President's column: June 2022

I begin my presidential year with a tremendous amount of pride and a fair bit of trepidation. I am proud to be a Scottish solicitor, proud of the profession that I represent and proud of the incredible work that our colleagues at the Society undertake on behalf of all of us as the members. While it is an incredible honour to be the President, there is an understandable nervousness! That has only increased by following two fantastic presidents in Amanda Miller and Ken Dalling.

I’ve said to some people recently that my main aim as President is not to break anything. Well, that’s not quite true. I want to make a difference, I want to challenge what we do and how we do it, and I want to listen to the challenges that you have for the Society too, and that may result in a few breakages. With our new CEO, Diane McGiffen, our new strategy and entering the “new normal” post-COVID world, it feels like a perfect time to challenge the status quo. Now is the time to be bold, to be courageous and to ask why, or indeed, why not?

I have been left a strong, solid foundation with which to work, and I want to be able to build further on that to make improvements and leave the Society in a better position. So I will try not to break anything but, if I do, it’s only so I can use the pieces to make something better.

Back to normal? 

As we return to normal I hope to visit as many faculties as possible in person over the next 12 months. I am keen to hear from as many of you as possible. While I’m aware that online meetings are more convenient for people, I think we are probably all a bit tired of Zoom/Teams/Webex (delete as appropriate). Therefore I want to extend a personal invitation to each of you to attend a presidential visit in your local faculty area. I want to listen to your concerns, to hear your issues and also your solutions. I am keen to hear not only about the big ticket items such as legal aid and the SLCC, but also more mundane day-to-day matters. At heart I’m a fairly practical person and if I can help to make some change that aids members’ day-to-day experience either with the Society or a third party, then I am keen to listen to these issues and find a solution. 

I’m also delighted that we will have a place in new five-year strategy at the beginning of my presidency. The Society has consulted widely on the new strategy and I think it provides a bold plan for our future. The strategy is due to be ratified by Council at our June meeting and it will allow us to continue the good work championed by Amanda on equality and diversity, to fight for further financial support for legal aid as advocated for by Ken, while also providing my own emphasis on member wellbeing and challenging our environmental impact. 

Top team

I’m also looking forward to working more closely with my Vice President Sheila Webster. Both Sheila and Ken will be a vital part of my presidential year and I hope that both will be very visible to the profession this year. The Society is a big institution, and while I’m delighted to represent it as a figurehead, I know that there are areas in which I am not the best person to be leading the discussions. To that end, I will make sure we use our best people with the right skillsets, perspectives and experiences to make sure we get the best possible outcome. That is why Ken, Ian Moir (criminal legal aid) and Pat Thom (civil legal aid) will continue, alongside me, to lead negotiations on legal aid support with the Government. I feel progress may not be far away so we don’t want to change horses mid-stream. 

Finally, a huge thank you to Ken, who was a fantastic mentor to me during his presidential year which certainly helped to make my vice-presidential year so enjoyable. He’s left me very large shoes to fill on both the national and international stage. This was highlighted this weekend as I attended the Law Society of Ireland’s annual dinner alongside Ken and Sheila. It was wonderful to see how warmly Ken was received and he is clearly held in great esteem by presidents, directors general and CEOs of those jurisdictions.