From the President's Desk: A journey from Yellowknife to Scotland and 'new beginnings'

In attending a recent colleague catch-up day at the Law Society of Scotland, I suggested we were entering an era of ‘new beginnings’. Me as the new president, a new CEO starting in August, newly refreshed Law Society offices and a new piece of governing legislation with the recently passed Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill.

New beginnings can be both daunting and exciting. They for the most part herald progress.

Let’s start with me. Where did I come from and how did I get to be your president? The current vice president of the Law Society of England and Wales said recently that when lecturing law students he uses an analogy about chess. He tells the students that they can choose to be a pawn – vulnerable and with limited movement but a constant desire to move forward – or, as he recommends, choose to be a queen.

Trust your abilities, be prepared to move in all directions and distances and, most importantly, sometimes backwards. Recognise that it is a journey not a sprint.

I can honestly say that in those terms I was/am a queen. I was born in Canada, in a city called Regina in the province of Saskatchewan. I grew up in Yellowknife, the northern capital of the Northwest Territories. I went to university initially in Kingston, Ontario and then to law school in Saskatchewan. On graduating I returned to practice law as a barrister and solicitor in Yellowknife, where I met my husband, Jim. He was a dentist from Glasgow and persuaded me to emigrate to Scotland in 1985.

I then spent the next six years having three children and sitting and passing the Law Society exams. Fortunately, at that time I only had to pass all of the exams to qualify for admission into the Law Society. No diploma and no traineeship. Mind you, I was recently on the train with Janys Scott KC who had to do similar exams in Scotland having originally qualified in England and we both confessed that we had to surreptitiously sneak out of the exams to breastfeed a baby. Maybe these days you’d be allowed to have your baby with you?

In any event, after being admitted I began work for the Borders Regional Council as a solicitor in their legal department. I spent 13 years with them and once my youngest started high school I joined the world of private practice, where I was until I retired in 2022. I say retired, though I continued to do reports for both the courts as a child welfare reporter and curator and for the Children’s Hearings System as a safeguarder.

I joined the Law Society Council in 2015 after being elected to represent the sheriffdoms of Haddington, Selkirk and Jedburgh. While I was on the Admissions Committee and the Civil Justice Committee during those initial years, my real involvement with the Law Society took off in February 2020 when I became convenor of the Civil Legal Aid Committee. This was a real baptism of fire given that Covid hit very shortly after and the courts were closed, but that’s a memory for another column.

The more involved I became with the Law Society and its work, the more I wanted to contribute and it was that desire that led me to seek to become president. I was elected to the office in late 2023, having initially been unsuccessful the year before, and am now delighted to step into the role after a year as vice president supporting my predecessor, Susan Murray.

As to the Law Society’s other new beginnings, Ben Kemp will be taking up the reins as new CEO in August. While I know how much we miss Diane McGiffen, who left the role in April, we can be excited and confident that Ben as her replacement will successfully move things forward. Ben will be arriving to a newly revamped office – and just like moving house, I’m looking forward to the new space albeit with a little trepidation.

Speaking of trepidation, I suspect quite a few of us are a little anxious about what the new Regulation of Legal Services legislation will mean for our day-to-day activities. I can guarantee that you will all get as much support as you need to help you understand and get the most out of the changes. These are reforms enacted at our request that will benefit both solicitors and the general public, ensuring more robust consumer protection and a well-regulated and thriving Scottish legal sector.

This era of new beginnings offers us the chance to evolve, to redefine success and to cultivate resilience. Please join me in embracing these opportunities.