Winter2013
connect with the Lord Mayor’s and Corporation’s programmes involving the world-wide marketing of the City of London’s legal services and excellence as a Dispute Resolution Centre for the benefit of the City and the UK generally.
We intend to boost these already strong relationships with the benefit of a newly formed City Liaison Group to be chaired by Past Master & Alderman Sir David Wootton.
Other Livery
Companies Despite
the ancientness of legal
practice in the City we are classified as one of the “Modern Livery Companies” and intend to meet that description as the 79th, in age, of 109 Companies. Our, also recently formed, Livery Liaison Group under the Chairmanship of Court Assistant Tim Watts (Reed Smith LLP) will be considering how we can most effectively work with, and where appropriate combine with, other modern Livery Companies, some of which include the Insurers, Accountants, Surveyors, Tax Advisors and Marketors, in order to enhance our influence.
What is I think also worth mentioning is that our Livery Dinner at Clothworkers’ Hall on 27th November, was attended by 17 Masters (or equivalent) and 15 with their Clerks from other Livery Companies amongst our official guests.
Charitable
Activities Our, again newly formed, Charitable Committee under the Chairmanship of Past Master Alastair Collett (Bircham Dyson Bell LLP) will be focusing on how we can best extend our charitable activities beyond our own donations. It will be exploring the possibility for the Company to take on a co-ordinating or liaison role designed to highlight and assist in furthering the aggregation of the Charitable and
Social Responsibility programmes of City solicitors who keep their own lights under their bushels and who are not best placed to make much of the aggregate impact of their charitable giving and doing.
Communications
The fifth of our new Committees or Liaison Groups is the formation of a Communications Committee to be chaired by Immediate Past Master Martin Roberts (Pinsent Masons LLP) whose important initiative during his year in office was to encourage us to examine the need for a more modern approach to the 21st Century.
It is, I think, seemly that I should be writing about this in what is the last edition of the City Solicitor in its current form. It is for others to explain how its purposes for both the Company and the Society will be achieved in the future alongside our other means of communication with our membership and beyond, which includes our website and regular E-Briefings.
I doubt whether there is any business or organisation which could not improve upon its communications and it is important for the sake of our entire membership that we improve upon ours.
In the meantime, I look forward to providing my next contribution as Master within the expected new framework.
These and our other improving and connecting activities will not discard the lessons and best practices from the Company’s past. We intend to combine the best of the past with what we hope will be the very best of the new and that is why our Court, which without me intending to be impolite, comprises more of the past than the new, unanimously and enthusiastically supports this programme of modernisation and the changes which that will involve.
I hope the readership of this, our last edition in past style, will be encouraged by our determination to
connect with the future for City of London Solicitors.
The Banquet
Finally may I draw your attention to our Annual Banquet on 31st March 2014 when our Junior Warden, Alderman Fiona Woolf will be present as Lord Mayor in her temporary home, the Mansion House and at which the newly appointed Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, will be our principal guest and speaker.
I expect the capacity of the Mansion House to be tested and suggest if you wish to attend that you make an early diary entry and put any guests you may have in mind for this grand occasion on notice, in anticipation of applications for tickets being sent out in January.
*The City of London Law Society’s Specialist Committees
• Associates Forum • Competition Law • Commercial Law • Company Law • Construction Law • Corporate Crime & Corruption • Employment Law • Energy Law • Financial Law • Insolvency Law • Insurance Law • Intellectual Property Law • Land Law • Litigation • Planning & Environmental Law • Professional Rules & Regulation • Regulatory Law • Revenue Law • Training
City Solicitor • Issue 84 • 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16