Who we are

Our story

How it all started

Kent Law Society (KLS) was established in 1818, and lays claim to being one of the oldest Law Societies in the country. Many of our former Presidents have become President of the Law Society of England and Wales, including Richard Atkinson for the all-important Bicentennial year, and KLS continues to “punch above its weight” in terms of influence and reach.

We are a not-for-profit organisation which exists to promote the interests of the legal profession here in Kent. We aim to provide a strong voice for the whole profession, promoting common links which bind us through professional and social interaction across the county and beyond. We maintain trusted relationships with key participants including our sponsors and look to encourage potential and new entrants into the profession.

Kent Law Society is an active and successful local law society with a membership consistently in the region of 500, spread across 50 firms, ranging from our largest commercial firms right through to sole practitioners and covering every size, shape and kind of firm in-between. We are recognised as being one of the most active Law Societies in the country.

We are proud of our links with the Counties’ Solicitors Group where fellow members are the Law Societies in Newcastle, North Wales and Cheshire, Devon and Somerset, Leicestershire, and Surrey. Holding joint events provides partners potential to reach hundreds of firms and thousands of lawyers.

We work closely with the Law Departments of both Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Kent at Canterbury. Student engagement is high, and this allows us to reach out to and engage positively with the future leaders of our profession. KLS provides social and business cross-networking opportunities amongst the local profession and relevant business communities.

We often provide webinars for the membership, not just on legal topics but also soft skills supporting the wellbeing and productivity of the profession.

We are committed to promoting equal opportunity, diversity, inclusion and human rights amongst the legal profession and those who employ their services. We give a voice locally, regionally, and nationally to our members on matters of common concern to our membership.

Holding events with the Barreau de Lille (with which Kent Law Society is twinned) and the Balie West Vlaanderren (with whom we have a moratorium of understanding) in order to provide training and networking for members in the law of neighbouring jurisdictions.

The Team

The Committee

The Kent Law Society breaks down into the ‘SPC’ (Special Purposes Committee), the ‘GPC’ (General Purposes Committee), the Administrator, The Press Officer and the Subcommittees.

The SPC, who meet a couple of times a year to discuss the overall management / pragmatics of the Kent Law Society, is made up of the Officers (the President, Vice-President, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer), Immediate Past President, Deputy Vice President, and four elected members.

The GPC is made up of the members of the SPC, Kent representatives on the Council of the Law Society and up to 12 further elected members; the details for all of those mentioned are below (alongside their relevant contact details).

The GPC meet around five times per year to discuss numerous matters including, but by no means limited to, how we can support our members and promote their interests, how we will plan and promote events on behalf of members, sponsors and the President’s chosen charity, and how we can further promote the profession as a whole.

There are a number of subcommittees that report to the GPC including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Parliamentary Liaison, Cross Professional Networking, Junior Lawyers, Education, Criminal Law, Tucker Millward and Lille.

We are also part of the County Societies Group which is a group of 6 law societies in England and Wales, namely Kent, Surrey, Cheshire & North Wales, Devon & Somerset, Leicestershire and Newcastle Law Societies which represents in the region of 5,000 members. This allows us to share our knowledge and ideas affecting our members and, when appropriate, make joint representations; the benefit of this being a much greater voice derived from a strength in numbers approach.