This month I have had the honour of becoming the President of Sussex Law Society.
Being asked to take over this role in a Society with a history stretching back more than 150 years is an honour not to be taken lightly. Looking at the roll call of my predecessors the phrase “standing on the shoulders of giants” came to mind.
In particular I am aware that one of my former partners, John Hooper, held the position several years ago. Coincidentally I was first approached about the possibility of taking on the presidency around the time of John passing away. The respect which I, and so many others, held for John provided one of the deciding factors for me in taking on the role. I knew John viewed the Society as vital for the local profession, and was particularly enthusiastic about its role in legal training and education – a strength which it retains to this day. The opportunity to follow on some of this work, coming at the time that it did, seemed like one of those quirks of fate that ought to be followed through.
The responsibility to ensure that the Society maintains its good work and its relevance to the profession, and the community that it serves, is one that I will have to the forefront of my mind, and will endeavour to live up to.
The Society itself also has its own responsibility, that is to look to ensure that its members remain relevant to the community – to society (Big or otherwise) as a whole. By campaigning on such issues as maintaining access to justice, and by continuing to represent individuals, businesses, groups or interests across the county the Society’s members provide a vital function within our communities.
The challenge for us all as lawyers is to continue to maintain the best qualities of our professionalism whilst also taking on board the lessons that can be learned from those business interests that will shortly be allowed to provide legal services but which come to this market from a more traditionally commercial background. The Legal Services Act will allow Alternative Business Structures to provide legal services from 6th October of this year, and has the potential to provide the biggest “shake-up” for law firms that the profession has ever seen.
There is much that we can learn from the anticipated newcomers, but equally it is important that we maintain the standards, ethics and values that have served our clients so well for so long.
My challenges will be to play my small part in encouraging the profession to maintain this balance, whilst also promoting the intrinsic value that the profession brings to the wider communities in which the Society serves.
Somehow I don’t think it is going to be a dull year.
