David McGrady inaugurated as 47th
President of ILEX
Read David McGrady's
inauguration speech below:
'I am very much a, “wet behind
the ears”, fresh out of the box President having only been elected
a few hours ago. Some will say this is cutting things a bit
fine but after a year of responding to LSB deadlines on
consultation papers ILEX is well practised at producing the goods
at the last minute. Fortunately the vote went well, at
least from my point of view and I got the “nod”. As a
consequence you are spared a long and bitter speech from a
disappointed man.
This is, therefore, my first outing as
President and on such an occasion it is re-assuring to see familiar
faces here tonight. Family, old friends and some who
hopefully will become new friends as the year progresses.
At her lunch in June, my predecessor Judith
detailed the tremendous progress and success that Ilex has had over
the past 12 months. I do not think I need remind you of those
accomplishments tonight. An inauguration speech is perhaps a
more forward looking and personal address. I do hope however
in 9 to 10 months time, at the next Ilex Annual Lunch, to be able
to recount further progress made advancing our qualification as a
respected academic route into the legal profession, the regulation
of our members through our regulatory body, Ilex Professional
Services, and an increase in the number of our members made
partners in law firms. And by then I sincerely hope the first
Ilex members will have been appointed to the judiciary.
It is of course an honour to be appointed
President of Ilex and I must thank those who have assisted me in
securing office although it is not my intention that this speech
should descend to the level of an Oscar acceptance.
The first category of people who must be
thanked are my colleagues on Council for the faith that they have
shown in electing me their president and upon which I will reply
for support in the next 12 months. I would particularly
like to welcome John Wells a President here tonight and wish him a
full restoration to health. Also worthy of special
mention are VP and DVP and also Larry Shaw and Keith Barrett,
Fellow Council Members for London and without who’s encouragement I
would never even have stood for council some six or seven years
ago.
I must of course thank my employers, Ed
Middlehurst and the other partners at Gregsons and my colleagues
upon whom I rely to look after my practice when committed to
presidential duties. Gregsons is an old firm, established in
1788. We are a proud firm that has survived in an ever
competitive market when other firms have not. But we are a
small firm and small firms cannot easily absorb a senior fee earner
distracted by non fee earning activities. It is, therefore,
to Ed and his partner’s credit that they have never stopped me
taking up my duties on council and now as Ilex President. It
is regrettable that some larger firms are not so enlightened and
instead passively or actively prevent their employees from
participating in the wider profession including the taking of
judicial office. Such insular attitudes do not in the long
term help their employees, the profession or indeed the firm.
Ilex is well served by its professional staff and the
representations they make on our behalf. Former
practitioners, the judiciary, the academia, the government, their
civil servants and the consumer have an integral place in debates
upon how the legal profession can be developed and improved.
But if such discussions take place in isolation of the current
practitioner, assumptions made or decisions reached may prove
unsustainable. If, therefore, employers place their own
self-interest before the development of the profession, and the
personal development of their own staff and prohibit their
participation in the debates that present to the legal world, a
valuable voice is lost. My gratitude therefore goes out to
Gregsons for having the foresight and wisdom to perceive the
benefits both to them and to me of affording me the opportunity to
become President of Ilex.
The final group of people I must thank is
certainly not the least and that is my wife Jill, daughter Sarah
and son Jon who share this occasion with me tonight. In
common with many of my members, I did not seek an academic
qualification in the law in the first instance. Ilex is proud
of its role within the profession in affording access to those
without a university degree or indeed any higher level academic
qualification. In many respects we are the safety net that
catches those who might otherwise never have gained access to the
profession. In my own case I left school with modest “A”
levels and joined the Treasury Solicitors Department at the age of
18. I enjoyed a number of happy years there dealing with
progressively more difficult cases and becoming involved in some of
the higher profile cases of the time. Circumstances and
“itchy feet” led me to go into private practice when I was in my
mid 30s and without any formal qualification in law. Through
Ilex I was able to study at local colleges in the evening while
working during the say and ultimately securing my fellowship.
