Admission of non-solicitors to the Law Society has returned to the agenda following conference speeches by the president and his successor-but-one.

Current president John Wotton told the annual President and Secretaries Conference in London that in the alternative business structure era ‘questions will arise as to who the Law Society should represent’. While some local societies have admitted members from the wider legal community, ‘this is not a step that we have chosen to take’. However, as more solicitors begin to work in ABSs and other new entities, ‘the leaders of all these types of practices may require the services of the Law Society’.

In 2008, a Law Society council proposal that non-solicitors be granted ‘affiliate’ status within the Society was rejected by the profession in a postal vote.

Meanwhile, addressing the Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group conference, deputy vice-president Nick Fluck said that the Society cannot give preferential treatment to traditional firms over ABSs. Asked whether the Society will come under pressure to allow all ABS staff to become members, he replied: ‘In due course, that will be a decision for the Law Society Council.’

Wotton also called for more efforts to engage with younger colleagues. ‘It is too easy for junior lawyers to drift away… the Law Society needs to encourage young lawyers to put themselves forward to council and other positions.’