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Contents

4. President’s Address.

6. Upcoming and Past Events.

8. 2023 Legal Awards Shortlist Announced

12. Members’ News.

16. Jobs Board

18. Regulation Report: Legal Ombudsman –changes to scheme rules.

20. Focus: The Equality Diversity And Inclusion Committee

22. Army Legal Services- What’s Legal Life Like In The Forces?

26. How Property Lawyers Can Act Now On Climate Change

Contact Us

www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk info@birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

Tel: 0121 227 8700

Birmingham Law Society, Suite 101, Cheltenham House

14-16 Temple Street, Birmingham, B2 5BG

Twitter: @bhamlawsociety Insta: @birminghamlawinsta

Editor: Jonathan Fraser. Editorial enquiries to jon@fu-media.co.uk

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To advertise your business to Birmingham Law Society members call Fraser Urquhart Media on 0116 2533445 or you can email jon@fu-media.co.uk or kevin@fu-media.co.uk

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At the point of writing, I have completed the first quarter of my Presidential term which has flown by at a pace.

Thankfully the Law Society dinner season that occupied my first six weeks in office did not lead to human combustion and I was able to represent the society at a wide range of events thereafter.

Our Newly Qualified event on 24th November welcomed in 37 new solicitors and barristers who we hope will remain within our city for the duration of their careers.

I have recently met at their request, Beth Quinn and her colleagues from TLS. They are keen to explore the possibility of adapting our current Ceremonial procedures for NQs to include others in our region who may otherwise have to travel to Chancery Lane. I will report back once we have more detail but in principle it seems like a good idea.

21st November marked the 48th Anniversary of the Birmingham Pub Bombings with a permanently lit enhancement to the memorial trees that were erected on the Plaza outside New Street Station. The memorial was erected for the 21 innocent victims who lost their lives in the atrocity. I attended as BLS President along with Maurice Malone of Birmingham Irish Association and members of the West Midlands Irish Business Group including former BLS President Eileen Schofield and Caroline Brogan, clinical negligence specialist at Irwin Mitchell. 21st November will be a date our city will never forget and the same can be said of the victims, including those who sustained injuries and the families who are still waiting for justice.

I attended the West Midlands Annual Justice Service at Coventry Cathedral at the invitation of the High Sheriff, coming across some familiar faces but also meeting new contacts for BLS, some of whom have expressed an interest in participating in our South Asian Heritage month which will be taking place in July / August of this year.

I also had the honour of meeting our new Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Craig Guildford, at the British Police Symphony Orchestra annual event (highly recommended), held at the magnificent Symphony Hall. What a brilliant advert the City of Birmingham Symphony Hall is and the same can be said of the Birmingham Royal Ballet with whom I have recently met, with a view to forging links with BLS. We wish the Chief Constable every success in his new role and his efforts to make our city a safer place for us all to live and work in.

From earlier reports you will know that pushing social mobility is something I am passionate about and one of my key objectives throughout the year. With that in mind I would like to bring to your attention “The Civil Judges Social Mobility Initiative.” I was approached by HHJ Kelly who together with her fellow Judges have set up a scheme that provides work experience to students who would otherwise not have such opportunities and therefore may never consider a career in the legal profession. I was able to introduce the Judges to our contacts within the Universities so they can assist with identifying suitable candidates.

The scheme has the support of the Bar via the Leader of the Midland Circuit Michelle Heeley KC and the Judiciary would like to enlist the help of BLS law firms. Please do get in touch with the BLS office for further details by emailing events@birminghamlawsociety.co.uk or better still to simply sign up and thereby agree to take on a student for a two-day placement. The Judges are to be commended for taking a lead on this and it comes on the back of an earlier engagement with BLS, targeting solicitors to consider making applications for judicial posts. I will be arranging a follow up to this with my good friend and former President Steven Jonas who has agreed to participate and lend his experience on such matters.

A joined up and fully engaged local legal profession is in everyone’s interest and will achieve much better outcomes across the spectrum of initiatives and objectives we are all setting. In many cases it will also avoid duplication of effort.

We are quite rightly proud to be leading the way in some areas but to affect real and lasting change we must spread our initiatives and success stories beyond the boundaries of Birmingham and the Black Country. With that in mind we placed social mobility, the retention of women in law and EDI progress on the agenda for our meeting of the Joint V.

