David Edmonds Eldon Lecture (Thursday 22nd March 2012)

Details

Description

David Edmonds is the Chairman of the Legal Services Board (LSB) and was appointed by the Lord Chancellor on 1 May 2008 for a 3 year period. David's 3 year period has since been extended and he will continue as Chair until 30th April 2014.

David has extensive experience of senior teams in commercial and public sector organisations, in both Chair and Chief Executive roles. After a career in the senior civil service and as Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation, he spent seven years as a Managing Director within the NatWest Group. David's regulatory experience includes five years as Director General of Telecommunications for the United Kingdom and two years as a founding member of the Board of Ofcom. He was the Chair of the Board of NHS Direct from 2003--2008. He was also for four years a Commissioner at the Legal Services Commission. David is Chairman of Wincanton PLC, Chairman of NHS Shared Business Services Ltd and a non-executive director of several PLCs and the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

He was educated at Helsby County Grammar School, Cheshire and the University of Keele, from which he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 2007. He enjoys opera, theatre, art, travel, mountain walking and golf.

The contents of his lecture included:

- Transparency duties on diversity of law firms and chambers
- The impact of initiatives to improve diversity
- Good practice
- Myth-busting on diversity regulatory requirements