Welcome to this edition of the Bulletin... It is a pleasure to be able to present to you the final edition of the Bulletin for the year.
The general attitude since my Presidency commenced in July has been positive and it has been a pleasure to hear from members and other local businesses that the recovery has generally been optimistic. Conveyancers have been relieved to see the end of the Stamp Duty holiday and celebrated record transactions which has assisted their recoveries. In person events have re-commenced and the general mood from NLS members I have spoken to has been encouraging with many
Northamptonshire Law Society Officers & Council Members 2021 President Jabeer Miah
Deputy President Maurice Muchinda
Immediate-Past President Sharine Burgess
Honorary Secretary Ika Castka
Honorary Treasurer Afua Adane
Constituency Member & Past President Linda Lee
Council Members:
David Browne Laura Carter Michael Orton Jones Euan Temple - Past President Edward St John Smyth - Past President Afua Adane Lynsey Ward Sarah Franklin
Society Manager Carolyn Coles
Northamptonshire Law Society The Gatehouse, Stable Lane Pitsford Northampton NN6 9NG Tel: 01604 881154 Email: Sec.nls@outlook.com All Council members should in the first instance be contacted through the Society Manager.
NLS would like to support its members and if there are any ideas or suggestions please do let me know. Our patrons Marsh, the specialist solicitor professional indemnity insurance brokers have written a timely article giving practical advice in both avoiding cyber security breaches and what to do if you should be unfortunate enough to fall victim to such an attack. The Cyber-attack on the Simplify Group has undoubtedly caused financial and reputational damage and the impact has been felt by the whole conveyancing market. Although the Simplify group (which includes the conveyancing firms Premier Property Lawyers, DC Law , Advantage Property Lawyers, JS Law and also My Home Move) report they are back up and running on core systems and actively working on cases as, at the beginning of December, they were still advising clients that they had to prioritise the most urgent cases. I personally have had Clients affected as have other members I have spoken too. I have taken the role of President at full speed and we have relaunched the Non-Contentious Business Committee under the leadership of Euan Temple and assistance of Michael Orton-Jones and if any members are interested in getting involved please do contact either of us. I had the pleasure of attending the Birmingham Law Society Presidents Dinner in September followed by the Derby Law Society and Warwickshire Law Society Dinner and Awards both in November. It was a honour to attend and to be able to speak to my fellow Presidents and colleagues of the current difficulties we face and being able to meet and speak to the Law Society President; I. Stephanie Boyce at the Birmingham Dinner and the Vice President Lubna Shuja at the Warwickshire Dinner. Both are supportive of Local Law Societies and the work we do and hopefully we will extend invitations to attend our dinner in due course. I was honoured to attend the High Sheriff’s Court Service and Procession in October together with members of the judiciary and other legal professions which enabled me to highlight the role of the NLS and in my effort to build awareness of the NLS and the Presidency I was able to engage with local dignitaries. In addition to this I was able to attend the Mayors Charity Gala Dinner in December representing the NLS and have made contact with the Civic and Mayoral Officer of Northampton Town Council to possibly have the NLS represented at the Remembrance Sunday events in the future. In an effort to ensure our relations with our Patrons are resilient and pertinent I have met with Karen Jones the Dean of the faculty of Business and Law at the University of Northampton,
together with our Vice President; Maurice Muchinda and our Society Manager Carolyn Coles to discuss the ways in which we can work together and possible joint events. Being a passstudent and the first NLS President of colour the University took the opportunity to publish a story on their website and media releases which has featured in the Northamptonshire Business Times and can be viewed here: https://www. northampton.ac.uk/news/uon-graduate-bringsgreater-diversity-into-the-law/ We have also met virtually with Allie Parsons, Margaret Nutley and Leon Houseman from Landmark to discuss ways of supporting each other and hopefully Landmark will be providing some further training courses to us and developing the patronage relationship further and provide updates in relation to hot topics such as Cop26 and developments in environmental searches. I, together with Carolyn met with Nam Quereshi of Marsh over lunchand he warned of the rise of cyber-crime and the hardening PII market and the need to have cyber insurance cover. Nam has agreed to share their regular “Cyber-Alerts” and newsletters and is happy to assist members with any queries or insurance needs. I have been in touch with Joy Pinkham of Chartlands Chambers and we will arrange a meet with them soon. I was also able to attend the SRA Compliance Officer Conference at the ICC in Birmingham last month and there was a distinct focus on money laundering compliance and I attended the accounts rules breakout session. Recordings of the event are available online and I do advise members take some time to visit the same: https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/news/events/ondemand-events/compliance-conference-2021/ It has also been brought to my attention of the recent rise in conveyancing solicitors being excluded by mortgage lenders and I have responded to the recent request for comments by the Sole Practitioners Group. The NLS continue to provide courses virtually and we would be pleased to hear of any topics or suggestions in this regard. My aim was to increase members and contact with our members and I would be pleased to hear from the local legal community and I am happy to meet to disuses the benefits and hopefully we will be contacting Firms soon to discuss the benefits of membership. I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year! I can be contacted at jm@shepherdandco.com Best Regards
Jabeer Miah President, Northamptonshire Law Society
www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
5
Northamptonshire Law Society
It has indeed been a difficult year for all with the Covid-19 Pandemic continuing to cause uncertainty and introducing new norms. Many of us have lost loved ones, family and friends to the pandemic. The new Omicron variant is causing further uncertainty with new restrictions and the possibility of a new lockdown.
citing the need to recruit. I have not heard of any redundancies following the end of the furlough scheme or stamp duty holiday and would be pleased to hear from members with an update and any concerns they have. I also encourage any positive news and ask for continued contributions to our members page.
