CPD - from the lecture hall to laptop

Rachel Steer, Senior Manager of our CPD Research Team, considers how training for our members has moved from serving up bacon butties and lectures in conference halls, to delivering online training and specialist certification around the globe, ensuring that the Society's CPD content is dynamic, up-to-date and market leading.

As a dedicated legal researcher, when approached to write this blog post, I immediately began the researching process; that’s my job, after all! You may be surprised to hear that I was unable to find a colleague who has been at the Law Society for 75 years. However, I did find the next best thing in Liz Campbell (Executive Director of Education, Training and Qualifications) who has racked up an impressive 34 years of service.

In the early days of Liz’s career, CPD & Training was the work of two colleagues – both of whom had other full-time responsibilities within the Society. These colleagues would be guided by the Post-Qualifying Legal Education Committee (PQLE), tasked with the responsibility of training the profession (simple, I know). Impressively so, the committee and these select colleagues managed to facilitate around 30 in-person training events throughout the year in a mix of black letter law practice areas for around 5000 solicitors who were on the roll during this time.

Fast forward 30 odd years to today and the CPD team has undergone quite the transformation. As of today, we operate as a team of 17, all working towards the goal of providing relevant, innovative and market leading content for our 13,000 members. This is carried out by a team of specialised legal researchers tasked with keeping on top of changes and trends in the profession, supported by an efficient team of operations staff tasked with the logistical elements of this, and bolstered by the support of a dynamic marketing team. The efforts of this group allow the team to produce over 500 hours of new CPD content every year.

Not only have the dynamics of our team changed, so too has the content and delivery of our training. Gone are the days of congregating in a stuffy conference hall at 8am, drinking cold coffee and eating stale bacon rolls before being lectured at for several hours about Section 5 of the Road Traffic Act. Today, we offer training in your typical black letter law areas (fear not Road Traffic Act enthusiasts!) alongside a number of essential skill courses designed to support our members throughout each stage of their careers. These include expertly led longform Certification Courses designed to recognise and certify the skills of our members, a popular Trainee CPD programme to support our trainees as they enter the profession, alongside regulatory courses guiding members through career milestones, such as becoming a partner and applying for extended rights of audience.

More recently, COVID-19 kickstarted a momentous shift in how we engage with our members. With restricted travel and an inability to meet in groups, COVID forced us to reimagine ourselves into an online training company practically overnight. I’m sure many shared the feeling that it would be impossible to adapt to the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19, and also felt that same sense of impending doom which shook our team at the time. Nevertheless, we evolved; modernising our training approach to the online environment allowing us to engage with even more members from up and down the country. We’ve also officially ‘gone global’ and frequently welcome colleagues from around the world onto our training programmes; all of whom are keen to hear about the ongoings of the legal profession in our jurisdiction. We benefit greatly from the diversity of thought brought by our delegates, who join our training programmes from near and far, allowing us to consider new approaches to justice.

The changes the profession has undergone since the establishment of the Law Society in 1949 have been nothing short of seismic. In our early days, we had a modest 3306 practising solicitors on the roll. Notably, only 5% of these were women, only 4% were apprentices, and all of them took the traditional route from university to the legal profession. As we celebrate our 75^th anniversary, we also celebrate the growing diversity of our profession. With this welcome development, we also recognise the changing needs of our members. The CPD team are only one string of the Law Society’s bow, and we have continually evolved in line with the needs of our members. I’m biased, of course, but the CPD team are dedicated to making your life easier by providing you with the tools you need to practise effectively. We welcome all suggestions from our members to meet this end – whether it be a particular training programme, or indeed, the reintroduction of stale bacon rolls at future conferences!

So what are you waiting for? Take a look at our upcoming CPD webinars and flagship conferences along with our extensive on-demand library here: Law Society of Scotland CPD & Training | Law Society of Scotland (lawscot.org.uk)