If you are a "new lawyer", welcome to the Society's New Lawyers Portal! The Society is committed to engaging with you during your years of study, your traineeship and throughout your first five years as a qualified solicitor in the Scottish legal profession.
NEWS: Click here to be taken to our news section!
Our work with New Lawyers...
In July 2006, the Society appointed its first New Lawyers' Coordinator, to develop methods of engaging and supporting "new lawyers". "New lawyers" are (i) those considering embarking on the study of law; (ii) LLB and Diploma students; (iii) trainee solicitors; (iv) solicitors who have been working in the profession for five years or less; and, crucially, (v) people who are, for whatever reason, in between stages.
It is vital that the Society develops relationships not only with its current members, but also those who are the future of the Scottish legal profession. The Society wishes to be a constant presence during an individual's route to qualification as a solicitor. We say "individual" because new lawyers are an increasingly diverse group, and we must take account of that in designing projects to support them.
The New Lawyers' Engagement Strategy launched on Monday, 15th October 2007. Download the full strategy document, comprising three year action plan, from the right hand side of this page. Read an article from the October 2007 edition of the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland by clicking here. Read an article on the launch in the Scotsman on Monday 15th October 2008 by clicking here. Over three years, from 2007 to 2010, the Society will implement the New Lawyers' Engagement Strategy. You can click on the link on the right hand side of this page to read the Society's vision of the future. The Society's mission is:
"to increase and improve the opportunities for new lawyers to interact and engage with the Society and the profession, and to continually challenge these opportunities for the better."
The Society is working closely with the Scottish Young Lawyers' Association (SYLA) in the delivery of certain projects. Click here to complete the short registration form to receive communications from the Society. Visit the SYLA by clicking on the image below, and click here to become an SYLA member by completing the online membership form:
Examples of what you will find if you surf the New Lawyers Portal.....
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Ever wanted to know what life as a trainee solicitor is really like? Read
"The life and times of a lawyer-to-be" , the blogs of John Geddes, a second year trainee solicitor and Louise Aitchison, a first year trainee solicitor
here.
Please contact newlawyers@lawscot.org.uk and share your views on the New Lawyers' Engagement Strategy with the Society's Development Officer, Heather McPhee. If you wish to sponsor the projects the Society is running in support of new lawyers, please download the Society's Promotional Opportunities Booklet from the right hand side of this page.
NOTE: This section of the website is not the main source of information on the route to qualification, or the Society’s Professional Exams. Always read the main Education and Training section first, and supplement your information with that contained in the New Lawyers Portal.
