Of chance and change

One of the great contrasts between modern legal careers and those of days gone by is perhaps the frequency with which solicitors’ career paths take different turns. Eilidh Wiseman, who takes up office this month as President of the Law Society of Scotland, can speak personally to that.

Her commonly applied label of “former head of employment at Dundas & Wilson” is the truth, but by no means the whole truth regarding a career that has seen this Stranraer Academy former pupil play the hand life has dealt her, both professionally and personally.

Dissuaded from her initial ambition to study music (not, it seems, for reasons of talent), the young Wiseman turned to law for no particular reason except possibly a desire to emulate the fictional TV character Petrocelli. Crime, welfare and commercial law was the eclectic mix that appealed to her as a student, but it was the last of these that shaped her future when she secured a traineeship with the then McGrigor Donald & Moncrieff – a course set in motion by nothing more than her finding their application forms next to the photocopier. Suddenly the smoked glass-clad Pacific House seemed the place to be, as it was for eight years until 1994 and husband John’s career move to London. By then a senior associate and also mother of two, Wiseman’s experience to date pointed to a role in either IP litigation or employment, and it was the latter that presented the opportunity courtesy of Speechly Bircham. Three years followed there, on “some really exciting cases”, until a further move brought the family back to Edinburgh and Wiseman was signed as a partner by Dundas & Wilson, just as the firm was making its accountancy tie-in to become a member firm of Andersen Legal.

Tragedy struck in 2001 when John was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer; he died the following year, and it was during Wiseman’s leave of absence to care for him – the firm was “enormously helpful and supportive” – that the Andersen deal unravelled due to the Enron scandal. She recalls a handwritten note from managing partner Chris Campbell, acknowledging how her personal difficulties had made him stand back and think how it put his business challenges into perspective. Twelve more years followed at Dundas, not only as head of employment across the UK but also in various board roles including reputation partner, dealing with the media through the financial crash and recession. By the time of the CMS merger, however, Wiseman had decided that after so many years as a single parent, and with both boys at university, it was time to change direction. Whether or not it was what she initially had in mind, within months she was elected to join the office bearer team.

Standing for Council, which she first did in 2009, was very much with her firm’s backing, to remedy a perceived lack of involvement with the Society. Like most new members, Wiseman had her eyes opened to the range of work carried out at the Society and the expertise of its staff – particularly, for her, in education and training, her principal committee interest. Alongside the Journal’s editorial board, that is!

Demanding agenda

Whatever your background and your previous Council work, it seems that becoming an office bearer takes you to a whole new level. “It’s been a very steep learning curve,” Wiseman confirms on being asked about her year as Vice President. “In the last year I think I have learned more about the law than at any time since I left university.” She continues: “The variety of work undertaken by the staff team is absolutely huge. Even on Council it’s hard to get a full understanding of all the areas in which the Society is involved. Over the last year I’ve had to get up to speed very quickly with the proposed new draft legislation, understand the regulatory framework better – like most solicitors you understand what the rules are, but understanding how they piece together has been very interesting.”

Then there are the regular dealings with leading politicians, the media, and of course the Society’s membership, with whom Wiseman has been engaging the length of Scotland and further afield – even in Sydney, while visiting one of her sons who is now based there.

“I’ve spoken to many of our members, both in-house and private practice, and I’ve heard very much about the difficulties and challenges in running small businesses, particularly on the high street,” Wiseman observes. “It’s been interesting to hear about how solicitors are responding to the challenges of new areas of law and carving out niche areas. For example, I met a firm in Wick recently that has become very expert in insolvency and has carved out a niche working right across the UK. That’s been very heartening to see, that there are opportunities right across the country regardless of geographical location, and we want to be able to help our members seize these opportunities going forward.”

The Society’s recently released 2015 Ipsos MORI survey of its members showed the level of optimism for the future rising to 62% (Journal, April 2015, 42). Wiseman recognises however that this is not evenly shared across the profession. “I think that depends who you ask. For example, a huge variety of organisations are realising the value of in-house legal counsel and the number of solicitors working in-house is on the rise – now making up around a third of the profession. However, in criminal and civil legal aid there has been a lot of focus around the challenges of asking for fair and appropriate rates of pay; there are very significant challenges in recruiting young people to come and train within those areas.” She is, she maintains, “determined that we do all we can to ensure that there is sustainability within that area of practice for future generations”.

A focus on the support available for legal firms that count as small to medium-sized businesses is one of Wiseman’s priorities. “I’m keen to ensure there are opportunities for them to innovate and grow, in the same way as other small businesses that contribute to the economy of Scotland, attracting the benefits and support that there currently are for these businesses, because they are local businesses staffed by local people who earn and spend within the local economy. That’s something that is central to the economic stability of the country and I see lawyers very much at the heart of society.”

