Messenger December 2017

5
President’s Column
5
From the President
As this will be my final article
as a President, I
thought it would be appropriate
to reflect on the
year and some of the
themes which have
emerged during what has
seemed to be an incredibly
short time at the helm
of MLS. Where does the
time go?!
One of the highlights of the
year for me came in January
when I had the pleasure of
judging some of the categories
at the Manchester
Legal Awards. That was followed
by the awards dinner
itself which was, yet again, a
huge success with over 600
guests at the Midland Hotel
and everything perfectly organised
and co-ordinated
by Fran and the team. I was
hugely impressed by the
quality and the diversity of
all the nominees and particularly
those who won. As I
highlighted on the night,
lawyers in the region have
been advising on huge infrastructure
projects of national
significance, major
corporate deals and ground
breaking legal cases in both
the Civil and Criminal
Courts. This reflects what an
exciting time it is to work in
Manchester: the city is
growing rapidly, businesses
are relocating here like
never before and it feels like
all roads lead to Manchester.
You will hopefully have seen
the flyers for next year's
awards. I encourage all of
you to enter the awards or
nominate your team or a
colleague who has particularly
impressed you. Even if
the nominee is not short
listed, I am sure that they
will appreciate your support
and confidence in them.
Unfortunately, one of the
major events of my year was
of course the horrific bombing
at Manchester Arena. As
I said at the time, the worst
in people brings out the
best in people and the response
from the community
in Manchester and
further afield was of course
tremendous and heart
warming.
As you will know, Fran and
the MLS team immediately
stepped into the breach
and put together the pro
bono panel which many of
you in the City (and others
from across the country),
generously agreed to participate
in. In a very short
period of time MLS, with the
support of other volunteers
and business partners, created
the framework and
platform for the panel
which has allowed many of
the victims and families to
access legal support and
obtain much needed funds
to cope with the aftermath
of the atrocity. The Manchester
model has been
recognised nationally and
will, I have no doubt, form
the basis of similar schemes
in the future if, as seems
likely, legal support is required
by a large number of
affected parties at short notice.
Once again, thank you to
everyone who has participated
in what has been a
magnificent effort and a
great example of what we
can all do together.
Alongside the actions taken
within the City to recover
and move on from the incident,
we received letters of
support from throughout
the world. As I reported in
the July Messenger, I was
particularly struck by the
message received from the
Lyon Bar Association which
described lawyers as "instruments
of democracy"
and "defenders of freedoms".
I mention this again,
as it ties in with a theme
which has been apparent
throughout my year: the increasing
difficulty faced by
many in society seeking to
access justice. It is easy for
us in this country to forget
the importance of the legal
profession as, fortunately,
most of the time we can,
and do, take for granted the
freedoms we enjoy. However,
as Martha Spurrier, the
Director of Liberty observed
when she visited Manchester
for the Legal walk in September,
denying people
access to justice impacts on
our democracy. It is essential
that our democratic
bodies can be held to account
by anyone – regardless
of their means or place
in society.
The point was perfectly illustrated
after Donald
Trump's attempt to implement
a travel ban on foreign
nationals from certain countries.
US lawyers turned out
in force, many acting on a
pro bono basis, and were ofcourse
able to mount an effective
challenge to the ban.
The checks and balances
which are built into a
democracy society can and
do work, but there are many
in society who need professional
legal advice to ensure
that their rights are properly
protected.
Against that background,
our pro bono committee
has been launched this year
recognising the increased
importance of us all working
together to coordinate
and provide basic legal provision
to those who would
otherwise be unsupported.
If anyone reading this column
is motivated to join the
committee, please contact
Fran and she will be happy
to introduce you to Lucy
Wildig of BPP, the Chair of
the committee.
Changing the subject completely,
I will leave you with
a final update on Ladybridge
F.C. In no way linked
with anything that I have instigated,
the lads have put
together a winning run
which has seen the team
move steadily up the table.
Despite my previous doubts
about whether it was worth
carrying on with the team,
we seem to have come
through those dark hours
and I have to say that both
the boys and I are enjoying
our football again (until the
next heavy defeat).
I shall end with the same
message that I included in
my first article: volunteers
contribute a great deal to
society whether that be
Attend
CMC
in County
or
High
Court
coaching sports, providing
pro bono advice, helping
with charities etc. etc. It's
not always easy to fit in such
extra commitments, but
speaking personally, I have
learnt a huge amount
coaching the lads at Ladybridge
and during my spell
as President of MLS and I
have met some wonderful
and interesting people and
been involved in special
events – none of which
Comp
osing
budgets
( in-hous
e for
l arger
budgets )
Jon Hainey
Budget
negotiations
would have happened were
in not for agreeing to get involved
in the first place. Yes
– I am knackered – but it
was worth it. So, go on –
have a go – join the volunteers
and make society all
the better for it. You might
even enjoy it!
Jon Hainey
President
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