Report of the Chair for the Executive Committee meeting of the SSPG on Thursday 14^th January 2021

First of all, may I wish you all a very blessed and prosperous New Year, in spite of our present problems. The light at the end of the tunnel promised by the new vaccines is a huge relief and I hope that by the summer we are able to operate with far fewer restrictions in our daily lives.

However, some things are changed forever, and in particular the new online hearings have demanded a leap forward in technical expertise and coordination with the courts which in my experience so far is not working perfectly by any means, but the principle is welcome and sole practitioners have the advantage of being more flexible than large firms in their administration, so I hope our members can adapt and flourish in this new world order.

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Looking at my previous report in the summer I said I thought we were then living in a parallel universe, which I then confidently assumed would be of short duration.

That parallel universe now seems to be our new normal and it will probably feel very strange going back to our old universe, if and when that is possible.

I see that I covered a very large amount of ground in my summer 2020 report. I can update that by saying that my encouragement to receive enquiries from individual solicitors has borne quite a lot of fruit and I have had a constant rewarding dialogue with individual members about particular problems. Indeed I was really gratified to see a response from one member who had recently retired and, although he had never had reason to deal directly with the SPG, he had received all our communications and said he had been very grateful to have known that we were in the background in case he needed help.

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Legal Aid in a pandemic

A deep dive into key issues in this extraordinary of times with Richard Miller, head of the Justice Team at the Law Society. This informative podcast discusses frontline working in courts and police stations; remote hearings; means testing; payments on account; Legal Aid Review; crime contract extension and the positive effect of digitisation within legal aid firms. Link to podcast – https://www.thedigitalsolicitor.co.uk/e/legal-aid-in-a-pandemic/

The High Court’s decision of 27 November 2020 in Ryan Beckwith v SRA [2020] EWHC 3231 (Admin), which the SRA has said it will not appeal, has at long last put down clear parameters about when solicitors’ private lives are their own and are no business of the regulator however “inappropriate” the behaviour may be thought. The SRA is no longer at liberty to simply set a standard by reference to what it considers right and wrong.  

It also provided much needed help on the enormity and opacity of costs claims solicitors face when defending themselves before SDT.

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Thanks to insurer Lockton’s inspired generosity, one highlight last year was a Champagne Tea at Claridges. At our last SPG Conference, in Manchester, Lockton had offered the Tea for Two as a prize for guessing the number of sweets in a bottle. I was amazed to find my guess was the nearest.

‘O Goddess best beloved, delightful tea!’, wrote the poet Coleridge; but with champagne too, what better way to celebrate my wife, Cat’s birthday in October? In 2019 it was not to be, so in October 2020, in a lull between lockdowns, we made our way across Claridge’s effortlessly elegant entrance hall, into the classic Art Deco comfort of the Foyer & Reading Room.

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LUBNA SHUJA

Lubna qualified as a solicitor in 1992. She was a partner in a high street firm in West Yorkshire for many years and then started her own practice in Birmingham in 2007 undertaking mediation, family and civil litigation. Lubna became a CEDR accredited Mediator in 2005, and is dual qualified to conduct both Civil and Family mediations. 

Lubna has been a member of the SPG Executive Committee since 2007 and was chair in 2012/2013. She became one of the nominated Council Members for the Group with Ian Lithman in 2013.

Newly elected Deputy Vice-President of the Law Society of England and Wales Luba gives us an insight into why she choose law, what her motivations are and her ultimate go to karaoke song!

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SPG Council Member is Deputy Vice-President of the Law Society

It is an honour and a privilege to have been elected Deputy Vice-President of the Law Society of England and Wales.  I took up my new role at the Law Society AGM on 14 October 2020 and it has been a whirlwind of activity since then!  This is the first time that a SPG Council Member has been an Office Holder at the Law Society and I hope it will not be the last!  All being well, I will become Vice-President in October 2021 and then President of the Law Society in October 2022.  I will be the first Asian President since the Law Society was set up in 1825 and only the 7th female President in its 125 year history.   

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Small but Confident Steps on the journey into Cyber Security for Solo legal practitioners

The legal sector – an attractive target. 
The National Cyber Security Centre has identified that the legal sector is a top target for cyber criminals, it is not difficult to see why. Law practices hold large amounts of sensitive and confidential client information, they handle large amounts of clients’ money, and they are key enablers in business and commercial transactions.

Like most modern business, more and more of legal services are being offered digitally and, coupled with the current climate of remote working, zoom meetings, webinars and using personal devices for work, the opportunities and avenues for cyber-crime have never been greater.

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