Blog from Martin Edwards, New Year, New Changes, New Challenges

As we start 2018 I can’t help thinking that there’s never been a better time to be a property litigator.

Whether it’s the continuing state of flux with our Court and Tribunal System (and the consequential procedural changes), or statutory reform such as the new Telecommunications Code, or the sheer volume of key property cases decided in the past year, the demand for property litigation services and the pace of change have never been higher.

Our Association remains committed to providing you, as our members, with the highest quality support and education and training. We are also increasingly taking steps to ensure that your interests are properly represented in this challenging era of reform.

Your Executive Committee (and in particular all members of your Law Reform Committee) remain focussed on responding to the many consultations on law reform and providing you with feedback. We will continue to build on existing collaborations with other professional bodies and with Government agencies, along with the Courts and Tribunal system.

Indeed our Association reflects the continuing change in the delivery of property litigation legal services in the UK so we are already well placed to meet these challenges.

Did you know for example that:-

Junior members (up to 10 years PQE) now comprise 43% of our total membership
Our members are an almost even split between men and women
Our membership continues to grow, with around 40% of our members based in London and the majority of our members now permanently based in the regions (including Scotland and Northern Ireland) – we are proud to say we are now a national Association.

It is traditional to make resolutions at this time of year so I thought I might share with you a couple of mine:

To encourage greater participation in working towards achieving the Association’s objectives by more of our existing members – including (dare I say!) our more experienced practitioners; 
To increase the pace of engagement between our Association and the external groups and agencies tasked with change.

I will let you have an update on my progress during the year.

In the coming weeks we’ll be hearing from each of the chairs of our sub- committees in their own blogs as to their plans for the year ahead.

Here’s to 2018 everyone.Martin Edwards, Chair Property Litigation Association