The Yorkshire Law Society traces its history back to 1786 and the publication of the following announcement: “Many Gentlemen being of the Opinion that General Meetings, to be occasionally held, will be of public utility and productive of useful Regulations; and a Bill in Parliament is intended which may materially affect the Profession, a General Meeting of ATTORNIES and SOLICITORS resident in the County and City of York and of such others as attend the Assizes, is requested to be held at the house of MR. RINGROSE in York on TUESDAY EVENING next, the 21st March, instant, precisely at SEVEN o’clock to consider of the Heads of the proposed Bill, and fix upon a proper Plan for establishing General Meetings in the future.”
The Yorkshire Law Society was thus established at the meeting convened, during the reign of George III and the days of William Pitt ‘the Younger’. It is therefore the second oldest of the now numerous regional law societies in England and Wales.
Despite our title of ‘the Yorkshire Law Society’, we only cover York and the immediate surrounding area.