Newcastle News Oct 2017

The Great Legal Quiz
finding it increasingly difficult to get the assistance they need in their
locality. This has had a huge impact on society. We know that early
intervention in these cases by an expert solicitor is crucial to prevent
problems escalating.”
And of course, there is Brexit. Christina says that the decision to leave the
European Union has and will continue to create huge challenges for our
society. She says that in the run up to the Referendum in June 2016, and
as the Brexit negotiations continue, the Law Society has been fully
engaged with the Government and has lobbied on behalf of the
profession. Christina says that civil justice co-operation throughout the
European Union is absolutely crucial for citizens of the UK and to remove
this would be catastrophic. She adds, “The Government has listened to
the Society and agree that if the system of civil justice co-operation is
working then it should be retained, or at the very minimum replaced with
something very similar.” Likewise, the Law Society want to see the UK
Government work with the EU in the areas of criminal justice and security,
in particular the “European Arrest Warrant” scheme. Christina adds, “This is
paramount for the security and protection of our citizens.”
Currently many UK law firms have offices throughout the EU and solicitors
are able to work in European law firms without restriction. Christina
wants to ensure that firms and individuals are still able to do this without
barriers or restrictions, but adds that she is quietly confident that this will
be retained.
Still on the theme of Brexit, the Law Society has just launched a new
campaign “The Global Legal Centre”. The video campaign, featuring
voxpops from senior legal figures, aims to promote England and Wales as
a world centre for legal excellence. Christina says, “We have a wealth of
legal experts which we want to shout about and tell the rest of the world
that we are certainly open for business.”
Christina will take over as President of the Law Society in July 2018, and
has already given careful consideration to her themes and ambitions for
her year in office. Firstly Christina wants to highlight and celebrate the
pro bono work done by solicitors and emphasise the huge contribution
the profession makes to society despite the cuts to legal aid. She adds
“Over the past 3 years the profession has undertaken over 2.5 million
hours of pro bono work, equating to approximately £600M work. The
incredible response from the profession to the recent attacks in
Manchester and London, and the Grenfell Tower fire illustrate this, and
we need to celebrate this.”
The diversity of the profession will also feature in Christina’s plans, “In
terms of diversity there is no room for complacency. The legal profession
needs to reflect the society it serves. The profession is almost 50% female
and 15% are from BAME backgrounds, but at a senior level these figures
are much lower and the Law Society is trying to assist firms to address
this.” “Women in leadership” will also be part of this diversity issue as well
as looking at Artificial Intelligence and using technology. Christina hopes
that the Law Society can help firms make informed decisions about
technology.
Clearly the Law Society and the profession are facing numerous
challenges to the practice of the law, none more challenging than the
new world outside of the European Union. However Christina concludes,
“We need to look at the opportunities that present themselves and seek
augmentation rather than replacement.”
The Newcastle Law Society
Annual Dinner
10th November 2017
BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW
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Newcastle News 11