CLEO STEWART
Committee Chair
It is pleasing to report that the In-House Committee since the submission of the last BLS Annual Report has begun the process of identifying our In-House Constituency. We had great success with our online event at which we were honoured to have both Inez Brown and Stephanie Boyce as our keynote speakers. 2022 has, however, brought about the expiration of Grace Ononiwu’s term as Chair and Michael Morgan-Bullock’s term as Vice Chair. Grace has been succeeded as Chair by Cleo Stewart, who is the Head of Legal at Midland Heart and also the winner of the Birmingham Law Society 2022 In-House Lawyer of the Year Award. Michael has been succeeded by Heidi Salter, Legal Counsel at Housing 21 as our Vice Chair. Our thanks go to Grace and Michael for all their hard work and exemplary leadership during their term as well as to the all the Committee members for their commitment and contribution.
It is still an exciting time for the In-House Committee as we grow to welcome new members with fresh insights and refocus our objectives. We remain focused on fully identifying our vast In-House constituency and community. In-house lawyers can often feel isolated in their careers where many are sole counsel in their organisations without the camaraderie of lawyers usually found in a traditional law firm. We aim to redesign and upgrade our website and increase our social media presence to create a supportive one stop arena for in house lawyers that is packed with technical resources, pragmatic information, personal development programmes, wellbeing packages and strong networking opportunities.
The In-House Committee is ablaze with excitement following the inclusion of the In-House Lawyer of the Year award category at the Birmingham Society Legal Awards. It is pleasing for in house lawyers, the fastest growing category of lawyers within the profession, to be recognised within the legal community for the hard work, sacrifices and commitment they put into adding substantial value to corporations thereby helping not only to maintain but raise the reputation of the legal profession.
We aim to stand as one inclusive community, that embraces equality and diversity and that positively reaches all members in our constituency. To continue with this celebratory and inclusive spirit, the In-house Committee will be hosting an in-person networking event this year. Next year we intend to host an In-house Conference to further promote the purposes and work of the In-House Community as well as to encourage the spirit of togetherness and support. Indeed, here we will encourage the need to nominate candidates for the 2023 BLS In-House Lawyer of the Year award with the aim of demonstrating the strength in depth of in house lawyers and the superb contribution they make to the profession.