The President’s Foreword

INTRODUCTION

The President’s Foreword

AUTUMN 2022

Dear Members, I am delighted to be writing to you as the new President of Westminster & Holborn Law Society, I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I would like to say a huge thank you to Matthew Allan, personally and on behalf of the Society for all the hard work, time and energy he put into serving the Society as a very dedicated President. Matthew hosted the Society’s Annual Dinner 2022 on 10 November 2022, at the National Liberal Club which you can read about in this issue.

The focus of this issue is pro bono work. I am very grateful to David Abbott, Chief Executive of Free Representation Unit and member of the Society’s Pro Bono and CSR Committee, for being Guest Editor of this season’s issue. Thank you, David and thank you to Kene Onyeka Allison, the Editor-In-Chief and to everyone on the board of Central London Lawyer magazine for your incredible work. We all hope you enjoy reading about the fantastic and inspiring pro bono work being carried out.

In addition to the aforementioned dinner, this quarter, we also hosted an incredible Autumn Reception in the Cholmondeley Room and Terrace at the House of Lords. It was a wonderful evening and we were very pleased to have spent much of the evening on the terrace enjoying a unique view of the Thames. We have also hosted some excellent educational events.

Internationally, we are proudly twinned with seven other law societies in Europe including Il Lustre Col Legi de l’Advocacia de Barcelona (ICAB), who hosted a WHLS delegation in October to participate in a superb programme they put together for us, and the Barreau de Paris, who have kindly invited the Immediate Past President and I to celebrate the Rentrée du Barreau de Paris (Opening Ceremony of the Paris Bar), which I will update you on in the next edition. We look forward to hosting our twinned bars in London so that more of our members can make contacts and friends in other jurisdictions, which may be useful for work but may also just be interesting and fun, all of which we like to promote as a Society. Please do feel welcome to join us on future trips abroad when you see them advertised.

I am proud of our Society, its officers, those on our committees and our members. It is truly inclusive and welcoming to all, we are from so many different backgrounds and on a variety of paths, in private practice, and in-house, in a range of types and sizes of firms and companies, from junior and aspiring lawyers through to Partners and General Counsel, entrepreneurs, and in traditional and non-traditional roles.

The Society provides its members with brilliant events, both social and educational, formal and informal. As well as hearing from inspirational speakers, our platform lends itself to thoughtprovoking discussions, encourages aspiration and provides opportunities to gain knowledge. The Society creates a breeding ground for ideas, partnerships and collaborations, and of course we have an enjoyable time.

We all have highs and lows in our careers, we may stay with one firm or company for all of our career, we may move often, or we may be somewhere in between. Life throws so many challenges at us that forces change, both good and bad, career and otherwise. I want Westminster & Holborn Law Society to be your constant throughout your career, throughout your life, a place where you can come and relax in good company, picking up a little inspiration, knowledge and fun along the way. I hope that each of you come away from our events feeling glad to be a lawyer and one of our members.

We want to make getting involved in our Society and joining committees even more accessible. If you’re keen to get more involved in the Society, please do consider joining one of our sub-committees:

Education & Training

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Events & Sponsorship

International

Junior Lawyers Division

Law Reform

Membership

Pro Bono & CSR

Publicity & Social Media

For more information, please send an email to: cwhlawsoc@gmail.com.

We have many events in the pipeline for 2023 so please look out for updates via email and, if not already, please do follow us on LinkedIn (Westminster & Holborn Law Society), Twitter (@cwhls) and Instagram (@westminsterholbornlawsociety).

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2023 and I look forward to seeing each of you in the near future.

Nicola Rubbert

Nicola Rubbert

President

Westminster & Holborn Law Society