Law Society notices

Minutes of the second adjourned Law Society SGMMinutes of the adjourned special general meeting of the members of the Law Society held at the Society's Hall, Chancery Lane, on Thursday, 17 May 2001, at 2.30 pm.

President Michael Napier was in the chair.The president said that at the adjourned special general meeting on 26 April 2001 he had directed postal votes on resolutions 4A, 4B and 5 which were before that meeting, as a consequence of which the meeting had been adjourned, in accordance with by-law 29(3A), to the present date and time, for the purpose of receiving the results of these postal votes.

The minutes of the second session of the SGM held on 26 April 2001 had been published (see [2001] Gazette, 11 May, 44).

It was resolved that the President be authorised to sign the minutes as correct.Result of postal vote on resolution 4AThe president called on Andrew Regan, of Electoral Reform Services, to give the report of the postal vote scrutineer on the postal vote on resolution 4A (Approval of by-law amendments - election of office-holders).

Mr Regan said the number of members voting in favour of resolution 4A was 8,119, while the number of members voting against the resolution was 1,954.

The number of voting papers rejected by the scrutineers was 44.

The president then declared the resolution had been carried.Result of postal vote on resolution 4BThe president called on Mr Regan to give the report of the postal vote scrutineer on the postal vote on resolution 4B (Approval of by-law amendments - size and composition of the council).

Mr Regan said 8,336 members voted in favour of the resolution and 1,735 voted against.

The number of rejected voting papers was 46.

The president declared that the resolution had been carried.Postal vote on resolution 5The president then called on Mr Regan to give the report of the postal vote scrutineer on the postal vote on resolution 5 (Miscellaneous by-law amendments).

Mr Regan said that the number of members voting in favour of the resolution was 8,860, while the number of members voting against the resolution was 1,198.

The number of rejected voting papers was 60.

The president declared that the resolution had been carried.

On behalf of the meeting, the president thanked Mr Regan and his colleagues for the hard work they had carried out in connection with the postal votes.

This completed the business of the adjourned meeting and the president declared the meeting closed at 2.38 pm.

Review of employed solicitors codeAs part of the Law Society's review of regulation, a small group of employed solicitors has been established to review the employed solicitors code and those rules directly affecting solicitors employed in commerce and industry, local government or otherwise outside private practice.

The group will report back later this year to the main regulation review working party.

In particular, Law Society practice rule 4 and the code prevent an employed solicitor from acting, in the course of his employment, for any person other than his employer except in the situations and subject to the conditions specified.

The group's considerations will include the basis for these requirements and whether they appear to operate satisfactorily in practice.

All employed solicitors, including Commerce and Industry Group members, are invited to contribute to this review.

For additional information, contact the group's chairman, Barry Lewis, at CIS Limited, Miller Street, Manchester, M60 0AL.

Tel: 0161-837-4994 or, e-mail, barry.lewis@cis.co.uk

Skipton building society - panel appointment letterThis is to update practitioners regarding the letter sent to firms by the Skipton Building Society in February 2000, seeking to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act.There were concerns that the letter required solicitors to provide the building society with personal data about clients, which raised questions concerning confidentiality.

The Law Society advised firms that they should not sign it in that form (see [2000] Gazette, 16 March, 5).With the co-operation of Skipton Building Society, which confirmed that the above was not intended, the Law Society has reached agreement on the contents of a revised letter.

This version of the letter, which is referred to as the second version, is available from Ingrid Rogan in the legal department at Skipton Building Society's principal office.

For more information contact Ingrid Rogan: DX 21757 Skipton.