He was Chairman of the Society between 1978 and 1981 at a time when the Society was developing hugely. One of his major achievements as chairman was to lead a working party considering the likely impact of computer-assisted information retrieval on the practice of law in the UK. At that time Lexis was being introduced to the UK by Butterworths and Eurolex, still in course of development, was its main competitor. The working party compiled, and the Society published, a report under the title ‘A National Law Library – the Way Ahead’. On behalf of the Society, David led a road show round a number of centres in England and Wales promoting the concept of on-line information retrieval for lawyers: since then, the strong growth, diversity and extending use of these services have proved how perceptive this initiative was.
David’s main interest was, and remained, the management of legal practice. As managing partner of Clifford Turner, as it then was, he gained practical experience of managing a large international law firm. With that experience he set up his own management consultancy, the David Andrews Partnership, which eventually became the law office management arm of Grant Thornton.
Among David’s other distinctions were the Chairmanship of the Section on General Practice of the International Bar Association and a Fellowship of the College of Law Practice Management. He worked, wrote and spoke internationally on law practice management and had a global following of clients and friends: at his funeral in Wimbledon on 10 March there were people present from many countries and from as far away as Australia.
David made an outstanding contribution, and is sadly missed.
