The president of Birmingham Law Society - the country's largest local law society - this week declared the organistation well placed for the future, despite its annual accounts showing a loss of almost 70,000.

Operating income for 2003 increased by 7.5% to 413,726, but operating costs rose 22% to 564,055, the deficit mitigated in part by other income, such as investments and room hire.

The president, Diane Benussi, conceded that it was 'a disappointing performance', adding that it was a difficult trading time for the entire legal profession.

The society's recruitment arm, for example, suffered from the general dip in activity in the market.

She added that there had been unexpected costs, such as making some redundancies.

She said it was also a period of change for the society, as it tried to move from being a subscription-based organisation to one that received its income from other sources.

It currently has 2,500 members.

'We have got ourselves in shape for the law society to take on a bigger and better role in the coming year,' Ms Benussi said.

Initiatives such as the Advised in Birmingham project and recent international law symposium highlighted the society's growing profile in the region, she added, saying there is demand for it to play a more significant role.

The society is negotiating with Advantage West Midlands for funding to refurbish its city centre offices, which have fallen into a state of some disrepair.

In 2001, the society raised 615,000 from the auction of 1,100 antiquarian books held by its library - the largest lending law library in the country.

This included 74,800 for Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Condemnation of the Sentence passed by Lord Ellenborough on Mr DI Eaton', of which there is only one other copy in existence.

Ms Benussi said the money remained in reserves, although it has been eaten away a little by the fall in the stock market in recent years.

Neil Rose