President's column: November 2023

By the time you read this, we will have published the results of our Profile of the Profession, our major survey carried out every five years. You will have seen the publicity around the results of our survey, which over 3,000 of you completed. Thank you to each of you who did so. The information from the survey is invaluable to us and the time you took to complete it very much appreciated.

This year, for the first time, we asked questions about wellbeing, and the outcomes around that are illuminating. Please do read the Profile and give its findings some consideration. In my foreword for the report I ask a number
of questions, and I’ll take this opportunity to ask another: What can you do to improve wellbeing in your firms and organisations?

The number of respondents talking of burnout is, or should be, alarming, as should the rise in violence and aggression faced by solicitors. None of us should fear violence, or face aggression for what we do as solicitors, but some do. I worry we normalise such behaviours when we encourage others to think it is acceptable and just part of the day job. So what can we individually do to help turn those figures around?

I spoke before in a column about the importance of considering the wellbeing of other people, particularly in communication. How you communicate with others matters. Consider your communication style – are you always respectful of others’ feelings, and how they might receive your communication?

Aggressive inbox

As you can imagine, the inbox of the President of the Law Society of Scotland is rather full. I receive all sorts of communications every day, from our staff, from members and from those on our committees, alongside emails from members of the public, and other organisations. Some people are angry – members of the public and those unhappy with their solicitor do not always agree with the decisions made by the Society or the SLCC on complaints. Some want to share their views with me. This week has seen at least one individual write to me to complain about the actions of lawyers and a regulatory organisation in another jurisdiction!

Sometimes members want to express concerns about something the Society’s Council has done or something on which I have made a public comment. I hope you all know that I give very careful consideration to whatever I say publicly. When I make a statement I do so on behalf of our members and I seek always to be balanced and respectful. I doubt it is possible to ensure that everything I say meets with approval from every member of our profession every time, but we do try to be balanced and to recognise the interests of our whole membership.

These last few weeks, both as President of the Society and in my practice, I’ve seen a number of emails, both addressed to me and to my colleagues, which have caused me to reflect on an increasingly aggressive tone in correspondence. Some communications, it seems to me, did not perhaps consider as carefully as they could, how they might be received by others. I am on record as saying that, even as a litigator, I do not think we should be solely a mouthpiece for others or use aggressive or inappropriate language. Tone is always difficult to read on email, but others may pick up on what might be perceived as unpleasant tone, even if it was not intended. Setting out an argument assertively and firmly is not unreasonable, but aggression should surely be avoided. It harms us all.

Called out

I’ve observed that the trend for such correspondence has been noted by others – I saw a comment on Twitter (can’t get used to calling it “X”!) by a solicitor south of the border on a particularly aggressive communication from a solicitor representing the other party in a dispute. What was notable was the number of “likes” her criticism of it attracted.

So, another question from me. Maybe being respectful and thinking of the likely reaction of the recipient of our correspondence is the first thing we could individually do to help the wellbeing of those with whom we come into contact?

And this month, to add to the Presidential Playlist:

Dignity, by Deacon Blue – the highlight for me of their concert earlier this month, a song which always brings to mind the beautiful west coast of Scotland.

Do You Hear the People Sing?, the cast of Les Misérables – sung live at the opening ceremony of the IBA Annual Conference 2023 in Paris. It sounded amazing!