Tees Valley Law Society held its 2018 AGM on 21 June, attended by society members and members of TVLS Council.

Outgoing President, Dermot Winters of Close Thornton LLP, presented his Review of the Year in which he discussed his activities during his term of office, including his involvement in the launch of the Business and Property Court in Newcastle, headed by HH Judge Kramer.

Elections were held at the AGM for the roles of President, Senior Vice President and Junior Vice President of the Society, as well as for other Council seats.

Chris Noon of NE Law was duly elected as the Society’s President. I am excited to have been elected as President of TVLS and hope that I will be a good custodian of the role. To that end if members have any suggestions or requests please contact us. We will continue to keep you updated with regard to all future events. he said following the meeting.

No nominations were received for the role of Senior Vice President, and so the Society is very grateful to Dermot Winters who agreed to step in as Interim Senior Vice President until such time as a candidate comes forward for the role. If you are interested, or would like to know more, please get in touch.

Nikita Noel of Latimer Hinks, Junior Vice President in 2017-18, chose to stand for the same role once more; she was duly elected as Junior Vice President for 2018-19.

Rebecca Maddock, Mary Foster, Patrick Saunders and Robert Steer were elected as General Members of Council.

As part of the Society’s establishment of closer ties with Teesside University, Ben Middleton and Michelle Gallagher were appointed as University Representatives to Council.

Allan Devine, Law Society of England and Wales Council Member, spoke briefly to the AGM, commenting on the work the national society are doing in respect to diversity in the profession. He noted that for the first time the majority of practising solicitors are women, but that there is still a lot of work to do to address the imabalance in the number of women who are partners or senior managers in their firms.

Every year at AGM, TVLS recognises solicitors in the Tees Valley region who have served and been on the roll for 40 years. Jeremy Spooner, who works in-house at the Prestige Group, collected his 40+ certificate at the event. Certificates were also awarded to Hilary Monckton-Milnes, Paul Ronan Martin, John Anthony Pratt and David Wilson French.

Martin Hobson of Clive Owen Accountants provided the meeting with a breakdown of the accounts, which were approved by members. Members also approved retaining Clive Owen Accountants as auditors for the coming year.