header-logo header-logo

Trailblazing lawyers at the top

20 October 2021
Issue: 7953 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Equality , Diversity
printer mail-detail
I Stephanie Boyce has been inaugurated as the 177th president of the Law Society—making legal history as the first black office holder, first person of colour and sixth female president

Boyce stepped into the role in March after president David Greene resigned, but was formally installed into the post last week. A former director of legal services at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, she is the second in-house solicitor in nearly 50 years to take the reins at Chancery Lane. At the same ceremony, Lubna Shuja was officially installed as vice president while Nick Emmerson took office as deputy vice president.

Boyce said: ‘I am living testament to the growing social opportunity in the legal profession but I also recognise that more needs to be done. Here’s to another year of breaking down the barriers to accessing justice, to overseas markets, and ultimately, to a thriving profession―all while striving to protect the rule of law.’

It was a double celebration for Boyce last week after she was named, for the second year running, on Powerful Media’s 2022 Powerlist, which lists the UK’s 100 most influential men and women of African and African Caribbean heritage.

Boyce said she was ‘delighted and humbled’ to be named on the list.

Also on the Powerlist were solicitors: Leigh, Day partner Jacqueline McKenzie; Joshua Siaw, partner, White & Case; Segun Osuntokun, partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner; Marcia Willis-Stewart QC, director, Birnberg Peirce; Sandra Wallace, partner & joint managing director, UK & Europe, DLA Piper; and Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford, former Dentons partner and now chair of Shakespeare’s Globe.

David Lammy MP, Shadow Justice Secretary, and Harry Matovu QC represented the Bar on the Powerlist. Corporate counsel listed were Dr Sandie Okoro, senior vice president and group general counsel, World Bank; and Tom Shropshire, general counsel & company secretary, Diageo. 

Issue: 7953 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Equality , Diversity
printer mail-details

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