律師會會長林新強宣佈，為維持律師會團結，稍後會向理事會提出請辭，即時生效。據悉，理事會今日會選出新任會長的人選。
林新強中午在理事會開會前見傳媒，稱可能是最後一次以律師會會長身份與傳媒見面。他指自己會繼續保持低調，律師會團結，但會保留對事情發表意見的權利。他又稱，日後即使不再是會長，若有機會再對公眾議題發表意見，會以中肯、持平的態度表達意見。
被指是「親共愛國」的林新強出任律師會會長期間，多次發表具爭議性言論，包括以會長身份公開撐國務院「一國兩制」白皮書，指法官是「治國者」要求「愛國愛港」並無問題、讚揚「共產黨好偉大」，又曾拒絕以英文回應傳媒提問，淪為笑柄。律師會本月15日召開特別會員大會，最終以大比數差距通過對林新強的不信任動議。
(Source: http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/news/20140819/52809902)
Law Society President Ambrose Lam Resigns Following Historic No-Confidence Vote
Law Society President Ambrose Lam San-keung announced Today (Tuesday 19 August 2014) that he will resign following controversy over his positive response to Beijing’s white paper on Hong Kong.
The announcement came after solicitors passed a motion of no confidence in Lam at an historic meeting of the 9,000-strong society.
It was the first time the society had debated a motion of no confidence against a president.
Before the society’s council met at 1pm, Lam confirmed that he will tender his resignation with immediate effect.
“This may be the last time I see you as president of the Law Society,” he said. “In order to maintain the unity of the Law Society, I’d like to keep a low profile. In order to maintain the solidarity of the Law Society, I will tender my resignation to the council with immediate effect.
“Even though I will not be seeing you as president in future, if there’s any chance for me to express views on any matters of public concern, I will pertinently express my view,” Lam added.
The council is expected to elect a new president this afternoon.
Lam drew criticism after he voiced support in June for Beijing’s contentious white paper on Hong Kong while the society’s council was still deciding on its response to the document.
The paper categorised judges as among those “who administrate Hong Kong” and stated that they should be “patriotic”. Many lawyers said it threatened the city’s judicial independence.
Lam, a partner in the law firm Lam, Lee & Lai, also described the Communist Party as “great” in a radio interview – without informing the society’s council beforehand.
“His remarks really took us by surprise,” a council member said last week.
Eyebrows were further raised over what some termed Lam’s “chameleon-like” change of attitude towards the Occupy Central democracy movement.
As the newly elected president, he told journalists at a media gathering in June last year that he would contact organisers of the group “to see what legal assistance they would need”.
The group plans to mobilise 10,000 protesters to block streets in Central if the government’s plan for the 2017 chief executive election does not guarantee voters a genuine choice between candidates.
It was a lawyer’s duty, Lam declared, to protect the legal rights of others.
But at another media gathering he called four months later, Lam said there were no legal grounds for civil disobedience and said the notion of “peaceful violence” was just “beautiful rhetoric”.
