Local News
Downs Solicitors LLP – Appointments and Promotions Dorking-based, entrepreneurial law firm, Downs Solicitors LLP, is on the up once again. During the last 12 months, they have seen a 10% increase in staffing levels through the appointment of 10 new members of staff. Their most recent appointment is Julian Harvey, who joins its Corporate & Commercial Department as a Partner. Julian deals with all aspects of corporate and commercial law with a particular focus on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and joint ventures, including shareholder and LLP agreements. He also specialises in franchising and share option schemes. Chris Shipley, Partner and Head of the Corporate & Commercial Department, commented: “Julian’s appointment is a great boost to the team as he brings a wealth of experience to the firm, further strengthening the services we offer our corporate clients.”
Julian said of his appointment “I am looking forward to contributing to the development and growth of both the Corporate and Commercial Department and the firm generally.“
photo of Senior Partner, Chris Millar, on the left and new corporate Partner, Julian Harvey, on the right.
The firm has also promoted lawyers Christine Eves and Simone Horrobin to Associates. Christine handles all aspects of residential conveyancing and property law. Simone specialises in commercial litigation and insolvency matters. She is fluent in Japanese and is involved in the activities of the British Japanese Parliamentary Group. Downs Solicitors is a sponsor of this Group. Senior Partner, Chris Millar said “We are delighted that the firm is in a position to make these internal promotions which
recognise the achievements and contributions Christine and Simone have made to the firm’s continued success over the last 12 months. We are also pleased to announce that Alexander Muir and Floris Shoebridge have completed their training contracts with the firm and have accepted positions at our Cobham office. Alex joins the residential property team and Floris will join the family law team. These latest appointments emphasise our continuous investment in attracting, retaining and developing high calibre individuals." n
Council Member’s Report I wonder how many of you read all the helpful information that comes out from the Law Society on a daily basis. Anybody can get them. If you sign up then they come straight to your desktop. photo: John Perry In the past week alone I have received information on anti-money laundering, counter terrorist finance, AML compliance, suspicious activity reports and the new legislation on people with significant control of companies, the Office of Financial Sanctions, various conferences, the privatisation of the Land Registry, clinical negligence fixed costs, Brexit, English law day in Kazakhstan, practicing certificate fee applications, and McKenzie friends; and that was on 1st June alone. There is surely something for every practitioner coming out at least once a week and these updates are crucial as part of the on-going struggle to keep us all up to date. I still hear people saying the Law Society does nothing for us; but these alone are worth the money! The very successful Presidents and Secretaries Conference took place at Chancery Lane recently and judging by the feedback forms was one of the best yet. Practitioners have sought to make sure that the content of these conferences are far more relevant to the practice of law at the sharp end than they used to be and that is bearing fruit both in the quality of presentations and the number attending. By the time you read this I will have returned from the Southern Area
Association of Law Societies twice yearly meeting on the Isle of Wight and one of the major items will be the governance review of the Law Society which has been advertised and is in the process of being formulated. Council members are absolutely adamant that the views of the whole profession will be taken into account with this and you can expect a lot more on the subject soon. The Law Society has to be a relevant membership organisation for the 21st century and with Government and other organisational pressures with talk of Section 51 money being withdrawn etc we need to be on our guard and alert whilst at the same time remaining an effective voice for the solicitors’ profession. I have heard it said that certain politicians would prefer the profession of Solicitor to quietly disappear. They do not seem to realise the utter chaos this would cause throughout the land and it is our job to point that out to them. Finally for this report, as a matter of record I have been appointed the Chair of the Law Society’s Charity. I have mentioned this before as a potential depository for those irksome clients accounts that we have left over and can properly dispense to charity. Grants are made to organisations after forensic
inspection of accounts, management, governance, etc to assist the rule of law to be maintained both in this country and abroad where we always have to remember some lawyers operate in permanent fear of their lives under oppressive regimes who do not see the force of freedom of speech or action. Whatever we think of it, the English legal system is held in extremely high regard as a model by just about everybody else in the world, and again this is a position that needs maintaining. As I write this it is June, it is raining, it is 9°C and the wind has just blown over a tree in my road. I do hope that at some point in the next few months you will see some sunshine to cheer us all up. As usual, any points you wish to raise with Sushila and/or I we will be only too pleased to hear you and make sure it gets aired at the right forum at Chancery Lane. n
I look forward to hearing from you all. by John Perry TLS Council Member for Surrey Contact: john.perry@palmerssolicitors.co.uk