We supported members to meet the challenges of a recovering legal services market and economy. Between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022, we did this by carrying out the following activities.
Key facts and figures
Support projects
Action | Outcome | Complete/Not complete |
---|---|---|
Lawscot Tech We will complete our current LawscotTech strategy; agree a new strategy for beyond 2022; promote legal technologist accreditation; and embed legaltech in the route to qualification. |
Work from the previous Law Society strategy, which ran from 2020 to 2022, was completed, with wider strategic aims included in the Law Society’s new strategy 2022-2027. In other work, a roundtable was held with LawscotTech community members to inform plans for 2023; recruitment of new Advisory Board members began as the governance review was complete and restructure approved; Legaltech courses were offered by several of the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice providers, with courses increasingly leaning towards technology content. The Law Society’s CPD team also launched the Legal Tech for All Lawyers Foundation Course, a series of on demand 15-minute microlessons, in September 2022 to help members better understand tech terminology and the role and future of tech, allowing them to improve in their practice and drive their firm forward. Since its launch, 40 solicitors have passed this course. | Complete |
Social mobility We will enhance our work on social mobility, helping to bring down the barriers that stop talented people from entering the legal profession. |
Our social mobility annual objectives for the year were met. Nine new students were selected for the Lawscot Foundation in 2021-22. In addition to the bursary, each was matched with a mentor and, throughout the year, a number of career development opportunities were made available to the students. We also ran our Celebrating Inclusion event and Law Fair in October 2022, which was open to students from all 10 LLB universities to attend for free. Our long-running Street Law programme delivered 14 programmes within schools around Scotland and specialist training to deliver the sessions was provided for 35 Street Law trainers. A new strategy was also drafted for next year to improve the project. We also put on 10 online Street Law sessions throughout the year at external events, such as with our sponsor Pinsent Masons and at the University of West Scotland. A total of 64 schools took part in the Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament 2022, with the final taking place at the Scottish Parliament. | Complete |
Equality and diversity We will continue to promote the benefits of increased diversity throughout the profession, focusing on gender equality, racial inclusion and disability. |
We published the report of the Racial Inclusion Group and worked with the profession to understand the findings of that report. We began a plan to implement our response to the Group’s report and this will continue into 2023. Our Gender Equality Action plan, stemming from roundtables held in 2019, successfully ended with all milestones met. We hosted a number of disability-focused events in 2022, including a session with Scottish Autism, a session on disability inclusion in the profession, and a focus on the work of the Legal Service Agency’s Disability and Social Justice Project. We enthusiastically supported the foundation of a new group for disabled solicitors. This was part of a wider range of free equality events hosted over the year covering pay and progression, bystander training, sexual harassment, improved line management and many more. Hundreds of members attended these free sessions. Our inclusion calendar commemorated, celebrated and marked important dates, including a Pride event co-hosted with a large law firm, messages around International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) and work around Black History Month amongst many other matters raised. | Complete |
Digital signatures/cards We will ensure our Smartcard meets the changing needs of the legal sector, evolving its use as digital ID and in electronic signatures. |
The Smartcard was delivered throughout Scotland during 2022 and to members in England and Wales. We continued to work with our Spanish partners to deliver a cloud-based solution, which we expect to see within the next two years. Our Qualified Electronic Signature guidance was reviewed to ensure it remains up to date. | Complete |
Member engagement We will grow our member engagement programme through high-quality content that helps our members to recover and build resilience for the future. |
Our member engagement activities evolved over the course of the year, taking a flexible approach to hosting online versus in-person events. We completed the 2021/22 presidential tour as a series of virtual meetings and will return to an in-person roadshow for the 2022/23 tour. Ten presidential visits took place. Online, we hosted: four faculty leaders’ forums; five events for in-house solicitors; one fellows’ forum; one sole practitioner and high street event; and the strategy engagement forum. In person, we hosted a number of events, which included our annual dinner; the inaugural Law Society Fellows’ lunch; a General Counsel roundtable; a reception for our members in England and Wales; conference stands at the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, World Congress on Adult Capacity and the Society’s Annual Conference; as well as tables at corporate lunches and dinners. Our big firm engagement focused on hosting key individuals as guests at events and supporting our chief executive’s schedule of introductory meetings with managing partners at law firms. | Complete |
CPD & training We will build on the success of our accessible online programme of continuous professional development (CPD) and training, growing content and introducing hybrid conferences that return in-person learning. |
We had 5,360 paid registrations attending our CPD and training during the year, up from 4,756 last year. Of these, we had 250 attendees in person at our two hybrid flagship conferences, Law and Technology and our Annual Conference 2022. The Annual Conference ran with 397 registered delegates, our highest number to date. The Law and Technology Conference ran in September, with 413 registered delegates. Our online portfolio saw the addition of 37 new seminars and conferences during the year, totalling an additional 210 hours of new CPD content online. Our Certification Courses grew in number and popularity – we now run seven courses and certified 177 members during the year. The Trauma-Informed Certification Course is first of its type amongst UK law societies and has been nominated for legal awards. | Complete |
Support resilience We will ensure our suite of services and guidance responds to the demands of the recovering legal sector, including business resilience, use of technology, and health and wellbeing. |
Our strategic partnership programme ensured a range of sector-specific offerings in the fields of wealth management, anti-money laundering, cyber and resilience, finance, and accountancy. The Cloud Computing Guide, Electronic Signature Guide and IT Procurement Guide were updated and published. We reviewed and published best practice guidance on our website. Our Member Benefits programme offered a range of services to members from over 25 businesses and authored over 50 articles pertaining to legal services and market needs across our media channels. The New Partner Practice Management Course now includes wellbeing, equality and diversity, and legal tech as part of the compulsory elements for all new partners of law firms. | Complete |
Reduce complaints We will help our members use best practice guidance on preventing complaints and managing complaints when they arise. |
We continued to publish best practice guidance on our website and promote this to our members via the Journal, Lawscot News and our other communications channels. This has included the importance of cooperating with the complaints process. A new rule was introduced to codify that expectation. The Practice Management Course, which is mandatory for all new partners at law firms, also features speakers from the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and the Law Society’s Professional Practice team to provide information that can help solicitors prevent complaints occurring, for example by ensuring good client communications, and to manage those which do arise. | Complete |
Annual report 2022
Our annual report and financial statements for 2021/22.