Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and District Law Society (TWells Law Society for the sake of brevity) exists to support Solicitors, trainee Solicitors and registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) practising or residing in Kent and East Sussex. It is my hope that non-Solicitor owners and managers of entities authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will also be able to join us if our members agree to a change in our rules this Spring.
Being part of TWells Law Society provides the opportunity to promote your profession and develop your career through networking, CPD seminars and social events. TWells Law Society provides an effective platform for its members’ views.
If you are a Solicitor, trainee or RFL entitled to join and haven’t, you need to ask yourself why. 2012 is THE year of change for the legal profession. Last year’s Big Bang was stalled by a few months, but we have in prospect an entirely new business and professional landscape. It would be a very brave or foolhardy man who took that on without the support of his fellow professionals.
Our professional standards require us to ensure the law is upheld and see justice done, which brings us together as a coherent professional body and hence, it is important we speak with one voice both at Chancery Lane and at local Law Society level.
TWells Law Society is perhaps one of the most active local law societies. There are regular social events, such as mess lunches for practitioners in specific practice areas, a glamorous Summer Ball, and our Annual Dinner is thought by some to be the highpoint of the Tunbridge Wells social calendar. However, the principal work done by the Society is in support of the profession and its members in the context of practice and regulation.
TWells Law Society is consulted by many bodies and organisations for its views. These include government, The Law Society, the SRA, the Legal Services Board, LeO, MoJ, and more. Responses to consultations by the Society’s expert committees provide help and guidance as well as in depth knowledge of developments in those practice areas for our members.
I am very fortunate to have the support of my Vice-President, Fiona McIntosh, Kim Seth, our Law Society Regional Manager, a council which is comprised of some of the ablest and committed legal practitioners in the region together with Jonathan Smithers, Kent member.
Finally, and most important, TWells Law Society has a hugely fun, very pro-active and ever-growing Junior Lawyers Division. I am proud to say my former trainee, Chehraz Hamed, is currently its President. It is vital that we encourage our trainees and younger lawyers to join the JLD, as they are the future of the profession.
There has never been a more important time to be a member of our big Society. I look forward to welcoming you.
Martin Varley, President
