Durham Law School Alumni Association Inner Temple Fundraising Dinner: an outstanding success

Members of the Association attending included the Association’s Joint Presidents, Lady Black of Derwent and Lord Hughes of Ombersley, founder members, Sir Andrew McFarlane and Sir James Goss, and KCs and law firm partners. 

Distinguished guests from Durham University included the Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Professor Karen O’Brien, and the Dean of the Law School, Professor Volker Roeben.  Distinguished guests from the legal profession included Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar Council and Colin Passmore KC (Hon), Chair of the City of London Law Society. 

The Association’s membership is now in excess of 1,100 (having started with 40 founder members in September 2024).  Members present represented an excellent spread of membership from senior members of both branches of the profession to the more than 40 members of the Association present who had graduated after 31st December, 2021. 

Speeches were given by Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen O’Brien, Sir Andrew McFarlane and Professor Volker Roeben.   

Sir Andrew’s speech included drawing the parallel between his memories of the hot summer of 1976, 50 years ago, and being (still) hot at the dinner and the pleasures of student politics and his encouragement of current students to partake in them.  

Reflecting on the dinner, the Vice-Chancellor said:  

“It was such a pleasure to attend a dinner that brought together many recent graduates with a group of alumni who are so extraordinarily distinguished in many legal fields.  

 I am grateful to all who lead and support the Association and to those who organised this very successful first fundraising dinner.” 

Chair of the Association’s Executive Committee, David Patient, commented: 

“It was fantastic to see so many Durham alumni working in the field of law at the Association’s inaugural London dinner at the magnificent, and beautifully air-conditioned, Inner Temple.  

Our thanks to Freshfields, Byfield, Jylo, MRA Search and Winward for their generous financial support for this fundraising event, and to everyone who turned out on what was probably the hottest day of the year in London.  

Despite the heat, it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and reminisce fondly about our times at Durham. Since its establishment in September 2024, the Association has gone from strength to strength, and I hope the London dinner can become a regular fixture in the calendar going forward 

Professor Volker Roeben added:  

“There are many thank you’s to be said in respect of this dinner: to  the Vice-Chancellor for taking time out of her busy schedule to come down to London to be with us, to the Association’s Joint Presidents, Lady Black and Lord Hughes, for their continued support, to Sir Andrew McFarlane, for his many years of support and wise counsel as Chair of the Law School’s Advisory Board, and to our distinguished guests Kirsty Brimelow KC and Colin Passmore KC (Hon). 

I would also like to thank Freshfields, Byfield, Jylo, MRA Search and Winward for their generous financial contributions towards this fundraising event.  

But particular and very special thanks go to David Patient for all of his hard work and enthusiasm in organising this standout event which was executed impeccably. Without David’s drive, energy and attention to detail to surmount a range of hurdles, this event would not have happened.  

I would also like to thank Jessica Banks and her colleagues in the Law School’s Professional Services Team for their support for David in the organisation of the event.  

Finally, I would like to thank Jason Sugarman KC for his kind introduction to Inner Temple and to the Inner Temple Events Team for all of their hard work in their contribution to the success of the event.”

For more pictures from the event, see our photo gallery here

Durham Law School is among the top 50 in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 and is widely recognised as amongst the best in the UK; for example based on 2026 published UK rankings (3rd in The Complete University Guide 2026, 4th in The Guardian best UK universities 2026 and 4th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026).  

More about Durham Law School Alumni Association: here  

More about how to become a member of the Association: here  

More about Durham Law School: here  

More about the event’s financial supporters:  

• Freshfields: https://www.freshfields.com/en  
• Byfield: https://byfieldconsultancy.com  
• Jylo: https://jylo.ai  
• MRA Search: https://mrasearch.co.uk  
• Windward: https://www.winward.uk