The Law Society Council will vote on a motion next week that would see barristers and legal executives given the right to seek full membership of the Society.

The motion has been submitted by Derek French, Law Society Council member for Birmingham District, rather than by the Law Society executive, which has not endorsed the proposal.

However, background papers indicate that the Society’s Membership Board, its executive body, is itself currently considering whether Law Society membership status should be offered to non-solicitors.

The motion put forward by French proposes that ‘The Law Society, as a pre-eminent representative body for those working in the legal services market, will accept applications for membership from all sectors of the legal profession, rather than just solicitors’.

The motion continues: ‘Fully qualified non-solicitors should be entitled to seek full membership of the Law Society, and trainees and support staff should be entitled to apply for associate status.’

The motion follows a previous proposal in 2008 to allow non-solicitors to be granted ‘affiliate’ status within the Law Society, enabling them to access products and services, and generate revenues for the organisation. That proposal was accepted by the Law Society Council, but following a request from some members, it was put to a postal vote of the profession, where it was rejected.

French said he had campaigned for re-election to the Law Society Council on the pledge that he would seek to widen membership. He said a recent move by Birmingham Law Society to open itself to other lawyers had proved hugely successful, with the two largest barristers’ sets in the city having joined.

French said: ‘If the Society gains lots of additional members, this will have benefits in terms of fees, but also will also give it more clout.’

He added that, as alternative business structures approach, the move would demonstrate that lawyers were ‘all part of the same club’.

French said that the solicitors’ brand would not be diminished if other lawyers were able to join the Law Society, as all professionals would be fully accredited within their own branch of the profession.

A background paper on the motion said that the issue of whether to widen membership was ‘the subject of continuing work and consideration by the Membership Board.’

It said: ‘It is clear that, if a Law Society status – whether membership or not – is to be offered to non-solicitors, it will need to be considered carefully and explained well to the profession.

‘This is something that the Membership Board fully recognises and intends to consider before returning the matter to council for further debate.’

The Law Society will recommend that French’s motion should be remitted to the Membership Board for consideration, with recommendations from the board to be put to a future council meeting.

French said he rated his chances of succeeding in the motion next week as ‘50/50’. The vote will take place at next week’s council meeting on 14 December.