| The Law Society | |
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| Motto |
Leges Juraque Servamus ("We observe the laws and ordinances") |
| Formation | 2 June 1825 |
| Type | Professional Organisation |
| Headquarters | 113 Chancery Lane, London |
| Region served | England and Wales |
| President | John Wotton |
| Website | http://www.lawsociety.org.uk |
| This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales |
| Law of England and Wales |
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Criminal courts
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Criminal prosecution
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Legal profession
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The Law Society 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. Members of the Society are often consulted when important issues are being debated in Parliament or by the executive. The society was formed in 1825.
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 John Wotton.
Barristers in England and Wales have a similar professional body, the General Council of the Bar, commonly known as the Bar Council.
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The London Law Institution, the predecessor to The Law Society, was founded in 1823 when many London Solicitors came together to raise the reputation of the profession by setting standards and ensuring good practice. 'London' was dropped from the title in 1825 to reflect the fact that the Law Institution had national aspirations.
The Society was founded on 2 June 1825, when a committee of management was appointed. The Society acquired its first Royal Charter in 1831 as the The Society of Attorneys, Solicitors, Proctors and others not being Barristers, practising in the Courts of Law and Equity of the United Kingdom.[1] A new Charter in 1845 defined the Society as an independent, private body servicing the affairs of the profession like other professional, literary and scientific bodies. By further Royal Charter in 1903 the name of the Society was changed to simply 'The Law Society'. The Society first admitted women members in 1922.[2]
In 1834, the Society first initiated proceedings against dishonest practitioners. By 1907, the Society possessed a statutory disciplinary committee, and was empowered to investigate solicitors' accounts and to issue annual practising certificates. In 1983, the Society established the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors to deal with complaints about solicitors. This service is now the responsibility of the Legal Ombudsman.
The Solicitors Act of 1860 enabled the Society to create a three-tier examination system.[2] In 1903, the Society established its own Law Society School of Law, which later merged with tutorial firm Gibson and Weldon to become the independent College of Law. By 1922 The Law Society required a compulsory academic year for all clerks.
Following the recommendations of the Clementi Review The Law Society split its representative and regulatory functions.
Complaints from the public are handled by the Legal Complaints Service but this function will shortly pass to the Office for Legal Complaints which will be a single portal for complaints by the public made against all providers of legal services including the Bar, licensed conveyancers etc., but excluding unqualified will-writers.
The regulatory body for solicitors is the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It is a Board of The Law Society although it regulates and enforces regulation completely independently of the Law Society. The Law Society remains the approved regulator, although following the Legal Services Act 2007 a new body, the Legal Services Board (chaired by David Edmonds, a government appointee) will oversee all the approved regulators including the Bar Council, which has also divested its regulatory functions into the Bar Standards Board.
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