Kirk Murdoch Memorial Fund set up to boost Lawscot Foundation
A scholarship to encourage students from less advantaged backgrounds to enter the legal profession has been set up in memory of the late chair of Pinsent Masons in Scotland and Northern Ireland
The Kirk Murdoch Memorial Fund will offer financial support, professional mentoring, work placements and the opportunity to take up a traineeship at the firm Mr Murdoch led until his death from cancer at the age of 62 in March 2017.
Mr Murdoch was well known for encouraging those around him to reach their full potential, and under the scheme Pinsent Masons will fund a bursary and a scholarship aligned with the aims of the Lawscot Foundation, the Law Society of Scotland's charity established to help academically talented students from less advantaged backgrounds to access a career as a solicitor.
The first eight students to be supported by the Foundation, all of whom are the first in their family to go to university and some having challenging family backgrounds, have recently completed their first year of a law degree and a second set of applicants are undergoing selection. The new bursary will enable one extra student to be supported by the Foundation each year. In addition, as Foundation students reach the end of their second year of study, all will be eligible to apply to take part in the Kirk Murdoch Scholarship, which offers paid summer placements within Pinsent Masons and continual mentoring.
Completing their law degree and meeting certain performance criteria will enable the scholarship student then to apply for a Pinsent Masons traineeship, which also provides further financial support as they complete the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice which is taken ahead of the traineeship.
Christine McLintock, chair of the Lawscot Foundation and a past President of the Law Society of Scotland, said provision of the bursary and establishing the scholarship was a "generous long-term commitment" which would make a significant difference to the way in which the Foundation supported student lawyers.
She commented: "The students in our first intake are a remarkable group of people who have already faced incredible challenges in their young lives. This substantial contribution by Pinsent Masons will allow us to support an additional student each year and, as a former colleague of Kirk's, I can think of no more fitting tribute to his character and willingness to help others, and I know he would wholeheartedly approve."
Richard Masters, who succeeded Mr Murdoch in his role at the firm, said staff across the firm had been asked for suggestions on the most appropriate way to honour his memory, and it was overwhelmingly agreed that a form of educational support would be most fitting.
"Kirk constantly challenged people to make the most of their potential and one of his many strengths was to encourage people to be the best they could be and to be brave in taking decisions", he observed. "With this package of financial assistance, and just as importantly ongoing support and guidance, we hope in time to see Kirk Murdoch scholars enter the legal profession who, quite frankly, would otherwise be denied that opportunity."