I am pleased to say that at the end of last year, the Law Society Council approved a package of changes to the arrangements for the governance of the relationship between the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Under the new arrangements agreed between the Law Society and the SRA, a Business and Oversight Board will be established with equal representation from the Law Society and SRA, together with independent members, responsible for the delivery of shared services functions to both the SRA and the Society and for advising the council on the oversight of the SRA.

A new Director of Organisational Services, reporting directly to the board, will manage the shared services. There will be no change to the SRA board’s functions.

This agreement will make it easier to establish a more constructive working relationship between the Law Society and the SRA, leading to more efficient use of the resources funded by the profession, and more positive collaboration on regulatory proposals. This, in turn, will provide the Law Society with a stronger platform to promote the profession’s services domestically and internationally, and help it to be an even more influential voice for solicitors in resolving issues of professional concern, such as professional indemnity insurance.

Of course, there will always be areas where the Law Society and the SRA take a different view from each other, but we must always be respectful of our distinct roles. These new arrangements should serve to streamline oversight arrangements and provide a sound basis for the future working relationship between the professional and regulatory bodies.

Unlocking Disputes campaign

This month marks the official opening of the Rolls Building, the biggest dedicated commercial, technology and construction court in the world, replacing the existing facilities of the Commercial Court, the Chancery Division and the Technology and Construction Court. I was delighted to be able to attend its official opening and introduce the Queen to our Unlocking Disputes campaign.

This campaign, supported by the legal profession, the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and the City, is designed to promote England and Wales as the ‘Jurisdiction of Choice’ for those seeking international litigation, arbitration or alternative dispute resolution services. It highlights the excellence of the legal services to be found here; the independence, experience, specialist expertise and authority of the legal profession and judges of England and Wales, as well as the modernity and efficiency of the Rolls Building.

I am glad to say that our jurisdiction has always had a strong reputation as a leading centre for the provision of legal services, but in today’s competitive market we cannot afford to take our pre-eminence for granted. This campaign aims to put English law at the heart of global commercial transactions and promote our value as a global dispute resolution centre.

The legal professions of the UK represent one of most successful and global service industries. The figures are impressive - UK legal services generated £19.3bn in 2010, while legal services exports totalled £3.6bn. To a great extent much of that success comes from the international vision of UK law firms, the relationships that have been forged with our legal counterparts across the world, and the popularity of English law as the ‘Law of Choice’ for international business transactions.

The challenge for the Law Society over the coming years will be to ensure that we reflect the profession’s international success and demonstrate to the government how vital lawyers’ skills and experience are when it comes to supporting their growth agenda.

Solicitors from Hell

Last month, the High Court ordered the publisher of the Solicitors from Hell website to remove the website from the internet. It was important that we took action against this rogue website because it was not, as it claimed, a help for consumers or a vehicle for free speech, but allowed anyone with a grievance against an individual solicitor to post libels against them and the website then to extort payments from those defamed, in order to have their postings removed.

In excess of 900 of our members were defamed and their reputation damaged because a search engine result against their names would produce a link to the website. It should be a relief for everyone in the profession that the Law Society obtained its injunction at the High Court and the site has now been removed.

As usual, it has been a busy start to the presidential year and yet there is always more to do. I see many positive developments in the work the Law Society is doing on behalf of the profession, including the successful start made by the Conveyancing Quality Scheme and the impact on public and parliamentary opinion made by the continuing ‘Sound off for Justice’ campaign. Our plans to launch a new website, an advocacy section and an in-house division should keep us busy during 2012.

I hope that you enjoyed a joyful and peaceful Christmas holiday and I wish you a happy New Year.

John Wotton is president of the Law Society