DLA AGM + guest speaker Jessica Franklin

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The DLA Annual General Meeting will take place on
Wednesday 22nd January 2025 beginning at 6:00pm.
The meeting will be held online only via zoom (starting with the AGM for a short time followed by a talk given by our guest speaker).

The AGM is our regular review of activities and finances since the last meeting and an opportunity for members to step forward and serve on the Executive Committee.

We are delighted that our guest speaker will be Jessica Franklin of Outer Temple Chambers. Jessica will discuss the new s19A Equality Act and the case of British Airways plc v Rollett & Others [2024] EAT 131, in which she was junior counsel for the successful claimants. In Rollett, the EAT found that it had jurisdiction to hear claims brought under s19 Equality Act by claimants who do not themselves have protected characteristics. This type of claim is now preserved in s19A Equality Act.

Please RSVP here to give us an idea of numbers. Non-members are welcome to attend this event but only DLA members will be eligible to vote (NB one vote only per membership). If you require any adjustments to be made for this meeting, for example: live-transcription captions, please indicate this on the registration form.

Nominations to the Executive Committee:

At the AGM, the Executive Committee, who will serve for the next term (approximately 12 months), will be appointed. The Executive Committee consists of the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and up to 12 further members (described as Director / Trustee).

The DLA encourages all members who are willing and able to undertake the work of the DLA committee as described below, attend regular meetings once a month (subject to professional conflicts) and to undertake important legal and fiduciary duties in relation to their role as a trustee, to consider standing. Those eligible to stand for the Executive Committee include any lawyer, legal or advice worker, teacher or student of law, trainee lawyer, trade union official or any other person who is substantially engaged or interested in discrimination law and is in agreement with the objects of the Association and is of good repute. We would welcome and encourage applications from any of our members who are willing to help with the DLA’s fantastic and important work - people from all walks of life and backgrounds. Applications are encouraged from BAME and disabled applicants. If you have any queries about standing, please contact our Administrator, Chris Atkinson ([email protected]).

Trustees will serve for 12 months (approx.) in the dual role:

1. As trustees, to undertake the fiduciary duties as required from a charity and limited company. General guidance can be found here.
2. As members of the executive committee, to run the charity on a day-to-day basis, contributing to the DLA’s publications, conference planning and organisation of events for members.

Activities that EC members are regularly involved in include:

• attending a meeting of the EC (usually once a month) as well as the annual Conference
• working on a programme of speakers for PGMs, our annual conferences, and debates
• contributing to Briefings, our thrice-yearly publication
• drafting consultation responses
• helping with our website and social media
• formulating DLA policy, including taking views from the membership

Committee meetings are currently via zoom only but if travel is required on behalf of the EC, reasonable travel expenses will be provided. This includes appropriate transport costs. Our aim is that no individual is barred by cost from contributing to our work, by socio-economic status, disability or otherwise.

Finally, it is worth remembering that although you can ask another member to nominate you, by far the most common procedure is for people to nominate themselves - don’t be shy! If you are nominating someone else, please ensure that the person being nominated consents.

The deadline for receiving nominations is cob Monday 20th January 2025. This deadline cannot be extended as a reasonable amount of time is required for administrative arrangements before the AGM.

Nominations can be posted to the DLA office but nominations by email to [email protected] will also be accepted. The nomination form can be found attached to this email (in MS Word format - entries can be typed into the text fields by computer or written longhand on a printout of the form - please contact the DLA office if you are unable to open this file).

If the number of valid nominations received is not greater than the number of vacancies to be filled, all the persons nominated will be declared to be appointed at the AGM. If the number of valid nominations received is greater than the number of vacancies, an election will be held.

Members can also propose motions at the AGM provided they serve adequate notice on the administrator, and at all events not later than cob Friday 17th January 2025. Please send any motions to the DLA Administrator - [email protected].