Leading the profession

Lawscot Sustainability
We will launch Lawscot Sustainability to develop and implement the Society’s strategy as it relates to sustainability matters.

The Sustainability Committee was formed in January 2023, and in April of that year, held a strategy session to agree its key priorities: to bring forward a resolution, develop a resource hub, and host events. The resolution was agreed at Council in November 2023. This resolution serves as the committee's strategy. The resource hub was launched in the first quarter of 2024. Stakeholder engagement continued, with participation in events including the Holyrood Climate Summit, International Climate Change Law Association Roundtable, and regular liaison with various law associations such as IBA, LSNI, LSEW and professional bodies, ICAS and CITMA.

Grow associate members
We will increase our accredited Paralegal and Fellow communities as part of our commitment to the professionalisation of the wider sector.

The largest group within our associates categories are Accredited Paralegals. The number of accredited paralegals grew by 7%, with a starting count of 595 and ending with 641. There was a small rise in the number of Fellows to 48 by the year end.

Equality and diversity
We will continue to promote the benefits of increased diversity throughout the profession, focusing on gender equality, racial inclusion and disability.

We published the Profile of the Profession report on 2 November 2023, with more than 3,000 members having completed the POP survey in early 2023. More than 12 equality, diversity and inclusion events were agreed, and training offered to members is ongoing.

Social mobility
We will enhance our work on social mobility, helping to bring down the barriers that stop people from entering the legal profession.

This was another successful year for the Society with its work on social mobility. The Lawscot Foundation secured new sponsors and saw record numbers of applications, reflecting the effectiveness of its promotion, particularly within schools. The foundation has supported 55 students in total, with 36 still being supported. Seven students secured traineeships, including three with sponsor firms. After three years of running our summer school, we are delighted to observe participants applying to both the Lawscot Foundation and Street Law programmes. This indicates the effectiveness of our engagement with students as early as the third year of secondary school. Several law students who approached the Law Society team at university law fairs had participated in the summer school or Street Law.