Our mission

It is our mission is to further the interests of local legal professionals and our community, to champion access to justice for all and promote Cardiff and District as a centre for legal excellence.

Run almost exclusively by volunteers from the local legal community, CDLS is led by a Council of 29 members and an executive committee consisting of the President, Senior Vice President, Junior Vice President, Treasurer and honorary secretaries. Our members are legal professionals from the city of Cardiff and the wider district which includes Barry and Penarth.

We are privileged to serve a truly diverse membership made up of lawyers from high street firms, global corporates, in-house legal teams and barristers’ chambers – including ‘Top 100’ law firms and the leading legal brands in Wales, boutique practices, alternative business structures, lawyers working in the public sector, sole practitioners and legal consultants.

We work in partnership with corporate sponsors who share our values and collaborate with our nominated charities to raise funds and awareness of their causes.

A powerful voice for the profession

Our strong links with the Law Society of England and Wales and the Law Society’s Wales office, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Welsh Government enable us to act as a link with those organisations and to represent our members’ interests. We regularly co-ordinate responses to consultations on our members’ behalf to ensure that their voices are heard.

We provide training to members on a wide range of topics to support their professional development. Training events are diverse and include black letter law sessions, regulatory updates and training on wider social issues such as diversity and inclusion. We also provide forums for members to network with peers and to provide wellbeing support.

To collaborate with CDLS on training and events, please contact our team.

We are also a place for members to socialise and run regular events for members to meet and network in a relaxed environment. Our popular Annual Dinner is the focal point in the social calendar of the local legal community.

Community-focused

CDLS is proud to support our local community and each year we work closely with the President’s nominated charities to help promote their causes to raise funds. We also make annual donations to LawCare and the Solicitors’ Benevolent Fund as well as other ad hoc donations and support annual events such as Pride Cymru. Our members also support the local homeless community through volunteering for our award winning Cardiff Lawyers Care pro bono clinic, which is run in partnership with the University of South Wales.

Our President’s Charities of the Year 2022-2023

Each year, our President chooses one or more charities to support through fund-raising and profile-raising. We are delighted to announce that our charities for 2022 – 2023 are:

• Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity (click for more)
• Voices From Care Cymru (click for more)

Diversity & Inclusion

One of our primary objectives is to maintain a diverse and inclusive society where all are welcome and to further the diversity of the legal profession. We further this objective through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion sub-committee which represents the interests of members from diverse ethnic backgrounds and the LGBTQ+ community as well as members with disabilities.

For more information on our EDI Subcommittees, click here.

Membership Benefits

The benefits of CDLS membership are numerous. We help our members to develop professionally and to further their objectives in relation to key issues such as diversity and inclusion and wellbeing.

We allow members to connect with peers and provide them with a collective voice on important issues. Members can also benefit from discounts with our growing list of preferred suppliers as well as discounted tickets to CDLS events such as our Annual Dinner.

Join the Society

If you are interested in joining Cardiff & District Law Society, volunteering or partnering with us, please click here.