Editorial
President’s Jottings Autumn 2015 As we come to an end of fine warm weather and as you return from your well rested summer holiday, I too am coming to the end of my term as President of the Society and Daniel Church will take over the reins at the AGM on 26th November 2015 at the Guildhall in Kingston upon Thames.
T
he months of June and July were very busy and I attended the Local Law Societies Conference organised by Monmouthshire Law Society on 26th June at the Celtic Manor, Newport. It was well organised and well attended. On 9th July it was the National Law Society’s AGM and the installation of our new President Jonathan Smithers, Vice president Robert Bourns and Deputy Vice president Joe Egan. I congratulate them on their appointments and wish them all the very best for a very successful year. I am pleased to add that Joe Egan will be our guest speaker at the AGM on 26th November. On 13th July I attended an Advisory Forum at the University of Law, Guildford; it was an informal meeting covering a broad range of topics which relate to preparing students for a career in law and the latest developments and methods of teaching law and the developments that were taking place at the University. Thereafter I attended the production of The Taming of the Shrew (courtesy of the Guildford Shakespeare Company) at the University of Law.
planning. I am very pleased that Daniel Church will be taking on as President in November and I do hope that many young solicitors will follow in his footsteps. I would request that member firms encourage their young solicitors to play an active role on the committee.
I would like to thank David Steed for representing Surrey as Council member. I take this opportunity of thanking all of you for electing both John Perry and myself onto Council to represent you for the next four years. As Council members we are here to represent you and I would encourage all of you to contact us if there are any issues that you need us to raise with the National Law Society.
http://lawsociety.org.uk/News/Stories/Co urt-closures-we-want-your-views/
It has been a fruitful year for me and I am pleased that I have been able to meet a number of you including many young solicitors. It is my passion and vision to see an evolving Surrey Law Society where more young solicitors take up the challenge of not only getting involved with the committee but also becoming office holders. We do need you as it is so vital that we think about succession
The whole legal profession is changing and we do need to move on but we must not forget that we have to continue to retain our high values and professionalism as a Solicitor. I reiterate the importance of responding to consultation papers so that our voices can be heard. There are the consultations on Fixed Fees and Court Closures. I would recommend that you click the attached links and read about these as it is very vital that we know what is going on and we do need to give responses. The links are: http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/analysis/co mment-and-opinion/fixed-costs-andclinical-negligence/5050646.article; https://www.research.net/r/clin-neg;
We continue to hold CPD events for our members and the main forthcoming event is the Conveyancing & Land Law Conference on 22nd October. I would urge all of you to attend and support these events and I hope to see many of you there. There will be a breakfast Seminar on the Care Act at Sunrise Living, Esher on 13th October organised by HFS Milbourne. I attended a similar seminar on 15th July and I found it very informative and interesting. I would recommend that you attend even if you are not involved in private client work as you may benefit from the knowledge of understanding what the Care Act is all about and how you could assist a family member or friend.
I attended a luncheon organised by the Institute of Legal Finance and Management (ILFM) at the Middle Temple on 16th September. ILFM was formally known as the Institute of Legal Cashiers. As this is my last jottings as President I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Sue Seakens CEO for her advice and support throughout the year, to my Vice President Daniel Church and Deputy Vice President Mark Gough for their continued support and to all the other office holders and committee members for their support throughout the year. I would like to give special thanks to our Treasurer Nick Ball for sorting out the accounts of the Society with the help that he received from our accountant Rob Colepio and team at Ledger Sparks. I am also pleased that we are now giving our website a whole new perspective and if all goes to plan this will be launched at the AGM in November 2015. I am very pleased that a few new members have joined SLS and welcome them on board. I am very keen to see more young Solicitors joining the committee and would invite you to consider coming along to observe one of our committee meetings. It would also be good to see more articles from young solicitors in the Surrey Lawyer and if you are interested then please contact Sue Seakens. Please note that the Finals of the SLS Football Tournament, organised by Vice President Daniel Church, is on Monday 23rd November Finally, as I reach the end of my term and this being my last jottings as President, I would like to wish all of you every success in the coming legal year. n SUSHILA ABRAHAM, President
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