The Newcastle and North of England Law Society

President's Newsletter – June and July 2026

Welcome to my 3^rd newsletter as President of The Newcastle and North of England Law Society, in this our very special Bicentennial Year.

Now into month 4 of my tenure and the pace is really cranking up as we stage even more events across our extended geography.

Below is a recap of the events which have happened in the last month or so.

Firstly, to summarise a hectic couple of days (27^th and 28^th May) when we had the great honour and privilege of hosting Mark Evans, The National Law Society President, who accompanied us on a whistlestop tour across Cumbria, Newcastle and Tees Valley.

1. Wednesday 27th May - Carlisle Area Visit and Relaunch at Armstrong Watson.

Prior to joining us for our Carlisle area visit, Mark Evans met representatives from the Academic Team and The Student Law Office at the University of Cumbria to hear from the students about their studies and to answer questions regarding pursuing law as a career.

Mark then joined me for our official relaunch in Cumbria at a member event kindly hosted by our good friends at Armstrong Watson in their fantastic offices in Carlisle.

Excellent to have a really good turnout in the room, 40 or so colleagues and to meet many new contacts for the first time.  Really helpful to understand the realities of practicing in a rural area and hear directly about the opportunities and pressures facing solicitors in Cumbria.  Mark reminded us all about the invaluable role we play as lawyers in our local communities (whether that is by way of volunteering, acting as Trustees or Board Members) and for the time we give and the insights we share.

A huge thank you to our 2 new regional representatives for Cumbria Hannah Smith of Bendles LLP and Mark Jackson of Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors.

2. Wednesday 27th May - Managing Partners Private Dinner at Dakota Hotel, Newcastle.

We had a wonderful evening at the Dakota Hotel with our select gathering of Heads of Office and Managing Partners.

Mark kindly provided us with an opportunity to explore matters of strategic importance to firms and he invited a wider dialogue about the future of our profession both local and nationally.  This really was an insightful session.

Thank you to all of our attendees for your engagement company and excellent discussion and to our friends at Dakota Hotels for a fantastic supper.

3. Thursday 28th May – LegalRunner 5k run at 7:15 a.m. along the Quayside, Newcastle starting at Hotel Dakota

Between a busy day the day before and this day we also managed to fit in a 5k run along the Quayside for LegalRunner North East.  We were overwhelmed that 27 people joined us (notwithstanding the very early start time) and to Mark Evans for leading the way and running alongside colleagues from across our region.

A big shout out to David Low and his team from Swinburne Maddison who had an even earlier start from Durham to join in the run.

Thank you as well to Lauren King and Dakota Hotels for hosting us and helping great such a welcoming base for the event.

4. Thursday 28th May - Tees Valley Area Visit, Relaunch and Wellbeing Roundtable at Top Floor, Double Eleven.

We had an excellent Tees Valley area visit and Wellbeing Roundtable in Middlesbrough.  Fantastic to see so many legal professionals to come together for such an important conversation around mental health and wellbeing within the profession.  We were proud to host the event alongside the Law Society and LawCare – the Mental Health Charity for the Legal Sector with insightful discussions covering the findings from their Life in the Law Report 2025 about workplace culture, burnout, leadership responsibilities and the importance of creating supportive working environments across the sector but generally looking out for each other.

I was delighted to join the panel alongside Trish McLellan, Director of Engagement at LawCare and Christina Lambi, Wellbeing Manager at the Law Society.

Hugh thanks to Jo Elliott, Growth and Relationships Manager at Pneuma Group for hosting us at their very impressive facilities at Double Eleven.

Another huge thank you to our new regional representative for Tees Valley, Teresa Carling of Weightmans LLP. 

5. Thursday 4th June - Private Client Seminar at Ward Hadaway.

It was an excellent afternoon hosting our Private Client Seminar in partnership with The Soceity of Trust and Estate Practitioners.  The Seminar brought together Private Client Practitioners from across the region for an insightful programme covering both contentious and non-contentious Private Client Practice with excellent engagement and discussions throughout.

