By the time this column is published I shall have only three weeks left to serve as President of the Law Society.It has been a hard but rewarding year.

However, it has taught me that no single issue dominates the agenda for the profession.

Solicitors are operating in challenging and rapidly changing times.

The government brings forward new issues at a pace, sometimes allowing only brief periods for consultation.

This has meant that this year the Law Society has had to be more nimble than ever before in its representation of members' and clients' interests.

That is why I invited the policy committee to appoint, under my chairmanship, a justice task force to campaign on the government's proposals on legal aid and a task force to deal speedily with the government's proposals on taxation of partnership profits.

We will continue to have to respond quickly and effectively.The task of President is only made possible by having a good team of office-holders and being able to draw on the expertise of other Council members and staff.Solicitors are once again being asked to choose the profession's leaders for the coming year and they will have just received ballot papers.I have worked particularly closely this year with each of the four candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, all of whom are members of the policy committee and the justice task force.

Michael Mathews as Vice-President has displayed an incisive grasp of a wide range of issues during the year.

His expertise on the partnership taxation issue, indemnity insurance and multi-disciplinary partnerships has been invaluable but, equally, he has displayed the ability to deal effectively with a range of other issues such as legal aid, all invaluable experience, as I know from my own year as Vice-President.Robert Sayer, combining the post of Treasurer and Deputy Vice-President, has continued to exert a strong influence on the Society to become more cost conscious and to trim its budget.In Michael Napier and David McIntosh, the profession are also being offered candidate s of skill and ability.

They too have been active members of the justice task force and effective and energetic members of the policy committee with great commitment to the needs of the profession.The choice, then, for many members will be difficult.

I would urge you, however, to exercise that choice and to complete your ballot papers.Two weeks ago, the justice task force produced in a short time scale, the response to the Legal Aid Board's consultation paper on contracting and exclusivity.That response had the full support of the special interest groups and the Council.

In essence, the Society opposes any arbitrary cash limits for legal aid green form work and also opposes exclusivity based on artificial limits on the number of solicitors who can participate.A scheme which limited the number of firms which could obtain contracts would only remove access to justice from a large number of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society.Meanwhile, it is understood there will shortly be a consultation from the Lord Chancellor on rights of audience.

I hope that the proposals will provide for equal treatment for solicitor-advocates with barristers.

Ability to appear in the High Court should be determined by a practitioner's competence and not on whether he or she initially qualified as a barrister or solicitor.

I also hope that the Lord Chancellor's proposals will provide equal access to rights of audience for employed solicitors.I hope the Legal Aid Board will soon confirm the proposals announced by the chief executive at our legal aid conference in London on 29 April to ensure that opinions from solicitors with rights of audience in the Higher Courts are treated in the same way as opinions from counsel.Regarding indemnity insurance, the Council in June took what were the right decisions after a responsible and high quality debate over risk banding and collection of the short fall.

What we have decided upon is a fairer system which does not rely on artificial cross subsidies.

The consultation period on the future of the mutual fund closes on 31 July 1998.I hope that all members of the profession will take the opportunity to consider the issues which are set out comprehensively in the consultation paper.

I urge members to think about the issue raised in the consultation paper in the longer term and beyond the initial impact of any changes on their own firms.We have continued the focus on practical help for the profession and I am particularly pleased with the initiatives which have been developed since the appointment of our new director of membership services, John Miller, for example, publication of The Guide to Cashflow and Improved Financial Management.Throughout the year, I tried to ensure that equality of opportunity was at the fore of our thinking.

The funding of further education for those who aspire to join the profession is something which continues to trouble me.

Discretionary grants are rarely available.

It was short sighted in the extreme to withdraw funding from the vocational stage of a lawyer's training.

Towards the end of last year, both the chairman of the Bar and I made the strongest representations to the government on this issue and asked them to look to more imaginative ways -- for example, through development of the student loan scheme -- of providing assistance.With legal practice course costs in the region of £4,000 to £5,000 and the common professional examination at around £3,500 before living costs are considered, the inevitable danger is that society as a whole will inherit a professi on that is drawn from a narrow social band which can afford the course fees or which can get sponsorship from one of the larger or City firms.

The only barrier to entry to this or any other profession should be one of ability.

Nothing else has any place in a modern society.

I want a profession open to all people of ability no matter what their background.I would like to thank my wife, Sandra, our children and my partners for all their support during the year.

My special thanks to my fellow office-holders, the members of the Council and the Society's staff.