Legal Village

More to admission ceremony than pomp and circumstance

Posted 12/09/2007 by Andrew Holroyd

I write this having recently emerged from my first admission ceremony at Chancery Lane since becoming President. We should never forget what an achievement it is to become a solicitor, so to recognise this formally, with so with so many family and friends present, makes it all the more special.

These ceremonies are also vital for wider reasons. Firstly, they are an opportunity to try and install that sense of history and heritage of the law, of lawyers and of law society. After all, if we want the solicitors of tomorrow to be active and involved in the Law Society, we must demonstrate just how relevant our work is to them from day one. Secondly, the admission ceremony is an opportunity to again emphasise the special role we all, as solicitors, play in society. If new solicitors are passionate about this, we can be sure the future of the profession will be in good hands.

In my speech, aside from congratulating them on everything they’ve achieved, I described as best I could how rapidly the profession is changing and what this means for them. I ended by saying there is a world of opportunities out there, which is a neat segue to a meeting I had earlier in the week with Ken McDonald, Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ken welcomed the proposed relaxation of higher rights for solicitors upon qualification, which is good news for our members. It will now be over to the Lord Chancellor to decide. Fingers crossed next year that my successor, Paul Marsh, will be able to say in his admission speeches that yet more barriers have come down and that today solicitors have higher rights upon admission.