The Newcastle and North of England Law Society

President's Newsletter – May / June 2026

Welcome to my second newsletter as the recently elected President of The Newcastle and North of England Law Society, in this our very special Bicentennial Year.

A month into my year as President and we are really getting down to business now.  It's been busy and is only going to get busier!

Firstly, a recap of the events which have happened this month:-

1. Thursday 16th April - County Durham Area Visit at Ramside Hall at 12.30 p.m.

It was great to meet fellow County Durham lawyers from numerous firms, some larger, some smaller to discuss latest hot topics in the National Legal Press and our plans for the Bicentenary Events.

Clare Hurst, our Vice President, and I thoroughly enjoyed hosting the event and really appreciated the support of our loyal and hardworking Standing Committee Members, David Low and Rachael Leathley.  Great to be accompanied by our very new Standing Committee Member Debra Swinburn.

2. Our First Standing Committee Meeting - Monday 20^th April at Ward Hadaway

We had a really good attendance for our first Standing Committee meeting during our Presidential Year.  Thank you to all Standing Committee Members who attended either in person or on screen.  We worked through a lot of business and there were some great ideas.  Thank you all for your enthusiasm and participation.  Great to hear from our Law Society Council Members - Russell Hewitson, Guy Goodings, Allan Devine and Claire Logan in terms of latest hot topics being discussed at a national level.  Huge thanks to David Dewar for volunteering to be our Standing Committee Lead on our Legal Tech initiatives.

3. "Help Us, Help You" BPC Users Forum Event – Tuesday 12^th April at Ward Hadaway

I had the very great pleasure recently of meeting His Honour Judge Malcolm Davis-White and being introduced to the excellent events staged by the BPC Forum.  Watch this space as The Newcastle and North of England Law Society continues to promote BPC Forum Events and notifications generally about the Courts, Court Announcements or Court Process.  We also plan to eventually have a link through our website to the BPC Forum which should hopefully be very beneficial for practitioners (solicitors and barristers) who use the Newcastle BPC.

4. Thursday 23^rd April - North and South Tyneside Area Visit at Tynemouth Golf Club at 12.30 p.m.

The sun was cracking the flags when we visited Tynemouth Golf Club to meet with hardworking members and perspectives members based in North and South Tyneside.  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 discussing 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 and in-house (did you know 25% of lawyers in the North East hold in-house roles!).

This was the first outing for our newly acquired Bicentenary Instagram Photo Frame which went down a storm!

5. Monday 27^th April – The annual inspection of our artifacts collection at Gateshead Civic Centre

As part of our insurance requirements Sanchia and I preformed the annual review and stocktake of our collection of artifacts kindly looked after for us at Gateshead Civic Centre by Gateshead MBC.  We were privileged to be in the very exclusive sanctuary of the Mayor's Office where our impressive collection of significant artifacts is stored.

We have 9 exciting Upcoming Events and more information on these will follow in due course:-

• A special visit by the National Law Society President Mark Evans:-
  • Wednesday 27th May - Carlisle Area Visit and Relaunch at Armstrong Watson at 12.30 p.m.
  • Wednesday 27th May - Managing Partners Private Dinner at Dakota Hotel, Newcastle at 7.00 p.m.
  • Thursday 28th May – LegalRunner 5k run at 7:15 a.m. along the Quayside, Newcastle starting at Hotel Dakota
  • Thursday 28th May - Tees Valley Area Visit, Relaunch and Wellbeing Round Table at Top Floor, Double Eleven at 12.00 p.m.
• Thursday 4th June - Private Client Seminar at Ward Hadaway at 2.00 p.m.
• Thursday 11th June – 4^th Property Law Seminar with Judge Laura D'Cruz at Ward Hadaway at 4.00 p.m.
• Thursday 18th June – Tyne Valley & Northumberland Area Visit at Bouchon Bistrot, Hexham at 12.30 p.m.
• Thursday 25th June – A Summer Soiree – The President's Summer Party at The Riverside Terrace, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art at 7.00 p.m. in aid of Smart Works North East and Suitability
• Thursday 16^th July – Legal Walk

We hope to see you at some of our forthcoming events (of which there are plenty to choose from) as we continue to support the legal community across the North of England.  Please do encourage colleagues to attend or better still to join The Newcastle and North of England Law Society as members!

Remember to check out our Members Benefits Club which offers a vast selection of attractive discounts and preferential rates to our members all carefully negotiated and kindly offered by a fantastic array of brilliant companies and businesses across our geography.