The President Writes

The President writes...

Welcome to this edition of the Bulletin.

Let me start by saying how delighted I am to be President of the Northamptonshire Law Society. The Society was founded 140 years ago so it is truly a great honour to represent such a well-established and enduring organisation.

For those of you who don’t know me yet let me introduce myself. I qualified as a Solicitor in 2000 and I currently work in the serious injury team at Shoosmiths, Northampton. I have been at Shoosmiths for 16 years so consider myself to be part of the furniture. I am originally from Lancashire but moved to Northampton for work reasons and have never looked back. It is a great County with a lot to offer those in legal practice. We have some fantastic firms and a whole load of talent which makes for a vibrant and successful legal community. The Society is at the heart of this and my overriding objective in my year as President is to make the Society bigger and better without losing sight of our core values. I want to move the Society forward for the next generation but without forgetting our rich history. We can all play a part in this and over the next few months I will be engaging with you in order to ensure this can be delivered. I would very much welcome your ideas and comments so please feel free to contact me as I would love to hear from you. You can find out more about my strategy for the coming year inside the Bulletin.

I would like to thank Oliver Spicer for doing a terrific job as my predecessor. Oliver is remaining as a Council member and will continue to have an active role in our Society. No doubt his support and advice will be invaluable in the months ahead. I would also like to thank the Council members who really are an exceptional group of people. I am fortune because not only do they have a wealth of knowledge and experience but they are fully committed to the Society and keen for it to grow and prosper; it really is a pleasure to work with them. I am particularly pleased to welcome on to the Council our newest members Afua Akom, Aimee Johns, Amy Leech and Lynsey Ward. These young lawyers bring with them masses of enthusiasm, creativity and hopefully a lot of bright ideas.

I would also like to thank Jabeer Miah who will be working alongside me as Vice President this year. Jabeer’s energy and commitment to the Society is second to none and we are lucky to have him.

A final word of thanks to Carolyn Coles who earlier this year took over as Society Manager from the legend that is Phil Smith. Phil was always going to be a hard act to follow but Carolyn has risen to the challenge and is doing a great job of running the Society.

Happy reading!

Sharine Burgess

President Northamptonshire Law Society