Society greets trio of new office bearers

Three new office bearers have taken up post at the Law Society of Scotland.

Alison Atack was formally installed as President at Friday's meeting of the Society's Council by her predecessor Graham Matthews, and Falkirk solicitor John Mulholland as Vice President. Mr Mulholland stood down as treasurer at the same time, and chartered accountant Graham Watson, a non-solicitor member of Council, has taken over the role. He is the first non-solicitor to become treasurer of the Society.

After thanking Mr Matthews for all his work on behalf of the profession during a successful and energetic presidency, Ms Atack said: "It is a great privilege to represent the Scottish solicitors’ profession as President of the Law Society. We face a number of important issues in the year ahead, and as we move towards the milestone of the Society’s 70th anniversary in summer 2019, I intend to take forward key areas of work, including the outcomes of the legal aid and legal services regulation reviews.

"Graham has already carried out valuable work in those areas during his year in office and I am determined to build on that, while continuing to provide a strong voice for the legal profession and the clients they serve with such dedication."

She added that important advances in equality and diversity had been made in recent years within the profession but significant challenges remained, for instance, in relation to the gender pay gap.

The results of the Profile of the Profession 2018 survey – which covers bullying, harassment and discrimination issues as well as the demographic makeup of the profession – would provide key data about how the profession has changed over the past five years and help shape the Society’s equality and diversity work for the future.

Reflecting on his year, Mr Matthews commented: "Alison has been a great support to me during a busy year, sharing the huge privilege of meeting colleagues and others at events and conferences across the country.

"I have had an enormously enjoyable year as President and I am sure Alison, ably assisted by John Mulholland, will take forward our work to promote access to justice and the sustainability of high street practice as well as so many other key issues in the year ahead."