header-logo header-logo

Magic circle ‘lifer’ with a heart: Simon Davis

11 December 2019 / Grania Langdon-Down
Issue: 7868 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
13022
Law Society President Simon Davis, a career ‘lifer’ in a magic circle firm, tells Grania Langdon-Down why he is keen to demonstrate Chancery Lane’s relevance to all sides of the profession & the public

As the country wakes up to a new government, Simon Davis, the Law Society’s 175th president, has warned against a ‘kneejerk’ reaction to the London Bridge attack that left two young people dead.

During the election campaign, politicians had been polishing up their law and order credentials with promises of extra police officers. But there was little in the party manifestos that presented a coherent set of policy reforms across the justice system in relation to legal aid, prisons, probation or the court estate. And it took the tragic events on London Bridge to expose what practitioners have been warning for years—that the whole justice system has been systematically starved of funds for more than a decade.

Immediately after the attack, party leaders launched into a ‘blame game’ about who was responsible for Usman

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
back-to-top-scroll