The Joint V consists of the law societies of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. The officers of each society meet from time to time to discuss current issues relevant to the profession and it was our turn to host and set the agenda. I invited Peter Ward from Leadership in Business and Sport to attend the meeting, so he could tell all those present how we can integrate students from low socio-economic backgrounds in to our law firms and chambers.

It is my intention to introduce him to our membership law firms at a later point so please contact me via the BLS office if you would like to learn more.

Finally, for those who are not aware, we had a general meeting of BLS on 12th December. At that meeting we resolved to adopt a new structure for the society and with it changes to the constitution of both board and council. It was a culmination of many months of very hard work.

There are too many names for me to list by way of thanks for what has been produced and for the platform it has given the society to move forward positively with renewed confidence. I would like to place on record my thanks to all who participated in the process which included the setting up of an implementation committee chaired by Clive Read.

One of the positive outcomes that was part of the forward plan is that we were able to appoint Andrew Beedham as our CEO. As a past President with a long service history with BLS we can be assured we are in very capable hands.

My diary dictates that I will be overseas on Chambers business in February but also flying the BLS flag wherever I travel. I have set up a room, so I can participate in BLS meetings remotely, hopefully from sunnier climes. For those who scare easy, I promise not to be wearing shorts, so you will be spared the sight of my knobbly knees, which seem to have more lumps than a sugar bowl these days!

Next time out I will be reporting on our magnificent BLS Awards evening (9th March) where we will be celebrating the success of our legal community.

Tony McDaid President

Birmingham Law Society thanks our Gold Sponsors

MEMBER’S EVENTS

Managing and Senior Partners Lunch

2nd February, 12.30pm – 2pm, Gateley

Free for Managing and Senior Partners only

100 Years of Women Solicitors in Birmingham

6th February, 1pm – 2pm, Online via Microsoft.

Free for all to attend

Birmingham Legal Apprentices

Networking

7th February, 6pm – 8pm, No5 Barristers’ Chambers

Free for legal apprentices and other junior legal professionals only

Wine Tasting

16th February, 6pm – 8pm, Loki Wine

£25 +VAT for members

£35 +VAT for non-members

International Women’s Day

8th March, 5pm – 7pm, Birmingham Crown Court

2023 Legal Awards

9th March, 6.45pm – 11.30pm, ICC

£120 +VAT member ticket

£150 +VAT non-member ticket

£1,200 +VAT member table of 10

£1,500 +VAT non-member table of 10

St Patrick’s Day Breakfast Networking

17th March, 8.30am – 10.30am, No5 Barristers’ Chambers

Free for all to attend

Networking Social for Lawyers

28th March, 6pm – 8pm, 3PB Barristers. Free for members

£10 +VAT for non-members

To reserve your place and find out more, make sure that you visit www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

General Meeting

Raising Aspirations In Law

100 Years Of Women In Law In Birmingham

In 1922 four women passed the Law Society Finals examinations and became the first women solicitors. Carrie Morrison was the first, and her name has been resounding across social media throughout the last few weeks, deservedly so. However, with her in that exam were three other women, one of whom became the first female member of Birmingham Law Society in 1923.

Her name was Mary Elizabeth Pickup. Mary was articled in her husband’s firm TJ Pickup in Birmingham and qualified in January 1923. She was awarded a BLS book prize for her success in her examinations. Her untimely death was noted at the BLS AGM in 1938 where her longstanding role as a consultant at the Poor Man’s Lawyers Association in Birmingham was praised. The Daily Mail acknowledged her achievement in ‘heading the list of successful candidates in the First Law Society Finals examinations ever open to women.’

For more information about Mary and the history of BLS turn to page 84 of the wonderful book, Our Legal Community by Dr Sally Hoban which details the 200 year history of BLS. Women have always been breaking records at BLS and continue to do so. With a straight run of three female presidents and now in the safe hands of Tony McDaid as an excellent champion of equality and diversity, we will move to another female president and equality champion next year, with Alice Kinder.

We celebrate the life of Mary Elizabeth Pickup at our online event on 6th February 1-2pm at which Dr Diane Blenkiron will explore some of the challenges encountered by the participants of her research into muslim women in the legal profession.