Society announces Council election candidates

Contests are to take place for eight of the 10 seats to be filled on the Law Society of Scotland’s Council in this year's elections, the Society confirmed today, as it released the names of the solicitors nominated to represent their local members.

A total of 17 members are offering themselves for election in the final round of voting that will bring Council down to its planned new size of 46 members from the 62 that sat up until 2013.

There will be two new members representing the constituency of Campbeltown, Dumbarton, Dunoon, Fort William, Oban and Rothesay, where Philip Lafferty from Clyde Defence Lawyers Ltd, Clydebank, and Campbell Read from Stewart Balfour & Sutherland, Campbeltown were the nominees for the two seats.

Elections will be held in the other constituencies. In the seat covering the other sheriff court districts of the Highlands and Islands, the two positions will be contested by Diane Macfarlane, Public Defence Solicitors Office, Kirkwall, and two serving members, George MacWilliam of MacArthur & Co, Inverness, and Sheekha Saha of Western Isles Council.

Four candidates will contest the two seats serving Duns, Haddington, Jedburgh, Selkirk and Peebles: Iain Burke of Bannerman Burke, Selkirk; Struan Ferguson of Blackwood & Smith, Peebles; Alan Livingstone of Hastings & Co, Kelso; and Patricia Thom of Patricia Thom & Co, Galashiels.

Similarly in Alloa, Falkirk, Linlithgow and Stirling, the two seats will be contested by Kirsty Cargill of KW Law, Livingston, and three serving members: Ken Dalling of Dalling Solicitors, Stirling, Roy Lumsden of Sneddon Morrison, Whitburn, and John Mulholland of Marshall Wilson Law Group, Falkirk.

In the seat covering Arbroath, Dundee and Forfar, current member Janet Hood (Janet Hood Consulting) is opposed by Murray Etherington of Thorntons Law, Dundee; and there will be a new representative for the members based in England & Wales, where the contest is between Cecilia Parker Aranha of the Competition & Markets Authority, and Naomi Pryde of Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, both in London.

Eight Council members have chosen to retire: Morris Anderson, Kirstie MacNeill, David Newton, David Preston, Hamish Watt, Ken Swinton, Alberto Costa and Neil Ross.

Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Society, commented: "The legal profession continues to go through a huge amount of change. Though the economic outlook seems to be improving, Scotland’s solicitors still face new and innovative business models emerging, major reforms to our justice system and ongoing constitutional change. That is why it is so positive to see such interest from members wanting to help their professional body lead and support a successful respected Scottish legal profession.”

Alistair Morris, the Society's President, added: “All of the Council members standing down this year have worked hard over many years to ensure they made the best decisions for Scotland’s solicitors. Their commitment and dedication to their profession will be missed.

“I’d like to thank this year’s nominees for putting their names forward. I speak from my own experience when I say that being a Council member can be fulfilling, fascinating, challenging and insightful. It is a great opportunity to help lead and support Scotland’s solicitors and I wish them the best of luck in the upcoming elections.”

Voting (which will take place electronically) will open at 12 noon on 7 May and close on 20 May. Successful candidates will be announced on 21 May, before this year’s annual general meeting on Thursday, 28 May.