WHLS AGM 2021

WHLS

WHLS Annual General Meeting

Thursday 14 October 2021

As the autumn leaves fell, solicitors from across England and Wales descended upon the Law Society on Thursday 14 October, both in a socially distanced manner in person at Chancery Lane and virtually, for the Society’s annual general meeting. The advent of the hybrid in person and virtual meetings means that it is much easier for all members of our profession to attend and participate in proceedings, including, as always, a discussion of some of the key issues currently facing us.

1. Council Member elections

Over the summer elections were run for various seats on the governing body of the Law Society, the Council. Available seats included geographical constituencies (such as Central London), demographic constituencies (such as junior lawyers) and practice area constituencies (such as commercial property). At the 2020 annual general meeting members approved significant reforms to the constitution of the Law Society Council and these have led to a large number of new elections this year.

All members of Westminster & Holborn Law Society are now represented by nine geographical Council Members, being Beth Forrester, Nicola Rubbert, Pavel Klimov, Salome Coker, Simon Davis, Christopher Vigrass and Ed Crosse. Beth, Nicola and Pavel were elected in previous years to seats representing the City of Westminster and Holborn (respectively); Salome, Simon, Christopher and Ed were elected in previous years to represent the City of London. However, they will now join forces to represent the new (and wider) constituency of Central London. They are joined by two Council Members elected this year: Paul Sharma and Laura Uberoi, both of whom are former presidents of Westminster & Holborn Law Society.

2. Annual Report

The annual report and accounts of the Law Society was presented at the AGM. This covered the response to the pandemic, together with an update on their three goals: (i) promoting the legal profession with government and the public, (ii) influencing for impact to create a positive operating environment, and (iii) driving professional excellence. A copy can be found on the Law Society website.

3. Further constitutional amendments

Following the substantial reforms implemented to the Law Society last year, a few further constitutional reforms were proposed to ensure good practice and efficiency in the future. These include:

(a) increasing the minimum number of members present at an AGM who can demand that a vote on any matter be put to a ballot of the full membership (as was done last year on the question of whether each Council Member should be limited to a maximum 12 year term) to 33% of all those present;

(b) allowing the Council Members who have been elected to the role of Deputy Vice President, Vice President or President to automatically continue with their officeholder roles without the need to participate in any Council Member elections that may arise in respect of the seat that they represent during their term in office; and

(c) permitting the President to open their Council seat for election on a casual basis during the year of their presidential term, to ensure that their constituents remain represented whilst undertaking their full-time officeholder duties.

4. Solicitors Indemnity Fund

A members’ motion was also brought to the AGM, formally supported by 49 members, that “The Society abhors the decision by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to close down the Solicitors Indemnity Fund”. This follows the SRA’s decision to close the solicitors indemnity fund (SIF), which will stop accepting new claims after 30 September 2022.

The decision by the SRA has been hard fought by members and the Law Society, as it means that solicitors (or their estates) could be personally liable for any losses from claims made against them. It is expected that solicitors who worked for firms that closed between 1 September 2000 and 30 September 2016 will be most impacted and further information can be found on the Law Society website (including details on how you can participate in the latest consultation).

5. Inauguration of I. Stephanie Boyce

The AGM always closes on the inauguration of the officers and this year we celebrated one of our own members (and former Honorary Secretary) I. Stephanie Boyce stepping up as President of the Law Society. She is supported by Lubna Shuja (Vice President) and Nick Emmerson (Deputy Vice President). We were also delighted to welcome I. Stephanie Boyce to the AGM of Westminster & Holborn Law Society, where we admitted her as an honorary member of the Society. ■

Laura Uberoi

Laura Uberoi

Council Member of the Law Society of England & Wales representing Central London and a Senior Finance Solicitor at Macfarlanes