Office holders and chief executive
President: Mark Evans
Mark Evans became the 181st president of the Law Society of England and Wales in October 2025.
Mark practised property and private client law for more than 28 years at a cross-border general high street law firm with offices in North Wales and Chester.
Currently, he teaches various courses on real estate, private client and professional skills at the University of Law, based at the Manchester campus.
Mark was a member of our Wales Committee for nine years and acted as chair for four of those years.
He has been on our Council for more than eight years and was a former president and chair of the Cheshire and North Wales Law Society.
Learn more about Mark and his presidential year plan
Vice president: Brett Dixon
Brett Dixon is the vice president of the Law Society.
He will become president in 2026.
Brett was admitted as a solicitor in 1999, holds higher rights of audience in civil matters and is an accredited mediator.
After commencing his career in general practice in Manchester, he has worked for firms in the north west. He is currently a consultant solicitor at Scott Moncrieff & Co specialising in strategic litigation.
Brett also runs a successful business delivering training and consultancy to law firms throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He has been a Law Society Council member since 2019 and a member of our Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee. He is a past chair and current member of our Civil Justice Committee.
Deputy vice president: Dana Denis-Smith OBE
Dana Denis-Smith is the deputy vice president of the Law Society.
She will become vice president in 2026 and president of the Law Society in 2027.
Dana trained and qualified in employment law at Linklaters, following a career in journalism.
She holds two honorary doctorates in law from the University of Glasgow and the University of Worcester.
She is the founder and chief executive of Obelisk Support, a legal services provider offering flexible legal solutions.
Dana is a Law Society Council member for women solicitors and a member of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and our Membership and Communications Committees.
She also sits on the advisory board at the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Chief executive: Ian Jeffery
Ian Jeffery joined the Law Society as chief executive in September 2022.
Ian led Lewis Silkin as managing partner and CEO for 15 years.
During this time, he led the growth of the firm domestically and internationally, helping establish a reputation for being one of the most innovative large law firms.
Ian joined Lewis Silkin in 1990 and qualified as a solicitor in 1992.
He has developed extensive experience in information technology and intellectual property law and rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a partner in 1998 and managing partner at the age of 37 in 2005.
Ian has recently acted as an independent consultant, using his extensive leadership experience to advise law firms and professional services organisations.
He also acts as an adviser to high-potential businesses in the legal tech space and has sat on numerous boards across different industry sectors.