Page 10 - Messenger Sep 2017

Meet Simon Davis
The new Deputy Vice President of the Law Society
Inspired by a television diet including Crown Court, the Paper Chase and LA Law, I joined what was then Clifford Turner in 1982 and for the first year believed that I had made a serious error of judge- ment. My personal assess- ments after the first two seats in transactional de- partments were poor. I found that every time I tried to draft clauses in Share Purchase Agree- ments or Leases I would find ways to get round my own drafting, with the clauses becoming long and labyrinthine and my stress levels going through the roof.
After a year of this torture, I was sent to our Paris office for a fresh start.My career was saved. Within a matter
of weeks I was asked to li- aise between our litigators in Hong Kong and a French client who was being sued for trade mark infringe- ment. As I read the affidavits and pleadings I felt goose- bumps of excitement and discovered quite quickly that I was a born litigator, with a mind which could pick holes in anything. This sole "talent" had made me a self-destructor, not selector,in our transactional groups.
What this taught me was that a career in the law has something for everyone, so long as you are lucky enough to find an aspect of the law you are good at and enjoy. I am often asked in this context whether I would recommend some- one now becoming a solici-
tor. My answer is always "Absolutely". Because solici- tors are everywhere,sorting out people's problems, using modern technology, arguing in court, resolving and negotiating seemingly intractable issues, wrestling with intellectually challeng- ing conundrums and above all else, providing a service. And although solicitors firms today have to be run like businesses i.e. efficiently and profitably, this does not mean that they treat their clients as "customers".In my own experience, the desire to provide a top class serv- ice to "clients " is what binds all solicitors, large or small,external or in- house.
My concern that reforms proposed by the Ministry of Justice were having conse- quences, possibly unin-
tended ones,on the profes- sion and our underlying clients, led me in 2002 to join the Civil Justice Com- mittee of the Law Society, with a view to at least trying to achieve that the pro- posed reforms reduce com- plexity and expense, rather than add to them. There I met two Council Members, Mike Williams from Cam- bridgeshire and Nigel Day from Manchester, whose obvious sense of duty,com- bined with humour,inspired me to join the Council in 2004.
Amusingly, when I joined, the reputation of the Law Society was that it had no interest in the City, or at least so I thought, because on arrival at the Council,member after member told me that the Law Society was only inter- ested in the City.
The reality as I have found over so many years is that the Law Society is actually interested only in ensuring that the solicitors profession is given the freedom to pro- vide a professional,high cal- ibre service to its clients, making sure that solicitors are not hamstrung along the way by lack of funding, by ill - conceived reform or by the rubbishing of the so- licitor brand by politicians.
What I also found is that the Law Society covers so much ground, making representa- tions now to Government on Brexit to protect practi-
Simon Davis
Coming soon: New Google features to look out for
tioners rights, opening mar- kets to remove protectionist barriers abroad, fighting legal aid cuts, making our legal system accessible to all, that it sometimes finds it hard to demonstrate to every member its relevance and relentless benefit to the profession and its clients.
This is why I have become Deputy Vice President and my mission is to work with the Law Society staff, with local Law Societies , with re- lationship teams, with the SRA, with Government, with the public, and with solici-
tors,all to ensure that solici- tors are allowed to get on with what they do best: rep- resenting clients, upholding the rule of law, in the public interest,and that we do not become just one kind of provider of legal services. We are solicitors of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, regulated, quali- fied, insured, diverse,and, in a word, professionals.
Simon Davis
Deputy Vice President of the Law Society
Clifford Chance
2017 is proving to be a big year for Google, as they launch a host of new fea- tures which promise to be beneficial for both users and advertisers. We’ve rounded up some of the most important to look out for in the coming months.
Homepage feed
Google’s iconic simple homepage is set to be pop- ulated with a new ‘feed’ of news stories and media – which will be based on the user’s previous browsing history as well as topics they have chosen to follow. It’s unclear yet whether there will be sponsored content opportunities for busi- nesses, but it certainly em- phasises the importance of publishing regular high quality content on your site.
In-market for search
‘In-market’ has been a tar- geting option for display advertising for some time. This allows you to show banner ads to people who are highly likely to buy a
specific product type (e.g. business services, estate planning, real estate), based on signals from their brows- ing history. Now, Google is rolling this option out to search campaigns, so you can target these valuable individuals with text ads in Google search results too.
Life events targeting
Meanwhile a brand new tar- geting option is set to roll out for Gmail and YouTube ads – life events. This means you’ll be able to target ads at people who are planning or going through a major life event such as marriage, moving house or gradua- tion. This could be an attrac- tive proposition to firms offering services such as pre-nuptials or conveyanc- ing services.
Google My Business messaging
Currently only available in the US, this feature enables users who have found your business through local list- ings (which are usually gen- erated by searches such as
‘solicitors in Manchester’) to message you directly. Busi- nesses need to supply a rel- evant phone number to receive SMSs and be pre- pared to respond out of hours – but this could be a great way to capture those urgent enquiries. However, it appears this feature is op- tional so it should be turned off if you don’t have capac- ity to deal with it.
Staying on top of changes
Google is constantly evolv- ing, and it’s important to stay up to date with their latest changes – but fortu- nately for marketers, it seems they’re always work- ing towards a more helpful and user-focused experi- ence.
10 News
New Books added to the Manchester Law Library Society
Tolley's Employment Handbook 2017 31st ed. LexisNexis 2017 Insolvency Law Corporate & Personal 4th ed. LexisNexis 2017 Financial Remedies Handbook 11th ed. LexisNexis 2017
Quiet Enjoyment Protection from rogue Landlords 8th ed LAG 2017 Homelessness and Allocations 10th LAG 2017
Manual of Housing Law 10th ed LAG 2017
Onward Buildings, 207 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3NW Tel: 0161 236 6312
Email: issuedesk@manchesterlawlibrary.co.uk