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Council Member's Report
Council Member’s Report
I hope all of you are making the best of the sunshine whilst it is still around. We now head into a new legal year.
I do not like to start on a sad note, but it is with great sadness that I write to let you know that former Council Member at the Law Society for Surrey and past President of SLS David Steed passed away on Tuesday 19th September 2023. I know all of you would join me to convey our condolences to David’s family.
I would like to thank all of you for having your trust in me as your Council Member and I am pleased to be able to serve you all for another term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Council Member Alastair Logan who retires in October from Council. Alastair has done a lot of work on Council and for Surrey Solicitors. His contributions to Council meetings have been invaluable. I am sure Alastair will continue to remain active on SLS.
At the meeting on 11th October 2023. Nick Emmerson became the 179th President of the Law Society, Richard Atkinson as Vice President and congratulations to Mark Evans on being elected as the Deputy Vice President. Our congratulations to all of them and our thanks to Lubna Shuja the outgoing President.
Matters have been raised with me about firms being removed from the Lenders Panel due to lack of conveyancing transactions. I am looking to see if any of you have had that experience, as it is anticompetitive practice of mortgage lenders in relation to their panel appointments. Please can you email me if you have been affected, as this is something we will need to take up with the Competition and Markets Authority.
You would have read about the concerns raised by the Law Society and the Bar Council expressing grave concerns about lawyers being targeted and criticised for doing their job – A joint statement was put out and can be read at: Law Society and Bar Council joint statement on Jacqueline McKenzie | The Law Society (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/pressoffice/press-releases/law-society-and-bar-council-joint-statementon-jacqueline-mckenzie).
Currently, we have a consultation relating to the Chartered Institute for Legal Executives (CILEX.) application to be regulated by the SRA The consultation document proposes that Legal Executives should cease to be regulated by CILEX Regulation Limited but instead come under the SRA. This is alongside many other proposals. You can find the consultation here CILEX Consultation Launch | Enhance Trust & Confidence (https://www.cilex.org.uk/ about_cilex/consultations/royal-charter/). The consultation closes on 5 November 2023. SLS will be responding to the consultation and there will be a detailed response by the Law Society. A special meeting of Council has been called to deal with this matter. The Law Society is continuing to look into the differential attainments of ethnic students taking the SQE exams. The Law Society would like to hear from members with experiences. Please do email me if you have any questions or comments on this matter.
We are now in the renewal season of our Indemnity Insurance and Practising Certificates. We have seen an increase in both. This will be challenging for Surrey Solicitors and if I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would welcome feedback about your experience in this matter.
We had the remote Local law Societies conference on 13th September 2023, and it was well attended. We had an address by the Legal Ombudsman who outlined the new Scheme Rules as of 1st April 2023. There are three key areas for change:
• the time limits for bringing complaints
• discretion to dismiss or discontinue complaints
• discretion to decline to issue an ombudsman decision
As you all know Access to Justice is a cornerstone of our democracy and our profession but unfortunately it does not appear to be important to our government whose persistent defunding of the Justice system has brought it to its knees. We need to see change. The effects can be seen in our court system, the land registry, the probate registry, and the reality that justice is out of reach for those living in poverty or of modest means because the legal aid system has been virtually destroyed. Will AI and human expertise be the answer? I will update you after these issues have been debated by Council and we know what the Law Society proposes as to its actions for our members.
I would once again request that if you have not updated your details on MyLS then please do it and if you have not registered on MyLS then please do register in order to receive updates etc. I am here if you have any issues that you wish to discuss with me and would like me to take to the Law Society. ■
