Law Society President Andrew Holroyd outlines his priorities and ambitions for the next 12 months


I thought that, for my first monthly article in the Gazette, a bit of stall-setting was in order. I hope that by the time you reach the end of the page you will have a clearer understanding of my priorities for the year ahead. Most fall neatly under one broad mantra: promoting excellence.



‘Promoting’ can of course mean many things and the first strand of this work is to promote the profession to wider society. This may seem like an unenviable task, but it is an important one. How we are perceived in the public eye, the media and the corridors of power can and will affect how government, the regulator and our clients deal with us.



We must not forget that the badge of ‘solicitor’ is also a brand and a hallmark of quality. Our common values, and indeed qualifications, mean that whatever our specialism – whether in private practice or in-house – we all wear the badge and embody the brand.



It is only when you represent the profession abroad – as I have done recently on the west coast of the US – that you realise the high regard in which the Law Society and solicitors are held around the world. Contrast this with the situation at home where the actions of a tiny minority can damage the reputation of us all overnight.



During my time in office I want to help bridge the divide between public, media and political perceptions with the professional reality we all know. I want to emphasise and re-emphasise solicitors’ contribution not just to UK plc, which is huge, but also to ‘UK tlc’ – the tireless work undertaken by the profession whether as legal aid practitioners, undertaking pro bono work or as solicitors serving society in some other way.



Much of this can be described by the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is, of course, nothing new. The profession has a rich heritage in contributing to communities, not least through activities during National Pro Bono Week. But it is now time to broaden the definition of CSR to look at other areas where we can make a valuable contribution, such as promoting diversity and the green agenda, and strengthen the brand of solicitor even more in the process. The Law Society can play a key role in achieving this, and we are facilitating a range of debates and discussions right across the profession.



Ours is a diverse, flourishing and important profession, but while I know solicitors are proud of what they do, it is a quiet pride. One way to turn up the volume is through the inaugural Law Society Excellence Awards on 25 October – an event I am sure will soon become a feature in the legal calendar.



The awards will be a celebration of all that is good about the profession: business innovation; excellence in practice standards, social responsibility, and equality and diversity. It will also feature awards for both Solicitor and New Solicitor of the Year. I intend to make sure everyone who is a winner is not only held up as an example of excellence but promoted to the whole profession and beyond. The deadline for entries is the 21 September so there is still plenty of time to enter, details of which can be found on our website (www.lawsociety.org.uk).



I also want to do all that I can to highlight what distinguishes us from the non-solicitor providers of legal services – those unqualified legal pretenders such as will-writers who deliver legal services but without our training, our expertise and, most of all, our values.



We only need to look at rule 1 of the new Solicitors Code of Conduct to understand how important that distinction, and those values, are: ‘You must uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice. You must act with integrity. You must not allow your independence to be compromised. You must act in the best interests of clients. You must provide a good standard of service to your clients. You must not behave in a way that is likely to diminish the trust the public places in you or the profession.’



That rule embodies what we are and why we are proud to be lawyers serving the interests of our clients.



Last year, we met with practitioners across the top 100 firms. This year we will build on that – deepening these relationships further, reaching out to the mid-tier firms and visiting every region. But communication is not just a question of visits by office-holders of the Society, so we are also improving our wider communications with individual solicitors. This autumn will see the launch of the International and Junior Lawyers Divisions, and early next spring our new, specially tailored, e-communications will allow every single solicitor in England and Wales to receive their own personalised information updates.



I am very proud to be President of the Law Society and look forward to updating you as we embrace the challenges and opportunities of the next 12 months.



Andrew Holroyd is the Law Society President