ISSUE 83


Autumn 2013


In this issue Committee Reports p.3


The newsletter of the City of London


Solicitors’ Company and the City of London Law Society


CitySolicitor www.citysolicitors.org.uk Livery Ski


Championships p.8 Website update p.9


2014 Inter Livery Clay Shoot p.10


Fox Enjoys Salon Privé p.12


Prisoners of Public Service by Alasdair Douglas, Chairman of the City of London Law Society


I’ve been spending time with prisoners, part way through their five year stretch. I refer, of course, to MPs and “lifers” doing government work in the House of Lords, all prisoners of public service. I have enormous respect for them for taking on public service roles when other easier and more lucrative avenues would have been open to many of them.


Part of our strategy is to strengthen connections with Ministers and senior civil servants in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury, so that they understand, and are supporters of our sector, and to keep them up to speed on how good our business is for the UK. Among those who now know a little more about what we do, are Lords Deighton, ex-Goldmans and Olympics supremo, now Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, and Green, ex-HSBC chairman and Minister of State for Trade and Industry, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the Under Secretary of State for Justice, Women and Equalities and Minister for Victims and the Courts, the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling and Nick Baird, Chief Executive at UKTI.


Our pitch covers our contribution to the economy (£15bn), exports


(£4bn), pro bono (£100m), education and training (£170m per annum), our status as owner- managed businesses with no reward for failure, our world beating product, our commitment to and efforts on social mobility and an explanation of how we underpin the success and development of many sectors of the UK economy, not least the financial sector.


An understanding within the government of what we do and its support are important. This is so that our voices are listened to when we have something to say, and so that we don’t find ourselves the subject of ill-informed opprobrium through a failure to explain what we do (remember the “locusts” jibe directed at the private equity industry).


Most recently, the Ministry of Justice has taken an interest in what our members are doing on social mobility with under-privileged school children and I hope to introduce them soon to some of those involved with the various schemes that are now in place.


David Hobart and I have also experimented with attending the political party conferences to see whether they might provide a useful forum for putting our message across. The intimacy of the fringe events where one


can chat to Ministers, as if one has always been on first name terms, is quite disarming. I think, from my experiences at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference for a couple of days, it was a qualified success. Discourse at the various events also served as a reminder that whilst we can feel comfortable telling those in power that we are doing a good job, the minefield of espousing or supporting particular policies, such as in or out of Europe, is immigration a good or bad thing, mansion tax, employment rights, is something that we should steer clear of as a representative body. Unless, of course, there is an overwhelming case for becoming involved in a particular issue, and only then with our view solidly underpinned by the broad support of our members.


Alasdair Douglas, Chairman,


City of London Law Society The City of London Solicitors’ Company


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