Women in Law Scotland is back!

With the recent relaunch of Women in Law Scotland, co-chair Laura Meldrum, a senior associate at Harper Macleod, discusses what the group aims to achieve and the challenges that need tackled.

Women in Law Scotland is a group aimed at promoting gender equity in the Scottish legal profession and was formally relaunched on Tuesday, 4 March 2025 at The Scotsman Hotel, Edinburgh.

The event, which was kindly sponsored by the Law Society of Scotland and Harper Macleod LLP, was a significant gathering of more than 100 individuals aimed at celebrating and supporting women in the legal profession in Scotland.

The session featured a panel discussion with prominent female leaders in law, including Law Society of Scotland President Susan Murray. The panel members shared their journeys, challenges and achievements, as well as considering actions that each attendee could take away to accelerate the pace of change. The event was free to attend, with donations on the evening in aid of Scottish Women’s Aid raising around £300.

Our aims

In relaunching Women in Law Scotland, our aims include:

• Advocating for equal representation: ensuring women from all backgrounds have equal representation across every level of the legal sector in Scotland.
• Creating networking opportunities: providing a forum for networking, sharing ideas and best practices.
• Offering peer support and mentorship: establishing a platform for peer support and access to role models and mentors.
• Fostering professional growth: empowering women through leadership development and career advancement initiatives.

The relaunch event marked a renewed commitment to supporting women in the Scottish legal profession, with attendees leaving the event feeling inspired having been provided with a platform for meaningful dialogue, connection and growth.

The challenge

While this uplifting experience is to be applauded, we must not lose sight of the fact that the World Economic Forum currently indicates it will take until 2158 for gender parity in the workplace to exist.

The most recent Profile of the Profession, conducted by the Law Society in 2023, highlighted ongoing issues that we cannot ignore. For example, women represent the majority of the Scottish legal profession (57%), yet this is not reflected in senior positions, as men are more likely to be in leadership roles than women.

The profession also suffers from a gender pay gap of 27% (median), which is – regrettably – worse than it was in the last Profile of the Profession study in 2018, when it was 23%.

Stronger together

To make any real progress, we believe that we need everyone to engage with us on the changes that are needed both at an organisational and profession-wide level. We must dismantle structures built without women in mind and work together to create a profession that is fairer for us all.

To follow and engage with Women in Law Scotland, please join our LinkedIn group here. There is no cost to join.

We’d also be grateful to hear from members as to what they consider our priorities should be. Please send ideas and comments to womeninlawscotland@gmail.com.