Law Society reform group set up

The Law Society has established a special reform group to take forward a second wave of corporate governance changes.The group, is chaired by the Society's President Robert Sayer, and comprises a mixture of Council members and three solicitors from various sectors within the profession, industry, local government and private practice.

It will examine the fundamental roles of the Law Society and produce a paper for consultation with the profession at the end of June.The reform co-ordinating group will draw on the findings of three working parties which reported to the Society's ruling Council in May: the future of the regulation working party, which recommended that the Society should aim to be a model regulator; the regulation review working party, which proposed the development of a more coherent set of professional rules; and the sections and specialisation working party, which proposed a greater degree of partnership between the Society and special interest groups.The results of the group's summer-long consultation will extend through the summer, will be presented to the Council in October.The membership of the RCG is Angus Andrew, Council member for West London, Peter Williamson, Council member for Holborn, Martyn McCarthy, former chairman of the Commerce & Industry Group, Gillian Phillips,head of scrutiny at West Sussex County Council and Karen Green, consultant solicitor at Kent law firm Pritchard Joyce & Hinds.