New dawn in changing times
Heather Mckendrick of the Law Society welcomes Scotland’s newly qualified solicitors into the fold
Today sees the first admissions ceremony of the year, and we are delighted to welcome 58 individuals into the legal profession, starting out on their career in the law.
It’s a day of celebration and looking forward. As newly qualified solicitors, they will be thinking about where their career can take them and what they want to do in the future. For many, however, it’s also a time for reflection – looking back on the last few years of hard work, exams, interviews and on-the-job training. Indeed, the Law Society itself is doing some reflection this year, as 2019 marks our platinum anniversary. It’s been really interesting to consider how the legal profession and career paths have changed over this time.
One striking difference is the size and composition of the profession. In 1949, the membership was 3,008 – of whom 69 were women – a mere 2 per cent! Now, 70 years on, the society has almost 12,000 members, and a slight majority – 6,400 – are women. Changes to the profile go further, perhaps reflecting the range of career options that are available to the solicitors qualifying today.
Just under a third of our members work for in-house organisations (a mixture of private companies and public sector organisations), and around 1,000 of our members work outwith Scotland. With members as far afield as New York and Tokyo, these opportunities may well spark similar international ambitions for our newly admitted solicitors.
A number of our members are solicitor advocates, meaning they can appear in the higher courts in Scotland, and many have become accredited specialists, experts in their field of law. The development of technology has obviously had a huge impact, not only on the delivery of legal services, but on careers within the sector too, and it’s likely there will
0 Women outnumber men in the Law Society, in stark contrast to when the society formed in 1949. Picture: Shutterstock
be legal career options in future that we can’t even currently envisage.
Law is a constantly evolving profession; its contribution to all walks of life in Scotland and beyond cannot be overestimated. We are
proud to lead such a dynamic service and look forward to supporting its future growth and development. Our newly admitted solicitors represent this future, and I’m sure each will make an impact on the profession
they have just joined. We welcome you all – and congratulations!