First Muslim woman Law Society President

* Lubna Shuja is the 178th, first Asian, first Muslim and seventh female president in the 200-year history of the Law Society of England and Wales.

 

LUBNA Shuja becomes the first Asian, first Muslim, and seventh female president of the Law Society of England and Wales.

She assumes power as the 178th president of the 200-year-old organisation that aims to promote and represent lawyers across the world while advocating the highest professional standards.

“If the pandemic has proven one thing, however, it is that solicitors are resilient and adaptable. They keep the wheels of justice turning by providing services remotely, innovating at pace and ensuring the public can get the justice they deserve”, she said.

The appointment of Shuja is notable since the profession is commemorating a century since Carrie Morrison became the first woman to be licensed as a solicitor in England and Wales in December 1922.

Shuja, a solo practitioner who was admitted as a solicitor in 1992, focuses on professional discipline and regulation and has expertise with contested wills and probate, divorce, child access, personal injury, and contractual disputes. Shuja is skilled in these areas.

Since 2005, she has been a qualified mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), handling civil, family, probate, and business conflicts.

Shuja joined the Law Society board in 2013 and has served on the council of the Law Society since then. She served as the organization’s first chair of the communications and membership committees, and as the previous chair of the committee responsible for strategic litigation.

“I am the first Asian, first Muslim and only the seventh female president of the Law Society. I am a Northerner, originally from  Bradford, and I am from a working-class background. Diversity, social mobility, and social inclusion are very important to me,” she pointed out.

According to the statement, she will continue to work to promote social inclusion, social mobility, and diversity in the workplace.