Annual general meeting and council elections 2001 - preliminary notice

From: Janet Paraskeva, Law Society chief executiveThe annual general meeting (AGM) of members of the Law Society will be held at the Society's Hall on Thursday, 12 July 2001 at 2.30 pm.

By-law 17 provides that the business and order of business at an AGM is as follows:l The chair shall be taken under by-law 26;l Approval of the minutes of the previous general meeting;l Declaration of persons elected as president, vice-president, deputy vice-president and auditors;l Declaration of persons elected as members of the council;l Reception of the annual report of the council;l Approval of the accounts signed by the auditors (circulated in summary form);l Any business introduced by the council;l Appropriate motions under by-law 15(1), the text of which has been published under by-law 16(2);l Any other business which may, consistent with the charter andby-laws, be introduced.By-law 15 provides that 30 or more members, or the president and secretary of a local law society authorised to do so, may give written notice of an appropriate motion to be moved at the AGM.

The notice must be received by the chief executive at least 42 clear days before the date of the meeting.

The notice may be accompanied by a statement of not more than 1000 words relating to the motion.Under by-law 16(2), only 'appropriate' motions may be included in the notice of the AGM, that is to say, motions which in the opinion of the council relate in substance to a matter affecting the affairs of the Society or of the solicitors' profession (see also by-law 95(1)).The last day by which, in accordance with by-law 14, nominations of candidates for election as president, vice-president, deputy vice-president and auditors and, in accordance with by-law 15, notice of any motion to be moved at the AGM, must be received by the chief executive, the Law Society's Hall, 113 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1PL (DX 56 Lon/Ch Lane) is Wednesday, 30 May 2001.

At the adjourned special general meeting on 26 April 2001, the chairman directed a postal vote on proposed by-law amendments relating to the election of office-holders.

If these amendments are passed in the postal vote, the council will elect the deputy vice-president, and the current deputy vice-president and vice-president will succeed automatically as president and vice-president respectively.

In that event, any nominations received under by-law 14 for the offices of deputy vice-president, vice-president and president would lapse.

There would also be no formal declaration of election at the AGM under by-law 17.As required by by-law 57, the table set out here shows the number of vacancies to be filled in respect of constituencies and the reason for each vacancy.

The last day by which, in accordance with by-law 57, nominations of candidates for these vacancies must be received by the chief executive is Wednesday, 30 May 2001.

Title of constituency vacancies

No 2 The City of LondonNo 3 HolbornNo 8 The City of WestminsterNo 12 Inner SussexNo 16 Hampshire and the Isle of WightNo 18 West Country and GwentNo 22 Coventry and WarwickshireNo 26 Merseyside and DistrictNo 28 Central Lancashire and Northern Greater ManchesterNo 31 YorkshireNo 32 Derbyshire and East StaffordshireNo 33 NottinghamshireNo 36 Bedfordshire and CambridgeshireNo 37 HertfordshireNo 39 Suffolk and North Essex

No.

of vacancies

111

11

1

1

1

1

11

11

1

1

Reason for vacanciesEach of the following vacancies arises by the retirement in rotation under by-law 40(1)(c) of the Council members named below.

Fiona Woolf, BAAlexander Fraser WhiteheadRobert Michael Cochrane VenablesPatrick Wilfred Richards, LLBAndrew Howard Arthur Caplen, LLBNancy Lillian NagleKevin Joseph MartinLaurence Julian BennettEdward Nally, LLBThomas Michael Napier, LLBAndrew Alan Wilson, LLMDavid Richard PayneRichard John Hegarty, LLBGraham Brian Newton White, LLBStephen Richard Mallett Wilson, MA*

*Denotes that the member is not proposing to stand for re-election.

By-law 44 provides that, subject to the provisions of by-laws 45 and 46, all retiring members of the council shall be eligible for re-election