Local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash is delighted to announce that Gerald Shamash, a partner in the firm, has become a member of the House of Lords, having been made a life peer
The King has conferred a peerage on Gerald Shamash, who is now a member of the House of Lords, and henceforth known as The Lord Shamash. This distinction reflects a lifetime’s work on the part of Gerald in the fields of politics and the law.
“Gerald Shamash is highly regarded for his work for the Labour Party, advising on legislative proposals, parliamentary rules and the reformation of election law, and is described as ‘peerless’, ‘a legend’, ‘one in a million’, and ‘the god of election law’,” said The Legal 500, the world’s leading legal directory.
If you keep updated with the news, you may have seen, read or heard about Gerald Shamash many times: with his involvement in cash for honours; MPs’ expenses; leading the likes of Alastair Campbell and Paul Gascoigne through a media scrum; talking live on the BBC about Prince Harry’s hacking trial in 2023; or you may have read about the legal aid lawyer who helped a senior politician in 1983 with his late-night dash to the Royal Mail sorting office, armed with a judge’s order to prevent delivery of politically damaging, inaccurate leaflets.
Gerald founded his firm, Steel & Shamash in 1981, which merged with Edwards Duthie in 2019. Since 1990, Gerald has advised the Labour Party on electoral and legal issues.
Politics was around in Gerald’s early life. His family moved from Manchester to London in 1964 for the election of his brother-in-law to Parliament. For Gerald, however, law was not always his ambition. He had a place at King’s College London Dental School that he did not take up; he decided he didn’t want to become a dentist. He then subsequently started his degree course and embarked on his law exams and articles to become a solicitor.
Fast-forward to the present, almost 50 years since qualifying as a solicitor in 1976, Gerald heads up Edwards Duthie Shamash’s parliamentary, electoral and media law practice, and is widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent specialists on electoral law in the UK as well as being a veteran practitioner in media disputes in the High Court. “He’s extremely experienced, knowledgeable and able to navigate the often blurred lines between the legal and political fields. He has excellent political judgement and a strategic legal mind,” said a spokesperson for Chambers and Partners.
The King making Gerald a life peer reflects a lifetime’s work and relentless dedication on the part of Gerald in the fields of politics, the law and the people’s access to justice.
Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at 149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For more information, call 020 8514 9000 or visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk
