LLG President Attends the Local Authorities Solicitors Bar Association in Ireland

Publish date: 02/12/2018

LLG has, over many years, retained strong links with both Ireland's and Scotland's membership bodies for lawyers working in local government. These are important relationships to retain and promote and LLG's President, Suki Binjal, was delighted to attend Ireland's Local Authorities Solicitors Bar Association (LASBA) annual conference in Dublin.

The programme for the LASBA conference was broad and informative mirroring and raising many of the issues we face within our own jurisdiction and containing elements of governance and resilience. It was a wonderful opportunity to come together and disseminate good working practices and practical innovation. LLG wishes to extend our thanks to LASBA for a wonderful conference.

Programme highlights included:-

Loose lips sink ships – Defamation and Local Authorities

John Healy, Law Agent, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council

New Contracts for Sale 2019

Amanda Treacy, Senior Executive Solicitor Dublin City Council.

Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty

Leonora Mullett, Senior Executive Solicitor Dublin City Council

The Local Election Process and the Kerry Experience

Rosemary Cronin, Law Agent Kerry County Council

Management and Professional Hour

Teresa Casserly Senior Consultant & Director Institute of Public Administration

The Regulatory role of Local Authorities in 2018 – regulator and regulated

Conleth Bradley SC

Local Authorities and the Waste Management Act 1996 (as amended)

Tim O' Sullivan BL

People over Wind and Sweetman v Coillte- the impact on L.A Part 8 Developments

Marguerite Gallagher a/ Law Agent Cork City Council

Blog

9 April 2021

Publish date: 09/04/2021

It was a great privilege for Aneeka and I to be appointed to the LLG board this year, as your new Membership Directors. It's been a busy start to our new roles, and we were buoyed by the successful outcome of the exit cap legal challenge. This will safeguard the pension rights of many loyal employees up and down the country. Clearly not seeing enough litigation in our "day jobs", the board are also taking legal action regarding virtual meeting provision. Such action is not necessarily typical of the board, and we do not take it lightly. However, we are ultimately a membership body and our job on the board is to promote your interests. Our board are also here to support you in upholding good governance and democratic participation. We hope it provides reassurance to know that we are doing so. On a happier note, we're also working on some exciting projects like graduate recruitment and our first ever virtual work experience week this summer. Likewise, we're implementing a full programme of online training and courses, until we're all able to meet again safely in person (although worryingly I've been told I look better with a mask on….) We do hope that you're able to become involved in some of that activity.

Kieran McGaughey, Commercial Solicitor, Newcastle City Council

Stronger together. Cliched but true. LLG is there for you- and we are stronger together.

The relentless ever evolving change in local government law and practice during these unprecedented times led to a discovery of new ways of working and exposed the truth on capability beyond the 'norm'. The global pandemic forced each government arm to work on a larger collaborative scale and lawyers in local government were no exception.

The recent loss of the local government seat on the Law Society council now places a greater need on local government lawyers to proactively become involved in LLG as their representative body.

The regional SAA group in my area has provided an amazing network and sound board for the new ways of practice in the specific field. The SAA provided a 'team' outside of the local government I work in – with shared problems, shared ideas and shared best practice; often addressing issues and concerns that no-one in my own team had practical experience of.

The vision for local government legal practice is brighter if we support our common work outside our authority, become involved with the regional group, share ideas through the forum and actively become involved whether regionally or nationally.

Aneeka Sarwar, Solicitor, Bradford Council