As a Royal Charter professional body, our work with government and Parliament is based on our duty to act in the public interest. We work closely with our members as we engage and influence policy stakeholders and decision-makers. By leveraging the collective knowledge, experience and expertise of the legal profession, we can play a leading role in developing strategic solutions to the challenges facing the legal services sector. Joe Ferreira, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns Email Joe Ferreira We submit written and oral testimony to selected committees, develop briefings prior to parliamentary debates, and meet with key stakeholders. We manage the Law Society`s relationship with government and Parliament. We oversee our advocacy work and work with key decision-makers on behalf of the legal profession. Rowan was elected to the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland in November 2015 and has chaired the Business, Client Complaints, Education and Professional Responsibility Committees, as well as numerous other committees and subcommittees. He was elected president in November 2019 and re-elected along with the other members of the presidential team in November 2020 to ensure continuity during the pandemic. Our officers are the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Immediate Former President. Learn more about the roles of the President and Vice-President below. Ian has recently acted as an independent consultant and has used his extensive leadership experience to advise law firms and professional services organizations.
Nick is a partner at Lewis Mathys Emmerson LLP specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and international capital markets transactions. Brian is currently a director of the charity Include Youth. During Nick`s presidency, the Law Society of Leeds demonstrated its resilience by hosting its first innovative online conference on diversity and inclusion, with the support of the Law Society. He has extensive experience in information technology and intellectual property and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a partner in 1998 and managing partner in 2005 at the age of 37. The Law Society`s President and Chief Executive Officer team consists of the President, Senior Vice-President, Junior President and Chief Executive Officer. She also has experience in contested wills and estates, divorce, child access, assault and contract disputes. Mr. Lavery is a member of the Human Rights Commission for Northern Ireland. Mr. Lavery holds a Bachelor of Laws from Queen`s University Belfast and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School, and spent the first part of his career in private practice. The President and Chief Executive Officer for 2021-2022 was appointed on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 and will remain in office until Wednesday, November 30, 2022. He was a Knox Fellow at Harvard and an Associate at Harvard`s Centre for International Affairs.
He is an Eisenhower Fellow and Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster. From 1998 to 2001, he was Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. One of Brigid`s primary goals is to give back to the profession and to encourage and inspire her colleagues and the next generation of lawyers. Early in her career, Brigid was involved with the Young Solicitors Association and was a popular lecturer at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. Ian joined Lewis Silkin in 1990 and graduated as a lawyer in 1992. Nick is a delivery driver for the City of London Solicitors` Company and was previously a committee member of the City of London Law Society. She is currently a director of Napier Solicitors and advises on all aspects of personal and corporate insolvency and is regularly appointed receiver or liquidator in complex insolvency cases. Brigid`s day-to-day work as a lawyer with over 30 years of experience includes working on the coal front with individuals and companies in crisis.
We lead the Law Society`s campaigns fighting for access to justice and promoting England and Wales as a global centre for law. In 2001 he founded his own law firm in partnership with two other colleagues and in 2016 he opened his own practice as Archer Solicitors in Belfast. Nick Emmerson is Vice-President of the Law Society. His practice covers all areas of commercial real estate and has been involved in many of the largest and most complex real estate transactions in Northern Ireland over the years. He is a Managing Partner at CMG Cunningham Dickey Solicitors, where he is involved in housing works for some of Northern Ireland`s leading builders. This involves the acquisition, planning and financing of sites. Brian Speers is treasurer of LSNI and served as president of the society in 2010/2011. He remained with this firm after being added to the list of lawyers in Northern Ireland in 1977, but moved to their affiliate firm at Ballymena, J. & A. Caruth & Bamber in January 1979. In September 1983, Rowan returned to Belfast to join Norman Wilson & Co, where he became a partner in 1985.
He is fluent in Japanese and has spent his career in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Leeds and London. He was a strong advocate of mediation in civil and commercial matters and designed and directed the IPLS mediation course at Queen`s University Belfast. He is President of the Law Society`s Mediation Service. He also advises high-potential companies in the legal technology sector and has served on numerous boards of directors in various sectors. Our 2020-2022 Leading Legal Excellence strategy sets out our priorities for organizing and supporting members after the pandemic. Our annual plan for the period from November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022 includes 32 ambitious projects that we will focus on this year to achieve the objectives of our two-year Leading Legal Excellence strategy. In 2019, Farzana was named ACT Young Lawyer of the Year and in 2020, she was named Young Graduate of the Year by the Australian National University in recognition of her professional and community commitment to supporting disadvantaged people. Farzana is a member of the Access to Justice and Inclusion Committee of the ACT Law Society and an appointed Director of the Law Council of Australia.
