Two new appointments to the SRA Board have been announced today. Elaine Williams, former Deputy Group Company Secretary at HSBC, and David Willis, former joint Chief Executive of international legal firm Herbert Smith Freehills, are joining the Board as non-executive directors. SRA Chair of the Board, Enid Rowlands, said: “I am delighted to welcome two…

Crime duty contracts: tender process suspended Following an application for interim relief by the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA) and London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA), the legal aid crime duty contracts tender process will be suspended until the result of the judicial reviews by CLSA, LCCSA and the Law Society in January 2015. Law…

Are you a law graduate/studying law? You can apply to volunteer for our Rights & Justice Centre, in London. We’re also looking for people with a graduate diploma in law, and newly qualified lawyers. We also welcome applications from people with substantive experience in the legal profession. Volunteers assist the Rights and Justice team with…

The following exercise is now open for application: Number of vacancies: Up to six (up to three for Trade Marks and up to three for Registered and Unregistered Design) Location: Hearings usually take place in London but appointed persons can be asked to sit elsewhere in the UK. Closing date: noon on 15 January 2015…

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is now accepting applications for appointment to our new panel of counsel.  Further information can be found on our website. To request an application pack, counsel should email tenders@equalityhumanrights.comquoting reference EHRC033-1415 in the subject line (for the England and Wales pack) orEHRC033S-1415 (for the Scotland pack). Please note the deadline…

At its second meeting of the 2014-15 legal year, Council said farewell to Paul Coen since it was his last Council meeting as interim chief executive, and thanked him warmly for his highly effective service to the Society. Catherine Dixon, the new permanent chief executive, commences work at the Law Society on 5 January 2015….

SDLT – major changes for residential property The calculation of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for residential properties will be changing from today, 4 December. The structure, rates and thresholds are being changed. Read more Crime duty provider contract: Law Society response and seminar The Law Society has throughout this year raised very serious concerns…

Statements and analysis Since the publication of the Duty Contracts tender documentation we have issued an initial response. http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/stories/moj-announcement-on-duty-crime-contracts/ Here is how it was covered in the Gazette. http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/moj-to-press-ahead-with-criminal-legal-aid-reforms/5045367.article We quickly followed this up with our analysis of the documentation to support our members’ consideration. http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/stories/analysis-of-the-duty-crime-tender-documentation/ We sent this out as a Legal Aid Update…

The BSN 2014 UK Diversity Legal Awards took place last night at a glittering black-tie event held at the five-star Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London. Over 200 hundred people attended the event, which was well supported by a cross-section of firms, chambers and legal industry bodies, including the Law Society of England and Wales…