At the time, however, Jill and I had two young children to bring
up. Without her help releasing me to undertake my studies, I
would never have completed the course. These things are
sometimes overstated and over-sentimentalised but quite literally I
would not be here tonight without the help and support of my
wife. I sincerely hope that this is not the first time I have
publicly recognised your contribution but I can think of no better
occasion to reprise it.
So those are the people who have helped me to
get here today but as Jill and my employers will be seeing less of
me over the next 12 months, so some of you will be seeing more of
me. And with you I look forward to the challenges that face
Ilex, the profession and indeed the country. I do not
tonight intend to make aspirational statements for the
future. Perhaps that is better left to the politicians.
Instead I would like to focus on what can
realistically be achieved and upon who I will need to call upon for
help or can perhaps assist in the next 12 months.
I look forward to working with the government,
its civil servants and the judiciary, upon all matters but
particularly pro-bono, legal aid, and the impact of cuts upon the
judicial system. You will find Ilex accepts change but not
for changes sake or political whim or temporary popularity.
Our structures allow us to respond quickly to new developments
something which has given us an edge over the past 40 odd years,
securing our initial establishment and thereafter our increase in
size, respect and influence. We are an organisation that has
come of age and with that acquired a sense of its own self
worth. We are comfortable and confident of our role within
the profession and where we stand alongside the Bar and the Law
Society in serving the public. I am, however, determined to
fill the knowledge gap that persists in some quarters of politics,
the civil service and even the judiciary. I wish to be the
last President who has to patiently explain to the unenlightened
that Ilex is an organisation of over 20,000 legal practitioners,
some 7 and a half thousand of whom are lawyers, some not only
partners in firms but eligible for judicial appointment.
To our friends in the Law Society, Bar
Council, Licensed Conveyancers and other professional bodies I look
forward to maintaining with you the high standards of the
profession and providing a high quality of service for the
public. To do this Ilex must enter into members practice
rights, something we will be actively pursuing in the next 12
months. The profession is big enough for us all and
accommodate us all. Without Ilex there is no unfettered entry
into the profession. Without Ilex, there is a danger, with
the current high cost of university and post graduate education,
the profession will fall back to its position prior to the Second
World War, as a career for only the social and financial
elite.
I look forward to working with those charged
with regulating and improving standards within the profession and
introducing ABS’s and the challenge that they bring. Ilex is
always civil in its dealings with those it comes into contact
with. It would be unwise, however, to interpret that civility
as a sign of weakness. I look forward to talking to and
talking with the various agencies such as the LSB and OLS. I
trust, however, that they will talk to us and talk with us, but not
talk at us. Many of our members have worked in the legal to
profession for 40 years or more. Many have spent their
careers frustrated at recognised deficiencies within the profession
but unable, at least until recently, to influence significant
changes in it. They welcome the new found influence that Ilex
has and which we will exercise responsibly on their behalf.
We hope to bring sensible changes to a profession that we
value. Changes that are progressive and significant but not
driven by fads or short term populist gains.
I bring to the table of those charged with the
diversification of the profession and the judiciary our 20,000 plus
members from differing socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds and
who are eager for change and to see change. With you Lord
Chief and our other friends in this field, I look forward to the
next year.
Of course I will be reliant upon the
assistance and counsel of Diane Burleigh and her excellent
staff. It has undoubtedly been a fact in ILEX "punching above
its weight" in the past 10 years or so that we have had Diane and
her hard working professional staff to call upon. ILEX will be
exploring a petition for a Royal Charter, and I am delighted that
as President I will be working together with Diane and the staff
and our fellow council members as ILEX looks to steer this
potentially historic change through the procedural waters.
So there you have it. As promised a
speech with no grand aspirational statements but which I hope
demonstrates a conviction to work with all to secure improvements
for our members and to work with our fellow professionals to
enhance the quality of service that is received by the consumer to
the benefit of all. Perhaps not yet the speech of a
President, perhaps more the speech of a man not accustomed to the
title President or comfortable with it but still the speech of a
man who has practiced in the law for over 35 years and has known no
other employment. The speech hopefully of a man who
understands and values the profession that has influenced most of
his life and the need for continued progress and change but of a
sustainable nature. And perhaps the speech of a man who has,
late in his career, has been afforded a brief opportunity to make a
difference.'
Posted 09.07.10