David Greene, NLJ consultant editor, Brexit specialist and senior partner at law firm Edwin Coe, has been elected as the next deputy vice president of the Law Society. He will take up office in July, becoming vice president in 2019 and president in 2020.
Currently, Greene holds the Law Society Council seat for international practice, chairs the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee and the International Committee, and represents the Law Society on issues arising from Brexit.
Greene acted for Deir Dos Santos, one of the litigants in the high-profile Article 50 challenge, which concluded with 11 Supreme Court Justices ruling that Parliamentary approval was required for Britain to trigger Brexit. For this work, he received the Solicitors’ Journal Rule of Law Award and the Law Society’s Personality of the Year award in 2017.
Last month, he secured a win for foreign students housed in decrepit, mice-ridden accommodation by London School of Economics. His firm is known for its work in class actions relating to consumer issues, banking and shares: for example, it represented 32,000 convenience store owners in a successful challenge against the Office of Fair Trading, and 36,000 private shareholders in Northern Rock following the 2008 global financial meltdown.
Greene said: ‘I am proud of our profession and the part it plays both in daily life for citizens and business, and internationally.
‘I want to ensure it maintains its prominence and continues to campaign for access to justice and the rule of law.’
Joe Egan, president of the Law Society, said: ‘I want to extend hearty congratulations to David who emerged as the winner from an extremely strong field of candidates. I wish him all the very best for his three years as an office holder.’
