Welcome to the 2022-23 YFLA membership year. I am truly honoured to be serving as your Chair this year and extend a very warm welcome to all of you, whether you are new or continuing members.
New Website and Membership Sign Up Process
I am delighted to finally be able to announce the launch of the YFLA’s new website (www.yfla.com) and along with it a brand-new process for renewing your membership, managing your account and signing up and paying for events.
Once you have registered an account on the website you will be able to make card payments online, receive automated receipts and invoices, and get confirmation that you have a ticket booked for an event, all in what will hopefully be a much more streamlined process. Many thanks go to our outgoing Chair, Fran Cassidy-Taylor, and our web developer Martin Suker at BOOM. Creative Ltd for bringing us through this major project over the last year.
The membership fee will remain at £40 for the new YFLA year. I encourage you all to join or renew your memberships early in order to get the most out of what the YFLA has to offer.
Membership is open to:
- Solicitors, trainees, legal executives, and paralegals of no more than 10 years practice;
- Barristers and pupils of up to, and including, 12 years call; and
- Professional academics.
As announced at the AGM, I am also pleased to confirm that we will be offering free membership this year to all pupil barristers and trainee solicitors. Please contact our new Membership Secretary, Matt Worby (membership@yfla.com), if you would like to take advantage of this offer.
Socials
This year has seen a full return to post-pandemic in-person social events, and it was wonderful to see so many of you again in person. Thanks go to our outgoing Social Secretaries, Phil Gardner and Chris Gribbin, for organising four excellent events: an (only slightly Covid delayed) Winter (ish) social at Harrild and Sons, followed shortly after by our Spring breakfast social, a very boozy Summer Social at Garden Rooftop, and, to top the year off, a return to the Brewery for our annual dinner and AGM.
The reins have now been taken up by Diana Czugler and Tom Orange, who will be planning four fantastic evenings for the year ahead, starting with the fun and festive Winter Social.
Educationals
This year our fantastic outgoing Educational Secretaries, Gareth Hall and Matt Worby, hosted a plethora of excellent educationals and bonus events: (‘PR, Communications and Managing a Legal Crisis’; 'Demystifying Crypto: What it means for your practice...'; ‘Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth’; and ‘In conversation with FT Investigative journalist Robert Smith’).
This year, Max Hobbs and Fran Cassidy-Taylor will stepping into their shoes to deliver four more compelling educationals covering a range of civil and criminal fraud matters.
Publicity
Educationals and socials aren’t all we offer; Sophie Wood, our new Publicity Officer, will continue to expertly curate and publish the YFLA newsletter, for which contributions and articles from all members are invited (and encouraged!). Many thanks to everyone who contributed over the last year, and to Katie Allard for organising and pulling everything together.
Please do keep up to date by signing up for an account on our new website (www.yfla.com) and by following our page on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/company/young-fraud-lawyers-association/).
Thank You, Goodbye, and Welcome
I would like to thank all members of the Committee for their commitment over the last year. Everyone on the Committee is changing posts this year; in addition to our new Membership, Social and Educational Secretaries, and our new Publicity Officer, I am delighted to confirm that Katie Allard will serve as Vice Chair, and Rebecca Hadgett as Treasurer, with Gareth Hall, Natalie Bird and Philip Gardner also remaining on the Committee in non-portfolio roles.
We also send our best wishes to Arabella Macdonald and Chris Gribbin who have decided to step down from the Committee this year. They have served the YFLA exceptionally and will be sorely missed.
Lastly, but by no means least, it is my pleasure to welcome Sinéad Esler Patel and Tasha Benkhadra to the YFLA Committee. We all look forward to working with you.
We will all continue to work hard to make sure that the YFLA remains relevant and enjoyable for all our members and that it continues to provide the platform where professional contacts can be made, and lifelong friendships forged. To that end, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the Committee directly.
Christopher Houssemayne du Boulay
Chair