The end of the beginning

The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill is finally nearing completion of its passage through the Scottish Parliament, with stage 3 due to take place on 14 December. At stage 2, amendments eventually numbered 460 and the Executive have succeeded in correcting a few of the more obvious defects. The Society obtained a further opinion from Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC, a prominent human rights lawyer, in light of these amendments but, in his view, the bill still fails to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights because the proposed Complaints Commission is not sufficiently independent of government. At the time of writing the Society is striving to bring forward further amendments at the stage 3 debate and has circulated Lord Lester’s opinion to the Scottish Executive and to the Law Officers of Scotland. After stage 3 there is a period when the Law Officers can review and suggest amendments to the bill prior to it receiving royal assent.

It is likely, however, that in one form or another the bill will be enacted and the process of establishing a new complaints handling system will be set in motion. The team we have set up at the Society to coordinate the Society’s response has worked extremely hard to provide effective comments on the proposals and to communicate that to the profession, with information packs being sent to all senior partners and highlighted in the Society’s e-zine and on the website at every stage of the bill. This work will continue as the focus shifts to the next stage, dealing with the practical application of the new complaints handling regime and the transitional provisions that will apply. Many questions remain unanswered about how the Commission will work in practice, how the handover will operate and how the new system will affect solicitors on a day-to-day basis.

A similar watching brief has been maintained over the Legal Services Bill outlined at the Westminster Parliament last month. The Society has made its concerns known in the past on how this bill may impact on Scotland and will continue to do so.

The Law Society Regulation Board in England & Wales is looking to make changes to the qualification of being a solicitor in England & Wales, and is now consulting on reforms to work-based training where they propose the end of the formal 24 month training contract. In its place would be substituted a scheme based around four assessments, each at least four months apart, that could see trainees qualifying in just 16 months. The Society’s own consultation on the future of education and training will look at all aspects of these matters as they affect the future of the legal profession in Scotland and I urge everyone to respond and make their views known.

Plans to introduce compulsory single surveys have concerned many solicitors, particularly after the disappointing performance of the pilot project. The Society has repeated its opposition to the proposals. An opportunity does exist to make genuine improvements to the information that is available during the housebuying process, but there is a fear that single surveys will hinder rather than help attempts to achieve that goal. As single surveys are quickly out of date, those selling lower-quality housing are more likely to suffer than most because their properties are often on the market for longer. We are pressing the Scottish Executive to rethink their plans and bring forward solutions that are likely to be more effective, such as voluntary single surveys.

The message from the In-House Lawyers’ Group AGM in Edinburgh last month was encouraging in talking of the advantages of retaining the “badge” of the solicitors’ profession and their commitment to ensuring that in-house lawyers are provided with practising certificates by their employers. The event also provided a useful reminder of the changing nature of the profession as, already, over 25% of the profession are in-house lawyers and, as was pointed out at the AGM, the sector continues to grow at a considerable pace.

A further example of our changing profession was the admission of a mother and her son at the same Edinburgh ceremony last month. All ages have always been welcome as solicitors, although it is certainly unusual for two generations of the same family to be admitted at the same time. It couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, given the current focus on prevention of age discrimination, and when all those with the right skills and dedication are welcome into the profession.