Welcome to the York Law Society, the largest society at the University of York.
President's Welcome
On behalf of the Committee for 2023/24, I’m extremely pleased to welcome you to the York Law Society! We are one of the largest and most active societies on campus and are nationally recognised, having won LawCareers.net’s award for "Best Law Society for Non-Law Students" in 2017/18/20. We have also been nominated three years in a row for The University of York’s Societies Award for 'Society of The Year' in 2020/21/22 and the award for ‘Accessibility’ in 2023. The Society has three main goals. The first is to help you understand life in the legal sector, no matter what career path you choose. The second is to help you achieve your ambitions within it by providing you with networking, educational, and professional opportunities. The third is to create a safe place for you to achieve those goals. With our three key themes being inclusivity, diversity, and well-being, the society is an amazing place for law and non-law students alike to unwind, meet new people, and come together as a community.
This year, I am keen for members to discover an exciting range of traditional and new social and career events. Dotted through the social calendar, the Law Society traditionally runs several large social events throughout the year, including the President’s Welcome, our well-known and loved Fall Ball, the York Races, and a Summer Formal to say goodbye to all our future graduates. These are run alongside our famous and distinguished annual Careers Dinner, attended this year by a variety of prestigious firms and chambers. To add to the social calendar, we are also running several new events. These include a Culture Day, a Diversity Coffee Networking Afternoon, visits to London and other northern cities, including the Inns of Court, and a large-scale sports tournament with other law societies and firms through our very active sports teams.
We are proudly associated with some of the world’s most successful and innovative law firms on both a regional and international scale. We also have strong links with prestigious chambers in London and on the North-Eastern Circuit. Membership enables you to benefit from the close work we do with our network by learning first-hand about life in the legal sector through presentations, workshops, and office visits. Members also benefit from the YLS Application Acceleration Program. This university-wide mentoring scheme is delivered by professionals and successful students and is designed to turn you from an undergraduate into a future legal professional, whether that be at the Bar, in a City-law firm, or working for a charity.
No matter where your interest in the legal sector lies, we are well-equipped to help you achieve your goals. Our Mooting and Bar Society has been nationally shortlisted as one of the best in the country and offers exceptional mooting and advocacy training, to prepare you for the Bar. Our journal, Ebor Lex, provides its students with an academic outlet on issues they are passionate about, which lie at the intersection of the law and current events. We also offer tailored Pro-Bono opportunities for students interested in widening their legal knowledge whilst offering help to those most in need.
We are also extremely proud to announce that we are introducing a new Sustainability Officer who will work closely with the Diversity Officer to improve diversity, sustainability and inclusivity within our society.
I’ve enjoyed every minute of my membership in this society so far and promise that you will too. The committee and I are excited to make 2023/24 the Law Society’s best year yet.
Anabel Page
President of the York Law Society 2023/24
