Parry accused of 'smear campaign' against Hudson

James Parry, the solicitor behind the campaign for a vote of no confidence in the Law Society's leadership, has been accused of a "smear campaign" against Des Hudson, the society's chief executive.

A special general meeting of the society will be held at Chancery Lane on Tuesday next week, where hundreds of solicitors will decide whether or not to back Parry's motion.

In a letter sent to members of Cambridgeshire and District Law Society, Ian Kelcey, former chairman of the society's criminal law committee, said: "What many of you will not be aware of are the personal attacks on mainly our chief executive. One commentator described it as 'a grubby spectacle'. I agree.

"Attacks on him have been unjustified and unseemly. Mr Parry started it off by doing a director's search on Desmond Hudson's directorships; he set the ball rolling and has sat back and allowed people to comment on the income Des derives from such companies as QC Appointments.

"This has caused comment on the fact that Des earns a significant extra sum from these directorships which are Law Society related. Mr Parry is shortly going to find out that Des pays all the money from these directorships back to the Law Society.

"I hope he has the grace to apologise for starting this smear campaign but I fear it may just be that: hope not expectation."

Kelcey concluded by urging all local Law Society members to attend next week's vote to ensure a "representative turnout".

A search on the 'companycheck' website reveals that Hudson has 11 current directorships. Most of them are Law Society-related, such as director of the National Pro Bono Centre and Law Society Services Limited.

Hudson is also a director of Queen's Counsel Appointments, a company limited by guarantee, the Solicitors Indemnity Fund Limited and the Taxation Disciplinary Board, which investigates complaints against tax professionals.

This he combines with several non-legal posts, such as Clyde Films, Orwell Films and Cherwell Films.

Parry said it was "quite extraordinary" that the letter was sent out at a time when he was engaging in mediation with the Law Society, led by a senior QC. Parry said he believed the letter had also sent to members of Kent Law Society and other societies in the home counties.

He said the mediation process had taken up a whole day last week and a number of telephone conference calls had taken place, but although "some progress was made" no agreement was reached.

Parry said that Hudson's list of directorships was a public document and he was mainly concerned, not with the money earned, but the time taken up by the appointments.

"I am concerned whether someone with all these interests will have enough time to represent the Law Society," Parry said. "It's rather odd and not helpful.

"I've not set out to smear Des. There's no merit in that. There is merit in knowing whether the people in place at the Law Society have the time to devote to the society's main aim, which should be looking after us."