| Dear Member
Law Society AGM and Closure of SIF
I have been contacted by Janis Purdy, Hon Secretary of ASWLS. She has asked me to circulate the following:
Dear Member
You no doubt already know that the Law Society AGM will be held on 14 October 2021 at 2.15 pm
This will be a hybrid meeting, for the first time Here are the links:
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/news-articles/annual-general-meeting-notice-october-2021
https://prdsitecore93.azureedge.net/-/media/files/topics/news/annual-general-meeting-notice-sept-2021.pdf?
rev=6a26458de6a244699f14b1ddba0e886f&hash=11162EA8BCF4D9BAEB4FA9462CC1C919
To attend either in person or virtually you have to send an email to AGM2021@lawsociety.org.uk in order to get the registration form. There is a deadline for registration which is Monday 11 October 2021.
I encourage you all to attend the AGM. It is a very full agenda with important resolutions to be voted on. Some are follow up and tidying up resolutions connected with last year’s reforms of TLS Council.
You will already know from my previous emails that my good friend Vivien Stern is bringing the following motion to the AGM:
“This Society abhors the decision by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to close down the Solicitors Indemnity Fund.”
The motion has received great support from 49 members from differing backgrounds and all sizes of practice. Their names are shown at the end of the statement in support of the motion at page 63 of the Agenda. (Please note that the Notice containing the Agenda is 63 pages long, but pages 6-60 are last year’s minutes.)
Unfortunately the SIF motion has been placed last on the Agenda as Resolution 10.
Vivien Stern’s statement in support is published at pages 62 and 63 of the Agenda, but for ease of reference I am attaching it as a separate document (see below).
The SRA consultation on PSYRO and SIF is now supposed to be published some time in November. A vote in favour of the resolution at the AGM will send a strong message to the SRA.
The Law Society and the SRA have been conducting online consultations with various groups. I have taken part in two with TLS, and one with SRA plus a follow up, in differing capacities. The majority view expressed in the meetings I attended was that SIF should continue. Those of you who have also taken part will have heard clear confirmation from the insurance industry that there is no insurance solution. Indeed there is no magic solution out there – apart from keeping SIF going with a small but steady amount of extra funding. That can be achieved with an annual levy collected by the SRA with the PC fee.
I do hope you will attend the AGM either virtually or in person, and vote in favour of the motion on SIF.
It would be great if you could also encourage your society members and your colleagues to attend the AGM. Remember that the closure of SIF has the potential to affect every member of the profession at some time in their careers, and that includes people working in all sizes of firms. And the closure of SIF will mean damage to our clients and huge reputational damage to the profession.
Please get back to me if you have any questions.
Many thanks
Best wishes
Janis
Janis Purdy
Hon Secretary/Treasurer ASWLS
janis.purdy@gmail.com
Statement in Support of Motion – SIF
James Walsh
President of the Plymouth Law Society
Email: james.walsh@GAsolicitors.com
Telephone: 01752 203536 |
