We planned to maintain our financial sustainability and support a recovering legal services sector. From 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022, we focused on doing this through the following activities.
Key facts and figures
Evolve projects
Action | Outcome | Complete/Not complete |
---|---|---|
Grow our associate member categories We will further increase the numbers of Lawscot associate members, both in and outside of Scotland. |
There was a net gain in accredited paralegal numbers for the year, despite slightly higher lost members than anticipated. We ended the year with 595 accredited paralegals, approximately a 2.5% increase. There are now 45 Law Society of Scotland Fellows, rising from 35 in the previous year. Legal technologists gained three new members and retained all of those from the previous year, ending on 14. | Complete |
Financial support We will continue to build our commercial income, allowing us to support the sector's recovery by minimising core membership and practice fees. |
We successfully achieved commercial income of £1.12m for the year, exceeding our target by 23%. | Complete |
IT transformation - core systems We will review and implement changes to our core IT systems, including our central database for managing our membership. |
We enhanced security and resilience across all our systems including our membership CRM and internal collaboration e for managing our and document management. We defined our requirements for new membership management and finance systems, with implementation due to take place in 2022/23. | Complete |
IT transformation - infrastructure We will drive forward improvements to the technology infrastructure underpinning our work, enhancing performance, connectivity, security and resilience. |
A new IT strategy for 2022-25 was approved by the Law Society Board. This will support all five pillars of the five-year Law Society strategy. New project management and change management methodologies have been implemented, with supporting processes and templates to ensure the success of the IT Transformation project. We introduced a new modern wi-fi system for easier maintenance and increased security. A new phone system has been implemented which can support a hybrid working environment. A new video conferencing system has also been implemented. We introduced improved cybersecurity education for colleagues. | Complete |
Hybrid working We will plan and design our office space to fit the future of hybrid working for staff, volunteers and members. |
The office space at Atria One has been reconfigured to create flexible and collaborative working space for new hybrid working patterns. Meeting rooms have been improved, with new video conferencing equipment. We also surrendered a part of the office which brought a significant cost saving. | Complete |
Annual report 2022
Our annual report and financial statements for 2021/22.