SAHCA Officers

Chair, Jo Cooper

Perren Buildings Chambers

Jo Cooper is Head of Chambers at Perren Buildings Chambers, London, a set of nineteen solicitor advocate members and six international members. The chambers is a criminal set, specialising in heavy crime, including terrorism and international criminal law such as war crimes.

Jo is a former Council Member of Liberty, a former Chair of the ICTY Disciplinary Council and is a member of the Board of the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association. He has extensive teaching experience in UK and abroad, having led courses in a variety of locations for the International Criminal Bar, the ICTY and Kurdish Human Rights Project.

He acts as legal adviser to the BBC on legal dramas such as Judge John Deed and Criminal Justice.

Read Jo's inaugural speech at the 2009 Annual conference here

Vice Chair, Yvonne Spencer

Veale Wasbrough Lawyers, Bristol

Email: yspencer@vwl.co.uk

Yvonne Spencer heads the Pastoral team within the Education Department at Veale Wasbrough. Yvonne specialises in all areas of education law. Yvonne is co-author of three books on education law and her articles and comment on education are frequently published in the national press and journals.

In 2007 her work developing innovative community legal services was recognised through two major national awards: Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award (winner, solicitors organisation category), and the Law Society's Excellence Awards (runner-up). Yvonne has been a committee member since 2002.

Treasurer, Shawn Williams

Rose Williams & Partners, Wolverhampton

Email: s.williams@roselaw.co.uk

Shawn Williams is the senior criminal law partner in Rose, Williams & Partners (RWP) based in the West Midlands. Shawn was a founding member of a national Solicitors' Chambers established to provide independent advocates for defence firms and prosecuting authorities alike. Today as a VHCC supervisor he leads a team of specialist fraud advocates and fee earners and pioneers the use of Information Technology in the management of substantial cases. He provides support to the practice's military law department and regularly appears throughout the country to lead high profile criminal cases in the Crown Court, courts martial and Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).

In April 1994 Shawn became one of the first ever solicitor advocates and has previously worked on SAHCA's national committee. He returned to serve on the committee again in 2007 prompted by the adverse affect on the profession of government reforms.

Secretary, Leslie Cuthbert

Freelance Solicitor Advocate, Essex

Email: leslie.cuthbert@orange.net

Leslie has a varied background, primarily as a Higher Courts Solicitor-Advocate as well as having been a principal in McCormacks Solicitors LLP.

Leslie’s other professional activities include being on the list of Counsel to assist defendants before both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting part-time as an Adjudicator in relation to the London Congestion Charge, carrying out training for investigators for Bond Solon Training Ltd and finally tutoring Criminal and Constitutional Law for the Open University.

Leslie is Vice Chair and non-executive director of South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT), which is one of the largest NHS providers in the country of health and social care services for people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities.