Mental health and disability committee - vacancies for membership

The Law Society's mental health and disability committee aims to keep under review and promote improvements to the law and legal services for people with any form of mental or physical disability or disorder.

This includes work in the areas of Mental Health Review Tribunals, community care (including elderly people, social security, and disability issues), private client, civil, family and mentally disordered offenders.

It also deals with medico-legal and ethical issues.

The committee's tasks are to support members of the profession and to assist the Law Society in its law reform work in representing practitioners' interests and those of their clients by responding to consultation papers and other initiatives; and actively promoting improvements to the law and procedure.

The committee currently has two vacancies and seeks applications from solicitors who can demonstrate skills and/or experience in one or more of the following areas: disability law; social security law; representation of people with learning disabilities; representation of black and ethnic minority groups; and representation of users of mental health services in a not-for-profit organisation.

Applications are particularly welcome from black or minority ethnic people, who are currently under represented on the committee, as are practitioners from the south-west and north-east of England.

Applicants should have an active interest in law reform and practice issues of importance to the profession, and be able to contribute ideas and practical experience through attendance at committee meetings, working parties and through use of e-mail.

(There are five committee meetings per year and attendance expenses are paid.)

For an application pack, contact Ashmita Shah at the Law Society, tel: 020 7320 5760; fax 020 7320 5673; e-mail ashmita.shah@lawsociety.

org.uk; or write to the Law Society at 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL; or DX 56 London/Chancery Lane.

For further information about the work of the committee, contact Jenny McCabe, tel: 020 7320 5695.

The deadline for both applications is 11 June 2003.