10% higher than September 2023 (66,426 cases).

• 16,505 of those Crown Court cases have been outstanding for a year or more.

the magistrates’ court backlog increased by 22% on the previous quarter to 333,349 at the end of September 2024.

See the Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-courtstatistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2024.

You can read more on Sir Brian Leveson’s radical review of the criminal court system in the Gazette and Solicitors Journal .

The Guardian reports that homebuyers and sellers in England and Wales must act quickly to ensure property sales are complete before new stamp duty rules come into force next April.

No doubt you would have read of Solicitors being targeted by climate activists and immigration firms also being attacked, this is something we have not seen before but we now seem to be targeted.

If you have any matters that you wish to raise with the Law Society, then please do not hesitate to contact me and in addition our two new junior solicitors on council.

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 2025. Enjoy a well-deserved break. ■

Sushila Abraham

Law Society Council Member for Surrey

If you have any matters that you wish to raise with the Law Society, then please do not hesitate to contact me and in addition our two new junior solicitors on council.