Law Society of Scotland announces office move

The Law Society of Scotland, the professional body of Scottish solicitors, has announced that it will be moving offices within Edinburgh later this year.

Writing to 11,000 practising Scottish solicitors today, president Alistair Morris and chief executive Lorna Jack said the existing offices at Drumsheugh Gardens were increasingly unfit for purpose and expensive to maintain and that moving was essential in order to ensure the organisation remained relevant and effective.

In a joint statement, they said:

“We have been reviewing our long term office location over the last year. Following that review, it is clear that moving to a new office represents the best decision. We looked carefully at reconfiguring our current premises but planning restrictions and the cost of work severely restricted our options.  We also considered out-of-town locations but we concluded that a central Edinburgh location offers the best overall deal.

“We are now in advanced and still commercially sensitive discussions, both in regards to new premises and the sale of our current offices.  We expect these negotiations to be complete in time for us to provide a full report to the Annual General Meeting on 28 May 2015.”

The Society has pledged that the office move can be completed without the need for any direct increase in the practising certificate fee.  

All email addresses and telephone numbers will remain the same and the Society anticipates no disruption to their services as a result of the move.

Anyone wanting more information is encouraged to visit the website www.lawscot.org.uk/officemove.

ENDS                                                                          12 May 2015

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Journalists can contact Sarah Sutton at the Law Society of Scotland on 0131 476 8170, sarahsutton@lawscot.org.uk