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It is an honour and privilege to be President this year, which will see great changes in the legal world. Worthing is a wonderful place to live and be in business and the solicitors firms here provide a fantastic service to the community.
It is very important that members of the Worthing public are aware of the difference in service and quality of advice that solicitors give compared to the far less qualified alternatives provided often by online organisations with no qualified solicitors. A solicitor has a long complicated route to becoming qualified and even then keeps their legal skills up to date with a minimum of 16 hours training each year.
Whilst it may appear to a member of the public that a sale and purchase of property or a will or lasting power of attorney should be simple transactions, this is invariably not the case and there will be legal complexities which could render the work done by a faceless organisation useless or even dangerous and counter productive.
So my drive this year is to help local firms to bring to the attention of the Worthing community the importance of seeing a solicitor for their important personal matters rather than risk what may appear at first to be a cheaper option, but which in the long run may well not be.
Ask your solicitor.....Qualified to Answer.
Stephen J. Hollamby
President Worthing Law Society
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Worthing Law Society was founded in 1920 as a professional organisation to represent solicitors who practice in the local area. The society is affiliated to the
National Law Society.
Its primary objective is to support solicitors in their professional capacity by providing:-
- an open forum for its members to discuss issues affecting the profession
- advertising to promote the profession
- a channel for communication between the national law society and members
- a supportive network for members
- educational courses for continual professional development
- social events
- a low cost recruitment service.
- a conciliation service
- provision of committee minutes to members to encourage greater
openness
- Annual General Meeting
There are approx 160 members who support the society by attending events, meetings and educational courses which are offered to all members. The
educational courses were set up in 1992 following a kind contribution from a fellow member Mr. Russell Green, and take his name to this day.
The society has a committee which is headed by an annually elected president. The committee actively seeks ways to continue to make the society relevant and
beneficial to its members. All members are encouraged to give feedback or make suggestions to the committee and to ask for assistance or guidance where
required.
Socially the Worthing Law Society has close links with local estate agents, bankers and doctors through the annual golf days and the medico legal dinner. The
society actively supports local charities such as St Barnabas, Chestnut Tree House, Worthing Churches Homeless project and the Solicitors Benevolent fund
through annual donations and by hosting an annual quiz.
For historical interest, the Worthing Law Society is the last remaining professional body in Worthing that holds an annual dinner for its members.
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