VETERAN Merseyside lawyer Charlie Jones will be the next president of the Liverpool Law Society.
The 53-year-old Weightmans partner vowed to devote time to championing Liverpool’s lawyers.
He also said the LLS should boost its work in Wirral to raise awareness among the borough’s legal community.
Mr Jones, a motoring claims specialist, will be confirmed as the society’s next head tonight. He has been involved with LLS for five years in a number of roles, most recently as this year’s vice- president.
He will take over from Anne Heseltine when she steps down at the end of the year.
Mr Jones said lawyers across the region should vie for the recognition they deserve.
He told LDP Legal: “I’m concerned that solicitors get a bad press. I think we as a profession should celebrate ourselves a bit more and I intend to try and champion the excellence of legal services that are available in Liverpool and promote the fact that we give just as good, if not better, legal advice in Liverpool as in any other part of the country. I want work to come here for the benefit of all lawyers, and I shall be promoting that throughout my year as president.
“Please forgive the pun, but we do not do ourselves justice in terms of enhancing the reputation of the legal profession. The overwhelming majority of solicitors are highly-skilled, hard- working and dedicated professionals. On occasions, things go wrong, resulting in a bad name for the profession. Such occasions are the exception, not the rule.”
Mr Jones added that he was also keen to embrace the whole region. Wirral lawyers are an extremely important yet under-represented part of the society, he said.
The society will increase its work on that side of the Mersey.
Mr Jones continued: “LLS is developing a Wirral strategy planned to try and encourage awareness of the Law Society among Wirral solicitors and to help boost our involvement with professionals there. We also have some major plans and various activities in the diary already for 2009.”
From January to March, LLS will continue its successful public speaking competition for Merseyside schools, and the society is planning its second annual awards in June.
Mr Jones has spent his entire career practising in Liverpool. He joined Weightmans in 1980 and qualified as a solicitor in 1985.
Born in Belfast, he was schooled in Dublin and Scotland, before taking a BSc in law and politics at Brunel University.
His hobbies revolve around sport, which include skiing in winter and racing his 34-foot yacht, now moored in Holyhead, in the summer.
Mr Jones will continue as chairman of the motor issues special interest group, within the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, during his presidency.
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