Representing around 20,000 solicitors across Central London, providing a forum for networking and promoting professional legal services in the 21st Century.
About Westminster and Holborn Law Society
Representing around 20,000 solicitors across Central London, Westminster and Holborn Law Society (“WHLS”) is a vibrant group of legal professionals with widely differing specialities, experience and size of firm. It can trace its history back around 70 years to the respective City of Westminster Law Society and the Holborn Law Society, which merged in 2005. We are proud of our history but equally proud of our progressive ethos which means we are constantly striving to better serve our membership.
The Society’s role, on behalf of its members, is to represent lawyers in Central London and provide a forum for professional education, discussion and networking. Its sub-committees enable the Society to engage with legal developments and, through our Council Members, your voice can be heard on the national Law Society Council of England & Wales.
The Society's quarterly magazine keeps members up to date with our activities and legal updates. It also provides an opportunity for members and their firms to contribute content and develop thought leadership to a wide readership both online and in hard copy.
As a member, you are eligible to join our active sub-committees. Reports from these groups enable WHLS to comment on legal developments and, through our Council Members, your voice can be heard on the National Law Society Council. Our sub-committees also develop and provide our programme of events. These include webinars, in-person training sessions and networking opportunities. We also hold an annual black tie dinner as well as many informal social events throughout the year.
We have a Main Committee which meets monthly, headed by the President who is supported by the Vice President and other Officers. They are elected from the membership to sit on the Main Committee and from the Main Committee to the Officers of the Society. The usual progression for our Officers is to be elected for a one-year term as Deputy Vice President, before advancing the next year to Vice President and then President. This mirrors the Law Society England & Wales and we find provides valuable experience to our Officers.
The Main Committee includes all of the Officers and up to 18 elected members, which in practice includes all of our sub-committee Chairs. We also have strong links with our Council Members who routinely join our Main Committee in a co-opted role for their term.
The sub-committees meet to discuss issues in specific legal and professional areas. New members are very welcome to attend a committee meeting as an observer and requests should be directed to the relevant chair, for further information please email cwhlawsoc@gmail.com.
WHLS actively encourages regional and international networking through a variety of legal and social events by:
- Working with other regional Law Societies and the Inns of Court, including organising members delegations abroad and receiving delegations in London.
- Liaising with the Law Society of England & Wales. We are fortunate to boast strong links with the national law society, with a number of our members ascending to President over the years, including the current and immediate past Presidents.
- Being a member of the Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe, a pan-European professional body that links our members with legal expertise and business opportunities across the continent.
- Being twinned with the Paris, Berlin and Barcelona bar associations (Barreau de Paris, Berliner Rechtsanwaltskammer and Ilustre Colegio de l’Abogacía de Barcelona (ICAB)). We also share strong relations through less formal arrangements with many other bar associations around the world. These build on the international nature of our membership, making use of our wide-ranging professional networks.
Our Society is a diverse, dynamic and growing organisation of like-minded professionals. We are fortunate to be able to boast an active Junior Lawyers Division as well as engagement from senior practitioners and academics, and lawyers at every stage of their career in between. This means that regardless of your own level of experience, you will be sure to find opportunities with us that suit you.
We look forward to welcoming you to one of our events soon.
Westminster and Holborn Law Society is always open to new members and we would be delighted
to have you join our community. To join please download our Membership form here
©Copyright 2021 Westminster & Holborn Law Society, thank you to all of our sponsors above, website design by Benham Publishing.
