Council Seat vacancies
Every year, a number of seats on our Council come up for election. Council has 97 seats, each filled by a solicitor representing a constituency relating to a geographic area, work practice or characteristic. These representatives ensure the views of solicitors in their constituency are heard as we set our position on key issues affecting the profession and develop a high-quality and relevant member offer.
Preliminary notice is hereby given, in accordance with bye-law 49, that elections for members of the Council will take place for the constituencies listed below:
All information about how to stand for election, what’s involved in being a Council member and all forms, guidance notes, etc., can be found here. Nominations are open until 10 May 2024.
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Stand for election to the Law Society’s Council
Help shape our strategy and business plans, act as an expert legal voice when we speak to the media and make sure our members’ views are reflected when we talk to government about key legislation and reform by standing for election to our Council.
It’s not just an opportunity to network, raise your profile and help us make sure we provide relevant and valuable support to our members. Each year, a member of our Council is elected to become our next deputy vice president, before ultimately going on to become the president of the Law Society.
Nominations are open until 10 May 2024: Find out how to stand
Practising Certificate Fee consultation
Our members are at the heart of all we do, and we have ambitious plans for the year ahead to deliver more of what they’ve told us is important to them. Our main source of income is the funds we receive from our share of the PC fee. This determines what we can plan and deliver for solicitors, the profession and wider society.
It’s important that our members have a say in how we plan to deliver resources, products and services that are valuable to them and their practice. With their input, we can make sure we’re amplifying the powerful collective voice of our members and delivering on our vision to promote, protect and support solicitors, the rule of law and justice in England and Wales.
The survey takes just 10-minutes to complete and there is a chance to win a £100 voucher: Take part in the survey and share your views
HM Treasury – consultation on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017
This is part of HMTs commitment to consult on changes to the MLRs as part of a wider programme of work aimed at reducing money laundering, as set out in the Economic Crime Plan 2023 to 2026. There are four main themes of focus:
It principally covers issues already identified by HM Treasury, for example in its 2022 review of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulatory and supervisory regime.
The 2022 review found that, while the core requirements of the MLRs are mostly fit for purpose, potential technical changes could be made to increase effectiveness and ensure proportionality for regulated firms and customers.
The Law Society will be engaging with our members and with our Money Laundering Task Force to respond to this consultation before it closes on Sunday 9 June 2024. Should your Law Society want to feed-in to our response, any collated views from your Society/wider membership would be gratefully received. Please send these through to me cc’ing Rick.Kent@LawSociety.org.uk or the consultation can be responded to here: Read the consultation on the GOV.UK website
In parallel, the Treasury is surveying regulated entities on the cost of compliance with the MLRs to help it understand the potential impact of any proposed changes. The last day to respond is Sunday 9 June 2024. Respond to HM Treasury’s survey
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