The Leicestershire Law Society 1860 to 2017
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The Leicestershire Law Society 1860 to 2017 Law The Leicestershire Professor David Hughes intended when young to pursue a career in the Law, and to that The Leicestershire end he undertook his undergraduate studies at the University of Liverpool between 1964 and 1967. Vacation placements with solicitors in his home town of Dudley, however, convinced him that, not having the ability to suffer fools gladly, he was not suited to be a practitioner, and on the advice of his family solicitor he pursued further academic study at Law Society Emmanuel College, Cambridge as a postgraduate student. (His wife, herself a solicitor of over thirty years standing and a former President of the Leicestershire Law Society concurs that his decision not to practise was the correct one--” He would have been awful with 1860 to 2017 clients, and would have shouted at anyone who did not follow his advice!”) In 1969 he was appointed to a lectureship in the then very new Law Department of Leicester A local portrait University, and went on there to develop research interests in the Law relating to Housing, Town and Country Planning and the Environment. He authored many books,including the first textbook on Environmental Law, and other monographs on issues as diverse as complaints procedures for housing organisations, and the inability of the Law to control the seemingly inexorable rise of the giant supermarket chains. He also collaborated in interdisciplinary studies with colleagues in the areas of housing, planning and atmospheric pollution. For many years a consultant to the erstwhile National Housing and Town Planning Council, he became involved with drawing up the first set of national standards for the operation of owner occupied retirement housing in the 1980’s, working there with the National Housebuilders’ Federation, and later worked on standards for the operation of waste disposal sites with the former Department of the Environment. He also advised Parliamentary bodies in both Houses on issues relating to Housing issues. In 1994 he was appointed to the Chair of Housing and Planning Law at De Montfort University, having also for a while previously taught for the Universities of Birmingham and York—with the University of Leicester’s full consent, of course! His final academic role was as the servant of two masters when De Montfort contracted part of his time to the University of Sheffield to undertake the supervision of a Ph.D student researching allocation systems in French social housing. Having retired from teaching in 2007, he now devotes his time to historical issues, and has recently collaborated on books on the History of the Masonic Province of Leicestershire and Rutland, and the History of Freemasons’ Hall in Leicester. This is an ongoing study and he is currently working on the pre-masonic history of the hall’s site, which presents a micrcosm of land development in early and mid nineteenth century Leicester. Hughes David He is deeply honoured to have been asked to write this current history of an organisation with which he has has had so many happy links over a period of more than forty years, and hopes that the very many local solicitors who have been taught by him have not suffered too much in the process! David Hughes ISBN: 978-1-907540-23-3 £10.00 The Leicestershire Law Society The Leicestershire Law Society 1860 to 2017 – A Local Portrait Professor David Hughes The Leicestershire Law Society First Printed 2010 Second Printed Edition 2017 Copyright © Hughes 2010 Printed and Published by Anchorprint Group Ltd, Leicester. All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data Available Frst edition ISBN 978-1-907540-23-3 Second edition ISBN 978-1-910181-38-6 Contents Contents Foreword ......................................................................................... 5 Introduction .................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements .........................................................................9 Chapter 1: Before the Leicestershire Law Society .......................11 Chapter 2: Formation and Early Years ....................................... 25 Chapter 3: The Edwardian Era to the End of the First World War ........................................................ 55 Chapter 4: The Inter War Years .................................................. 75 Chapter 5: The Second World War and Post War Reconstruction in the 1950s ..................................... 97 Chapter 6: An interlude with The Law Students ....................... 117 Chapter 7: The Swinging 60s and beyond .................................127 Chapter 8: The Thatcher Years .................................................153 Chapter 9: Into the 1990s ..........................................................173 Chapter 10: Into a New Millenium ............................................. 195 Chapter 11: Change, Challenge and Opportunity: new developments for rapidly altering times .........229 Appendix .................................................................................249 3 The Leicestershire Law Society 1860 to 2017 – A Local Portrait 4 Foreword Foreword I am delighted that Professor David Hughes has written this book to celebrate 150 years of the Leicestershire Law Society. It gives me an even greater pleasure that the 150th anniversary coincides with my own tenure as the President of the Law Society. Although born in Yorkshire I have made the East Midlands my home. I worked in the region before becoming a Council Member for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland in 2003. As a Council Member I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with many of the hard working, dedicated and skilled individuals who make up the Leicestershire Law Society. Professor Hughes’s account brings to life a similar picture of our predecessors; dedicated professionals whose commitment to the practice and the rule of law was absolute. His book is an informative and detailed account of the Leicestershire Law Society’s 150 year history of good practice. And it will continue to remind me what a privilege it is to represent the hardworking legal professionals of this constituency. Professor Hughes skilfully traces the changes that the Leicestershire Law Society has had to undergo to continue to meet the needs of the legal profession in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. That continual process of development is the one thing that hasn’t changed throughout 150 years, here, or across the country. What is new, however, is the rate of change that we face. As a profession, we have all had to adapt to rapid changes in practices brought about by the increasing demands from consumer pressure and the rate of change of technology. We are under increasing pressure to find instant solutions to complex legal problems; sometimes with little understanding from the wider public. As this book shows, throughout the last 150 years we have always managed to respond positively to the challenges that we face, bound by our commitment to common ethical standards and motivated by our common desire to see the rule of law upheld. 5 The Leicestershire Law Society 1860 to 2017 – A Local Portrait I have promised to dedicate my Presidential year to promoting the excellence of the profession, the importance of our values and ethical standards. It is my personal belief that the legal profession plays a vital role at the very heart of society and commerce. I congratulate Professor Hughes on writing a book which illustrates so clearly that this has always been the case. Linda Lee President of The Law Society 6 Introduction Introduction The celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Leicestershire Law Society is an exciting event for the legal profession in Leicester and Leicestershire and I am very privileged to be the President of the Society in this important year. The role and the working environment for solicitors have changed out of all recognition from the conditions which prevailed in 1860. The size of legal practices, IT, the rules and regulations which govern the way in which we work, the detail of law and particularly European law, timescales and client expectations are all the product of an increasingly complex world which were not even capable of being contemplated in 1860. However, perhaps the most marked change of all is in the profile of the profession. In 1860 all members of the Society were white and male. Now we have a profession which is diverse and multi-cultural. Significant change and very much for the better. But some elements of legal practice have not changed. As lawyers we still have a fundamental belief in justice, access to justice and the rule of law which are concepts which have not changed over that 150 years and nor should they change. Our 150th anniversary gives us an opportunity both to look back at the past and to look forward. Looking back is usually more comfortable – we have all the answers and a lot of familiar names to stir memories. But we should also be very proud of the achievements of our predecessors. They worked hard and enjoyed an excellent reputation. They gave excellent service to the