Law Society president Jonathan Smithers welcomed EU commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality Vera Jourová to Chancery Lane last week.

She attended a meeting on the impact of technology on justice and consumers, the importance of protecting lawyer-client communications, and equality and diversity within the profession.

Smithers said: ‘We raised the issue of legal professional privilege, which is vital to the administration of justice and our concerns about unlawful surveillance. Commissioner Jourová also showed a lot of interest in equality and diversity in our legal profession and we touched on a number of initiatives at EU level to improve work-life balance.’