Much has happened since I last wrote for the Gazette.

We have the election hotting up.

You have until 6 July to return your ballot papers.

We have also received the advice of the Lord Chancellor's advisory committee on the outstanding issues of our application for rights of audience.

We have held the legal aid conference.

Lord Woolf has published his report on civil justice.

More of these below.I have been reviewing the past year.

At the start I made it clear that I wanted to spend more time in the provinces, meeting solicitors and discussing current issues with them.

This was part of the Council's policy of improving communication.We have had the revamped Gazette and while some have expressed reservations of an aesthetic nature, there seems to be approval of its readability.We have provided facilities for Council members to produce newsletters for their constituents.

The roadshows have started and will visit most parts of the country during the year.I have attended nearly 60 local law society dinners during the last three years, over half of them during this year.I have conducted all of the 25 admission ceremonies, which have brought me into contact with over 2000 young solicitors.Then there are the conferences and dinners with the groups and regional visits when I have combined a number of functions in an area.

These have been most useful because they allow time for questions and comments in a way that din ners do not.

I have visited virtually every county in England and Wales during the last two years, and I have had meetings with the regional committees for the rest.I can understand if my successor feels that this frenetic activity has not improved our standing, and that he or she should spend more time at the Law Society and less on the road.

There is no doubt it can be exhausting!Certainly there is much to be done yet.

We are still waiting for results from the communications audit, we are still working through the role of the Council member.On the wider front, I said I wanted to improve the standing of the profession.

In pursuit of that I have written to the newspapers when they have misrepresented us.

Unfortunately newspapers control what is published, so they do not always print the letters.Research carried out during the year shows that the Law Society is held in higher esteem than many think.

Coverage is also more extensive and positive than the size of our PR department would justify.

The credit for this goes to our staff, not to the President.

As well as building contacts in this country we have to concentrate on Europe.

As more decisions are taken in the European Union this grows in importance.I had hoped to see the grant of rights of audience to our colleagues in employment during this year.

The advice of the majority of ACLEC to reject all of our application is disappointing to say the least.

It is interesting that there was only a bare majority of the committee in favour of this response and the minority have delivered a devastating reply.We shall seek to persuade the Lord Chancellor and the heads of division that the response of the minority is to be preferred.

It is depressing that the majority have even gone back on their views as expressed in their advice in 1993, when no opposition was expressed in respect of civil rights, although there was a request for a further amendment of our rules.The legal aid conference proved interesting.

Although there is clearly anger at the Lord Chancellor's proposals, particularly cash limiting and exclusive contracts, there was a message to us that reform was acceptable.

We are all looking for a system which will allow more people access to legal services.

Our view of the government's proposals is that they will limit availability of legal aid, the Law Society's will expand it.

Because of the timetable for responses to the consultation, the Council will settle the final version at our Council meeting on 13 July.It was good to be able to welcome the proposals of Lord Woolf.

Of course there are some reservations but these are matters of detail.

It was interesting that on the same day the Daily Telegraph in a leader thought the proposals could not be right if the Law Society had applauded them, and the Evening Standard in a leader criticised us for not welcoming them.

Both newspapers carried letters from me putting the record straight!Finally, thank you for your support through the past year.

I have tried to answer the many letters I have received from you.

I realise many of you are struggling to stay in business, but I have been heartened by the way many others have been coping with the recession.The next year will bring its own crop of problems for my successor.

We have reports on the partnership commission and the review of special interest groups, which, together with the review of the Council member's role, will mean structural change.

We also have to select a new Secretary-General.I hope we shall not become too introverted over these reviews and forget that you are our reason for being here, and that there is much to be done outside this hall.I have had wonderful support from the Secretary-General and all our staff, including those in the Solicitors Complaints Bureau.

I hope my successor will have the same level of support.

May I also wish him or her a great deal of stamina.That, above all, is the primary need of every President.