Honorary Members

EDI SUB-COMMITTEE

Honorary Members

We are delighted to announce two honorary members: David Morgan and Arthur Weir. Both of them have made very substantial contributions to our law society and one of the predecessor societies, Holborn Law Society.

David Morgan

David Morgan has had a long and distinguished career in the law and in service to Westminster & Holborn Law Society.

David joined Slaughter & May for his articles, in the long form of twelve years, as he did not have a law degree. He became the lawyer to the Vestey Family of Vestey Foods and became interested in employment law. Under Prime Minister, Ted Heath, the Industrial Tribunal was set up, and a new tort of unfair dismissal promulgated. David has the distinction of taking the first case to the House of Lords (W.Devis and Sons v Atkins) with the issue being – can the employer use information acquired after an employee has been dismissed.

David then joined Wright Son & Pepper (WSP), where he became a litigator and represented at Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunals and Employment Tribunals. He also did Employment Appeal Tribunals, having been encouraged to do so by the President of the EAT, at that time, Lord Phillips. David retired from WSP at the age of sixty-five, and set up as a sole practitioner located physically in the offices of Radcliffes Le Braseur.

David became involved with the Holborn Law Society through one of the founder members, the father of Anthony and Nicholas Wright (of WSP). David eventually became President of Holborn Law Society before the merger with City of Westminster Law Society. The society was always active in the Federation of European Bar Associations (FBE), and in 2002 David became President of the FBE, one of only four English solicitors to serve as President in its twenty-nine-year history.

In 2005 David became a Council Member of the Law Society of England & Wales. He was a member of the Legal Affairs and Policy Board, and the EU Committee. He was a member of the UK delegation to the Council of European Bars (CCBE). He has been an extremely active member of WHLS International Committee and was Chair of the committee for a number of years. ■

Professor Sara Chandler QC (Hon)

Professor Sara Chandler QC (Hon)

Past President of WHLS and The Federation of European Bars

Arthur Weir

Arthur Weir only put down his pen as Chair of the Law Reform Committee at the end of 2019, some 57 years after he first began his efforts in founding Holborn Law Society (in 1962). Aside from being a Founding Member, Arthur is a past president of the Society, retired Deputy Chancery Master and charity trustee, whose reputation as one of the Society’s most outstanding members precedes him.

He has overseen that the metamorphosis of the Society, including the re-merger of Holborn Law Society and The City of Westminster Law Society. Always looking forward, Arthur has been an advocate for junior lawyers and served as a trustee of the Gamlen Award for decades, the Society’s prize for outstanding trainee solicitors.

Some of the Society’s best work can be viewed through the eyes of the Law Reform Committee, which Arthur chaired for many years. Indeed, it is one of the most revered groups of its kind; renowned for providing detailed consultation responses on a variety of matters. A personal favourite of Arthur’s is the Capital and Income in Trusts report, where the Society’s arguments against a rule-based approach to the classification of corporate receipts by trustees received two pages of consideration in the final 2009 Law Commission response.

His wise counsel has been valued by Presidents for decades and his stewardship whilst sitting on the Main Committee of the Society for the majority of existence has provided members with an effective representative body and community since its inception. There is no doubt that the success of the Society depends upon us all being a little more like Arthur. ■

Laura Uberoi

Laura Uberoi

Past President of WHLS