Another priority is further opportunities for youngsters still at school to learn about the law, and its potential as a career. She was pleased to have been able to back the Street Law project – “an incredible idea” – on which the Society hopes to build by pursuing the idea of a school certificate-level qualification in law. This could be taken forward either to train as a paralegal within a firm, or indeed as an alternative path to qualification through a kind of Foundation Apprenticeship, “which again I think would help in widening access and participation”.

The only way is change

Top of the agenda, however, will be engaging with the new Scottish Government to secure parliamentary time for legislation to replace the 1980 Solicitors (Scotland) Act, much amended but now quite out of date. March saw the Society present a detailed paper to ministers (available via the members/legal reform section of the Society’s website), setting out the case for change. Proposals include “entity regulation” of practice units, further powers to deal with suspected serious wrongdoing, making membership open to (therefore enabling regulation of) other legal professionals, regulation of cross-border firms, and more flexible business models.

All this is very much in line with the Leading Legal Excellence strategy adopted last year – but has there been any resistance from the present membership to this possible diluting of their own position? “Actually I’ve been greatly encouraged by the support there has been for the strategy and for the increased visibility of the Society in matters that are pertinent and relevant to Scottish society,” Wiseman responds. “Already we have many people providing legal services who are not solicitors, but we can only regulate those who are solicitors and I think that really from a public interest point of view we want to try to ensure that we have the ability and the vires to set standards where appropriate for the provision of certain categories of legal services.”

Does she believe that the Society has to make these changes if it is to survive and thrive? “Yes, I do. I absolutely believe that these are necessary changes if we are to survive and thrive and if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have supported them.”

While much has changed at the Society since Wiseman first joined Council, the strategy is still “very challenging and stretching”. She continues: “We need to be thinking about growth, we need to be thinking about new entrants to the market and how we respond to challenges within the sector as a whole, technological advances, innovation, all of these are contained within the strategy. We want our members, every single one, to be able to access our services daily, which means that we need to have relevant services that our members want, for example tailored to those solicitors working in-house.

We need to ensure that the public are assured that the services they receive from solicitors are excellent at all times and that if there are situations where problems have arisen, they are dealt with quickly, efficiently, fairly and proportionately.”

Regarding service standards, recently the Society has been at odds with the SLCC over how much say the complaints body should have. Does it not have a role in meeting the goal of public reassurance? Wiseman acknowledges its interest and case experience, “but I think it is extremely important that we recognise that within the Society itself we receive up to 1,000 calls a month from the public and we are very well placed to understand what the needs of the public are in relation to legal services. So we are working with the SLCC in relation to their next strategy and business plan, and I’m hopeful that we will agree the best way forward”.

Support where it’s needed

Finally, looking again towards 2020, “We want to ensure that our members have an opportunity to look to the future, try to spot areas of law that are coming through the legislative pipeline, where there are gaps in provision of service, where they might want to focus their business going forward, and help our members to refocus where necessary, and again I’ve seen some great examples of that when I’ve been out and about, of firms in rural areas providing services that would be the envy of the central belt.”

And it is important if possible for the profession to present a united front. “To me unity is hugely important, because if we speak with one voice we are clearly much more effective than 11,000 separate voices... I do feel there is a desire to be part of something bigger, and the Society fulfils that role.”

Readers should find her nothing if not approachable. “As Vice President I’ve covered many miles from Stranraer to Wick, and speaking to members has been one of the highlights of my year. Not all members are entirely happy all the time, but that’s part of the responsibility of the role, and the privilege, having access to what members are thinking and are dealing with, and my role is to do whatever I can to ensure that they feel supported and are given the help they feel is appropriate at the time.”

Two of a kind?

It is another of those odd quirks that Eilidh Wiseman found herself as Vice President alongside Christine McLintock as President. The two started their traineeships on the same day in the same firm. But Wiseman believes they have complementary rather than identical skills, the one in regulatory issues and professional support, the other in general litigation and then employment, and they have worked well together.

She adds: “And I’m very glad that Graham Matthews is coming through as Vice President because he has the high street background, has practised there all his life, so again our skills and experience and knowledge will be complementary.”

Outside work, she is “a very amateur but keen golfer”, is learning to play bridge, and is a keen reader, belonging to a couple of book groups; also “I like sport, fitness – I’ve got two dogs who require a lot of exercise – and I like travel.” Handy having a son in Australia, then.

Video online

For a video with highlights of this interview, go to journalonline.co.uk/videos/