New year, new start

With a brand new year comes a raft of new commitments, and the staff at the Law Society of Scotland are no exception to the rule. I tracked down some of our more determined colleagues to see what they have planned for 2015.

Our chief executive, Lorna Jack, is aiming to be more digital this year. Arriving at the January staff meeting armed with a tablet instead of the usual paper, she said: “My new year’s resolution is to be more digital. I am determined to make the most of all the technology at our fingertips, and to try and use less paper!”

Lorna’s not alone in wanting to get more digital. The Society is rolling out the smartcard to all practising certificate holders over the course of this year, allowing Scottish solicitors to sign documents and contracts entirely electronically. To find out more about the smartcard, visit www.lawscot.org.uk/smartcard.

Laura Gulliver from our Education & Training team has committed to learning something new this year. She said: “My resolution is one of gaining new skills, particularly things I have wanted to take up for a while but have never seemed to have the time to do.

“The first part was to join a few online courses that cover a wide variety of topics such as philosophy, history, negotiation, management skills and designing ‘apps’. The second part was to start a beginner’s dressmaking course, as I’ve got a few friends who stride out in some fantastic homemade items, and some acquaintances on Facebook who put up pictures of their creations and make me instantly feel untalented and lazy in equal measure. I decided this was not the year for being lazy!”

I’m really looking forward to seeing Laura wearing her own designs in the office! If you’re looking to learn something new this year, you can always see the range of courses on offer to keep your CPD up to date, or consider taking part in the Society's mentoring scheme later on this year.

Neil Stevenson, director of representation and support at the Society, has resolved to take part in the Edinburgh Marathon this year, alongside a few other members of staff. The Society enters a team to run the marathon every year in aid of our staff charity. This year we’re working with a local Edinburgh charity called Fresh Start, which helps people who have been homeless get settled into a new home.

Neil told me: “As well as raising money for Fresh Start, I've signed up to run the half marathon to have a bigger goal that motivates me to go out for training runs three days a week, which I’ve been managing so far. I head out at 5.30am and love running through the city centre when it is quiet. Fortunately, I also love the cold.

“I'm not aiming for a particularly fast time; it's more for general health and to relieve stress. My best run times are always when I'm letting off steam after something frustrating!”

Best of luck, Neil! Exercise is a great stress-buster, but if it’s not helping then remember lawyers and their families can call LawCare for confidential help and advice.

Listening to my colleagues and their aims for this year has been pretty inspirational but I still haven’t decided what I’ll dedicate myself to in 2015. Feel free to send any suggestions my way!