Law Society of England and Wales
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The Law Society of England and Wales is the professional association that represents the solicitors' profession in England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Often, members of the Society are consulted when important issues are being debated in Parliament or by the executive.
The Hall of the Law Society is at 113 Chancery Lane, London but it also has offices in Redditch, Worcestershire, Leamington Spa and Brussels, Belgium (to deal with European Community law).
The current President of the Law Society is Andrew Holroyd.
Barristers in England and Wales have a similar professional body, the General Council of the Bar, commonly known as the Bar Council.
[edit] Regulatory body status
Following the recommendations of the Clementi Review the Law Society no longer handles complaints from the public, nor is it the regulatory body for solicitors. These are now handled (see comment below) by the Legal Complaints Service and the Solicitors Regulation Authority respectively.
The Legal Complaints Service (LCS) is a quasi-independent complaints handling body, however, it is still part of the Law Society of England and Wales, but is said to operate independently, although this cannot be verified given that they operate from the same location as when they were a part of the Law Society, with largely the same staff. There are a number of people independent from the Law Society that are concerned of this situation, and consider that a fully independent government office should be established to protect the interests of the British public. One issue of potential concern is the large number of lawyers within the British government, including the previous Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, aiding the Law Society maintain a powerful voice within British politics and the regulation of the country's legal system.
