Blogs & opinions
Law fairs: Our top dos and don'ts
With law fair season upon us, our Careers and Outreach Coordinator Georgia Turnbull offers her top tips on how to get the most out of them.
Becoming a climate change lawyer
Alasdair Cameron is a recent graduate from Edinburgh University's Global Environmental and Climate Change Legal Masters Course and now works at the Law Society of England & Wales as their first Climate Change Resource Adviser within their Policy Team. In his blog, Alasdair discusses his academic trajectory as a recent law graduate entering the field of climate change policy.
Cop26: Protest, policing and the law
Following our conference on Policing operations and COP26, our Policy Executive Gillian Mawdsley blogs about some of the issues to consider and highlights some cases arising from individuals making a protest.
Journal editorial September 2021
The draft rules for holding civil court hearings remotely go further than may feel comfortable with – is there a justification?
Lockdown lawyer returning to the office
Melissa Laurie, newly qualified solicitor in the TMIC team at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, reflects on her experience of returning to the office.
Terminating training contracts: myth v reality
What happens in the rare occurrences when traineeships go wrong and employers or trainees seek to end the training contract early? Our Head of Education Rob Marrs explains what's involved in the process, why it might (and might not) happen and dispels some common myths.
Journal editorial August 2021
Plans to cut criminal case backlogs need proper consultation with defence lawyers – and a drive to make best use of their time
How trainees can benefit your business
Ally Thomson, Director of Hey Legal, the training and resources platform for the Scottish legal community, examines the many benefits that trainees can bring to a firm or organisation and its employees.
Volunteering as a climate change researcher
Claire McIntyre, a part-time LLB student with the Open University, talks about her experience of volunteering with the university and Environmental Law Foundation as part of a climate change research project.
Journal editorial July 2021
For its positive, dynamic vibe of today, the Society has much to thank Lorna Jack for
Covid: Making or breaking virtual traineeships
Sébastien Flowerdew, a second year trainee solicitor at the Scottish Social Services Council, explores the difficulties organisations face in supporting their trainee solicitors virtually.
What I'm doing on my summer break
University of Glasgow accelerated LLB student Alexandra Lee reveals how she's planning to use her summer holidays to broaden her legal knowledge and skillset through virtual work experience programmes and volunteering.
Journal editorial June 2021
The future of remote civil court hearings will need the same spirit of collegiality that enabled the collective delivery of the process – and some fresh thinking
Street Law during a pandemic? Absolutely!
Street Lawyers and final-year LLB students Ethan Llewellyn and Rebecca Millar reflect on their experience of delivering Street Law lessons online at Breadalbane Academy during the pandemic.
Reflections on how to run a valuable virtual work experience programme
In order to gain insights into how firms and organisations might adapt to run a successful virtual or hybrid summer placement this year, Olivia Moore speaks to Burness Paull and CMS about the programmes they ran last year.
Applying for an entrance certificate? Here's what you need to know!
Our Careers and Outreach Coordinator, Lyndsey Thomson, shares the Education, Training and Qualifications team's top tips to getting your entrance certificate application right first time.
Mental health and law school
DPLP graduate, Hannah Ridgway, discusses mental health and studying law and explains that, whilst it's not all 'unicorns and rainbows', you can maintain a balanced and positive mental wellbeing with the right support and resources.
How small steps can make a big difference
Allison Harrison, owner of Hot Yoga Edinburgh, explains how taking small steps to improve your wellbeing can make a big difference to how you feel and shares her top tips for students to encourage positive mental health throughout their studies.
Mental Health Awareness Week: What we did
Executive Director of Scullion Law, Diana McLeish, shares how the firm marked Mental Health Awareness Week this year, with a focus on one of the firm's core values, Care.
Staying Open-minded about Open Banking
Following up on their session about how legal tech can help with regulatory requirements at our Annual Conference in April, here Olly Thornton-Berry Managing Director from our sponsors ThirdFort explains the advantages of open banking.
Journal editorial May 2021
After featuring in the election campaign the future of the not proven verdict is in doubt – but are there alternatives to simple abolition?
Our 2021 priorities: Trust me, it’s a £500 billion industry
Yvonne Evans is a member of the Law Society's Trusts and Succession Sub-committee. Here she reflects on the importance of trusts to the Scottish economy and makes the case for introduction of a Trusts Bill in the next session of the Scottish Parliament, one of our priorities for the 2021 elections.
Our 2021 priorities: Protecting Scotland's crofting communities
David Findlay of our Rural Affairs Committee writes about the impact of much-needed reform of crofting law to support the crofters who play an important part of Scotland's rural economy, one of our priorities for the next Scottish Parliament session.
Exam stress: How I manage mine
For Stress Awareness Month, Wiktoria Wisniewska, fourth-year law student and President of Abertay University's Law Society, talks about exam stress, how she manages hers and what you can do to reduce yours.