A hugh thank you to our 2 speaker, Rebecca Roscoe, of JRJ Legal Limited, Stephanie Kerr CTAPS of Irwin Mitchelle and Martha Allen of Hill Dickinson LLP.

And to standing Committee Member Rachael Leathley TPE, from EMG Solicitors for organising this event.

6. Thursday 11th June – 4th Property Law Seminar with Judge Laura D'Cruz and Infotrack at Ward Hadaway.

A fascinating evening hearing from Judge Laura D'Cruz of the Land Registration Division of the First Tier Judge Tribunal (Property Chamber) and David Rawson of Infotrack UK.

Judge D'Cruz provided an insightful overview of the evolution of this jurisdiction and touched upon recent fascinating cases.

David Rawson presented on client matter risk assessment and provided attendees with a practical perspective on balancing compliance requirements with professional judgement.

Yet another superb turnout from fellow Property and Conveyancing Practitioners.

7. Thursday 18th June – Tyne Valley & Northumberland Area Visit at Bouchon Bistrot, Hexham.

The sun was cracking the flags when we visited Hexham to meet with hardworking members and prospectives members based in the Tyne Valley and Northumberland.  It was an engaging and thought-provoking working lunch during which I shared our plans for our exciting Bicentennial Year and also raised and encourage discussion regarding hot topics currently in the National Legal Press.  It is always fantastic to get out and about to meet fellow lawyers working in the provinces.

8. Wednesday 24^th June - Family Law Seminar – New Park Court Chambers – Leonardo Hotel in Middlesbrough

Great to be back on Teesside to welcome colleagues specialising in Family Law.  Superb to partner with our very good friends at New Park Court Chambers to host a Seminar at the Leonard Hotel in Middlesbrough.

Expertly Chaired by Valerie Sterling, the seminar included presentations from the very knowledgeable Sally Terris and the excellent Emma Hughes who shared practical guidance and updates on key developments in both Private and Public Family Law.  We are hoping that this will be the first of many further visits to Teesside to look after our new members there.

9. Thursday 25th June – A Sunset Soiree – The President's Summer Party at The Riverside Terrace, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in aid of Smart Works North East and Suitability

Well, we certainly had the weather on our side when we enjoyed the Tropics on Tyneside as was always our plan!  Newcastle quayside looked resplendent in the glimmering sunshine from our vantage point on the Riverside Terrace at the Baltic.

It was fantastic to host a social occasion for colleagues, friends and our most excellent sponsors Amiqus, Azets, CLSQ, Infotrack, New Park Court Chambers. Northumbrian Water Property Solutions, Konsileo, Stone Legal Recruitment, Pitman Training and Ad Gefren, many of whom had travelled some distance in the blistering heat to be with us.

The aim of the evening was to raise funds for 2 brilliant charities Smart Works North East and Suitability.  A happy and joyous atmosphere with no heavy legal agenda this time just a good opportunity to catch up.  Face facts, we all ended up talking about work anyway so there were several conversations about legal topics in any event!

The fantastic Steel Band brought a summer vibe making it another great opportunity to catch up with lots of people and make new connections.

Thank you to all of the excellent companies who have joined our Members Benefits Club for their generous donations of raffle prizes.  There was some fantastic prizes to be won and we were delighted to raise over £1,000 for our 2 Charities of choice.

I think we delivered on our promise of a Sunset Soiree!

We have 4 exciting Upcoming Events and more information on these will follow in due course:-

• Thursday 9^th July – North Northumberland Area Visit at Ad Gefren, Wooler
• Wednesday 15^th July – The Newcastle Legal Walk in support of the Access for Justice Foundation.
• Thursday 24^th September – Managing Partners & Heads of Office Forum (Megan to complete from flyer)
• Thursday 24^th September – "With the Law on our Side" (Megan to complete from flyer)

Plus the BIG one …

• Our Bicentennial Dinner on Friday 9^th October at The Hilton Gateshead (No spoilers yet on that one but we hope it is going to be epic!)

I hope everyone enjoys their well-deserved breaks over the Summer.  We'll be back again soon, refreshed and ready for more.