This was an apposite time to engage more directly with the many different constituencies in the legal services market.

It has been a fortnight of mixed fortunes for Chancery Lane. On the upside, the Law Society Excellence Awards were an unqualified success, attracting hundreds to an elegantly choreographed ceremony at Old Billingsgate in the City of London.

Just two years old, the occasion has established itself in that short period as the industry’s premier awards event.

At this time of retrenchment and redundancy, it was heartening to see so many engage with their peers to celebrate the most outstanding practitioners in England and Wales. Many congratulations to the winners.

The Gazette is rather less bullish about the ballot result on the creation of a new Law Society ‘affiliate’ category. Council’s approval of the plan was in tune with the times. The Society is striving to become a more commercially minded institution, as indeed it must. The coming metamorphosis of the profession, post-Legal Services Act, made this an appropriate time to engage more directly with the many different constituencies in the legal services market.

The brand would not have been ‘watered down’, as many apparently feared. Affiliates would not have been ‘members’ as such and would not have played any role in the governance of the organisation.

Solicitors have made their decision and it must be respected. Nevertheless, it is difficult to view this outcome as anything other than a missed opportunity.