Leicester University Law Society

Leicester University Law Society, also known as LULS, is the largest student society at the University of Leicester in Leicester, United Kingdom, and represents all undergraduate law students at the university. The Society was founded in the same year as the Law School was established in 1966 by Mark Lowe (President) and Alan Goldsack (General Secretary). Both Mark Lowe QC and Alan Goldsack QC have gone on to become leaders in their respective fields of law. Further, many other Presidents of the Society have gone on to follow successful legal careers. As of October 2007, the Society has 1020 current members, and 4000 alumnus/life members.

Activities

Mooting at Leicester is sponsored by international law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and is renowned to be of very high calibre. The mooting secretaries co-ordinate the junior and senior internal mooting competitions and also assist the faculty's mooting tutor to enter teams into external moots. The Law Society, in partnership with Herbert Smith, runs a very successful debating competition throughout the academic year which is frequently oversubscribed. However, the introduction of a mandatory monetary deposit in the 2005/06 term eased concerns about no-shows at the early mooting competition rounds and smoothed the organisation of the moots.

Most of the society's revenues are derived from sponsorship from City of London law firms. LULS is the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom which organises its own law fair, independent of the university's careers service or the law faculty. It also plays host to the Barristers Evening in the first week of December each year - during which students interested in pursuing a career at the Bar of England and Wales have the opportunity to meet and network with invited guest speakers, most of whom are practicing barristers. It offers students vocational experience through its pro bono clinic which is administered by a sub-committee of six individuals, with the clinic operating every Wednesday afternoon during an academic term. It publishes a magazine, "Taking Liberties", once a term, which provides a forum for members to write on various matters of national and international law and provide an insight into their experiences during vacation schemes and mini-pupillages. However, in recent years, "Taking Liberties" has appeared infrequently: in 2006, it appeared towards the end of the Law Society Committee term, whereas in 2007 no edition was published.

The society is famed within the university for its social events such as the Orientation Day sponsored by DLA Piper, the 'Allen & Overy Cocktails', the 'CMS Cameron McKenna Cocktails' and the Annual Law Ball. The Law Ball has proven to be the most popular event of the academic year and attracts up to 600 students, usually taking place in the second week of February. Since the 2005/06 term, the Law Ball has been held at the Athena Conference and Banqueting Centre, near the city centre. In 2007, the Law Ball was sponsored by Slaughter and May, Linklaters and the College of Law. Previous sponsors have included Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance. In addition, the Society is also active in university sporting events, as it participates in several tournaments and intermural leagues. It currently has football, netball, rugby union, cricket and hockey teams.

Governance

The Law Society is governed by a constitution that was adopted in late 2003 and subsequently amended in 2006 and 2007. According to the constitution, elections for most positions to the Law Society Committee are held annually in the third week of March. These elections are usually organised by the University of Leicester Students' Union. The new committee takes over from the previous President and his or her team during the summer term, beginning in the third week of April of any calendar year. The year representatives are usually elected a few weeks after the start of the new academic year, in October. The Committee is currently made up of 20 students (non-sabbatical positions). The positions are divided into Executive and non-Executive officers: The President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary form the Law Society Executive, which meets frequently to make preparatory decisions on projects and/or policies that are to be discussed by the Law Society Committee.

The remaining officers concentrate on specifically allocated areas of responsibility and include Mooting Secretaries (2), Careers Representatives (Solicitors) (2), Careers Representative (Barristers), Sports Secretary, Competitions Secretary, Publicity Secretary, Pro Bono Officer (appointed by the Law Society President, in consultation with the previous Pro Bono Officer), Assistant Social Secretary (at the discretion of the Vice President, who is usually in charge of social events), Academic Officer, Magazine Editor, International Rep and Year Reps (3). The Law Society has appointed three sub-committees for the organisation of Pro Bono Clinic, "Taking Liberties" and the Annual Law Ball, respectively.

Presidents of the Student Law Society (1995-2009)

1995-96 Jamas Hodivala

1996-97 Shardi Shameli

1997-98 Lee Warsop

1998-99 Minesh Gadhvi

1999-00 Phil Henson

2000-01 Steven Billingham

2001-02 Ben Dobbs

2002-03 Joe Morrison

2003-04 Victoria McLoughlin

2004-05 Sarah Baker

2005-06 Prashant Sabharwal

2006-07 Jatinder Paul

2007-08 Alice Simpson

2008-09 William Luke

Recent Guest Speakers

2005: Sir Roger Toulson, Chairman of the Law Commission of England and Wales

2005: Professor Gary Slapper [http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/events/2000-2009/2005/feb/npevent-874-2zx-q6c]

2006: Jagmohan Mundra, Director of Provoked, a film based on the seminal criminal law case, R. v Ahluwalia. [http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/news/press-releases/2000-2009/2006/11/nparticle.2006-11-24.0629229228]

2007: Kier Starmer QC, (appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in 2008).

Website

The Society's website can be retrieved at [http://www.luls.co.uk Leicester University Law Society Online]