The Council of the Law Society of England & Wales has elected Dana-Denis Smith OBE as deputy vice president.
Denis-Smith will take office in October, as part of a leadership team that will be led by North Wales property lawyer and University of Law lecturer Mark Evans, and vice-president Brett Dixon, a litigation solicitor who Denis-Smith challenged for election last year.
She will then take over from Dixon as vice-president in October 2026 and become president of the Law Society in 2027. Denis-Smith is well known for her work as a judge of the Women and Diversity in Law Awards (WADL) since its inception, as well as her active social media presence and her work as an award-winning solicitor and entrepreneur, TEDx Talk speaker and a leading campaigner for equality.
Like her predecessor I. Stephanie Boyce, Denis-Smith is a Law Society council member representing women solicitors, a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Membership and Communications committees and sits on the advisory board of the Judicial Appointments Commission.
She is CEO of Obelisk Support, a legal services provider offering flexible legal solutions. Born in Romania, the former journalist later qualified as a solicitor with global law firm Linklaters. She was recognised in the New Year’s Honours Awards with the award of the Order of the British Empire for her service to women in law, joining Dame Fiona Woolf and Carolyn Kirby OBE – both former Law Society presidents – as female officeholders honoured for their service to the law.
In 2014, Denis-Smith founded the First 100 Years, a national campaign to celebrate the first 100 years of women in the legal profession culminating in centenary celebrations in 2019. She subsequently founded Next 100 Years, a 10-year initiative from the same team focused on achieving equality for women in the law.
Richard Atkinson, current president of the Law Society, said: “As we continue to celebrate 200 years of the Law Society, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Dana on becoming the newly elected deputy vice president. Dana emerged from a strong pool of candidates and her election is a testament to her dedication, expertise and commitment to the legal profession.”
He added: “I look forward to working with Dana to drive progress and help the Law Society navigate the future successfully for our members, the legal community and society. I wish Dana all the best.”
Denis-Smith said she was “thrilled” to be elected as deputy vice president, saying: “Along with the president and vice president, colleagues and the Law Society as a whole, I believe we can champion more inclusivity to ensure all our members can have successful careers in the legal sector.”
She added: “We will continue to drive innovation and support our members to thrive in the digital age. Together, we remain committed to championing solicitors’ values and the crucial role they play in upholding the rule of law, access to justice and supporting our communities.”
Denis-Smith’s election follows that of Heidi Stonecliffe KC, who was elected as vice chair for the Bar Council for 2026, whose term will overlap with Denis-Smith’s as vice president.
Stonecliffe will become the first employed barrister to take up the post in the Bar Council’s 132-year history, having taken silk in 2020 – becoming the first woman in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take silk and only the fourth person in the CPS’s history to do so.
Together with Barbara Mills KC and Kirsty Brimelow KC, Stonecliffe will be the third successive female officeholder to lead the Bar, which currently enjoys an all-female leadership team along with treasurer Lucinda Orr of Enyo Law.
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