The commercial property seat on the Law Society Council was one of the profession’s most hotly contested elections ever. Some 21,000 lawyers were entitled to vote, making the election the largest in the society’s history. Palmer Capital Partners head Christopher Digby-Bell and former Wragge & Co real estate head honcho Gerald Bland were battling it out for places. Also campaigning was slightly less well-known commercial property lawyer Nicholas Fluck of two-partner Lincolnshire outfit Stapleton & Son.
So, who triumphed? The ex-Frere Cholmeley partner and MD of growing real estate group Palmer Capital Partners? The ex-head of Wragge’s London real estate practice and one-time Herbert Smith partner? Nope, it was Fluck, who, according to his firm’s website, specialises in “satellite, terrestrial and broadcast audio video & data transmission including fibre networks” and a lot of other things, none of which mention commercial property. At the time of his departure from the Law Society some years ago, Digby-Bell told The Lawyer: “I leave as I arrived, with the Law Society stuck in a cul-de-sac of mismanagement.” Last week, Digby-Bell’s view seemed little changed. “Gerald and I have been well and truly Flucked. And you can quote me on that.”
