Reflections from a new generation: Summer school 2025

From Lawfluencer's and court room dramas to candid reflections on life as a solicitor, our Outreach Development Officer Georgia Turnbull reflects on 2025's summer school and the key ideas pupils took away from the week long programme. 

For many school students across Scotland, the last week of term means winding down for their summer holidays after a busy and often stressful SQA exam diet. However, for the students who joined the Law Society’s annual virtual summer school, the final week of term was jam packed with advice, information and reflections on a career in law for aspiring young solicitors. It is personally one of my favourite events that the Careers and Outreach team run throughout our engagement calendar; year on year we get to see how inspired and motivated school students are to join the profession.

Now in its third year, the summer school has grown from an information session on legal careers, to a week-long online programme where students can hear directly from lawyers across a full spectrum of legal specialisms. As part of our mission to broaden access to the profession, we were delighted to see a strong geographical spread of interest from Scotland’s young people as pupils from the Scottish Borders to the Highlands and Islands joined us online.

At the centre of our week long programme, we highlighted the new and changing nature of the profession from those who understand what it is like being 16 and considering a career in law. The young leaders panel has been a staple of the summer school programme since its inception in 2017 and allows newly qualified solicitors to speak honestly and openly about their experiences of university. Panellists discussed their own backgrounds and how university can often feel extremely daunting if you are first in your family to go. In doing so, they reassured the students that their thoughts and nerves are completely normal and something they too dealt with initially. Leaving the pupils with some advice, the newly qualified solicitors encouraged students to broaden their horizons during university by considering some of the amazing opportunities available to them as undergraduates like joining student societies and doing a year abroad.

We also wanted to highlight how law interacts with young people every day, particularly through our TV screens. Our ‘Court room drama’ session was very popular with the students. We heard from criminal defense trainee solicitor, Paul Cooke, to understand if the lawyers we see in our favourite Netflix crime dramas are reflective of being a solicitor within the Scottish judicial system. Another highlight was the Government Legal Service’s (GLSS) session who spoke on changes to legislation which were affecting young people right now. The GLSS’s team spoke about the environmental impacts of changes to vaping legislation and other monumental Bills targeted to improve the lives of young people in Scotland.

Our Lawfluencer session was a new addition to the programme where we heard from Amy Flight and Nadia Cook about how they are using their social media platforms to document their legal career journey. An honest way for young people to really see a ‘day in the life’ of a Scottish solicitor through their social media algorithms. The growing nature of social media means ‘Lawfluencers’ can provide the next generation of solicitors with direct insight into a legal career in a way previous cohorts could only start to understand within their traineeships.

In reflecting on the feedback we received from students, it was clear they wanted to hear about both the opportunities and challenges of embarking on a career in law. Spotlighting trainees and newly qualified solicitors who have just recently gone through that journey, is the best way for them to understand what that legal journey involves.

Summer school continues to be a successful initiative which aims to inspire students to pursue becoming a solicitor, wherever that route might take them. Showcasing the full spectrum of the Scottish legal profession and its specialisms through the emerging lawyers currently forging their careers, offers a powerful glimpse into the future of the profession.

If you would like to share your own journey into the legal profession, please get in touch with careers@lawscot.org.uk so we can continue to inspire the next generation of solicitors.