Eight key moments from the 2025 Law Society of Scotland AGM including new Practising Certificate Fee

A raft of resolutions including a hike in Practising Certificate fees were agreed at the Law Society of Scotland’s 2025 AGM.

Dozens of solicitors, lay members and trainees joined Society staff for the meeting on the evening of Thursday, June 19. The full agenda is available online.

New President Patricia Thom oversaw proceedings alongside interim CEO Kevin Lang. Ben Kemp, who will assume chief executive duties permanently in August, was also in attendance.

Here are eight key moments from the meeting:

Goodbye from Susan…hello to Ben

Susan Murray has moved into her formal role as Past President of the Law Society of Scotland and took on time-keeping duties at this year’s AGM. She paid tributes to the colleagues who supported her throughout 2024-25, and added: “I also want to record the Society’s thanks to its former chief executive, Diane McGiffen, for her work within the society and her advocacy on behalf of our profession.

“We now look forward to working with our new chief executive, Ben Kemp, who joins us in August this year. I have no doubt at all that Ben will be a tremendous asset to the society as he leads us through future challenges and helps all of us at the Society to support and promote Scotland’s solicitor profession.”

Damning rhetoric on dragged-out regulation

Interim CEO Kevin Lang recounted the challenging journey the Society and the profession has been on over the course of the development of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill. At one time, the Society itself was under threat of regulatory powers being reorganised entirely, and Lang railed against the government’s initial proposals to given politicians oversight of legal professionals. He added: “I am proud of how members came together to stop this kind of state interference over the very people who so often work on behalf of clients to hold the politically powerful to account and stop the excessive use of power by the state.”

Legal aid, legal aid, legal aid

Kevin Lang, echoing the thoughts of both Susan Murray and Patricia Thom, spoke of the stark reality of the legal aid crisis: “It has been deeply frustrating to me the lack of government action on legal aid and as part of our work to ensure this critical area remains on the political agenda, we launched a major public-facing #LegalAidMatters campaign highlighting the impact of years of underfunding on members of the public.

A growing profession

Kevin Lang added: “I am pleased to report to this general meeting that the profession now has 13,300 practicing members. That is more than ever before. And, as you’ve heard, new solicitors are qualifying at near record numbers, almost 800 in the last year.”

Resolution 1 – Financial Statements

The Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Society for the year ending 31 October 2024 were approved.

Resolution 2 - Auditors

Auditors BDO were re-appointed following a member vote.

Resolution 3 – Practising Certificate fee

The Practising Certificate Fee for 2025/26 has been increased. The annual subscription, payable by each member of the Society holding a certificate, will now be £832 up from £788. This 5.5 per cent hike, alongside a £9 increase to the Roll fee from £155 to £164 remains below inflation in real terms and is, the meeting was told, the lowest percentage increase in three years.

Paul Gostelow, presenting the resolution and proposed increase, said: “There was a risk to the Society being unable to continue to carry out its obligations to the standard required by our members on the back of over a decade of near static fees. This resulted in, amongst other things, problems employing and retaining staff, a problem experienced throughout our legal sector, and also infrastructure, including it not being fit for purpose.

“It was therefore critical we put in place plans to ensure the Society’s longer-term security and restore financial stability, which included the fee rise.

President Patricia Thom added: “This is a pivotal time and agreement on the increase to the Practising Certificate fee for 2025-26 is important to ensure the Law Society can carry out all of its functions in addition to securing its long-term financial sustainability.

“It ensures we can continue to be an effective voice for solicitors on important issues such as criminal justice reform, legal aid and access to justice, in addition to carrying out our statutory role as a regulator to protect the public and safeguard the reputation of our profession. This will be a key focus for the Society as we work towards implementing new responsibilities following the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill being passed by MSPs last month.

“We will continue to invest in providing tailored support and services that offer value to our members, such as advice from our professional practice helpline, facilitating professional indemnity insurance for every Scottish solicitor through the Master Policy, in addition to career and wellbeing support which has been identified as a growing priority by our members."

Draft Practice Rules

New draft Practice Rules were presented during the AGM by David Gordon, Convener of the Law Society’s Regulatory Committee. Already approved in principle by the Regulatory Committee and the Lord President’s Private Office, the preliminary changes were presented to the meeting for comment.

The proposed new rules will require law firms to maintain a central record of trusts where the firm or solicitors at the firm are involved as trustees in their professional capacity. They will also place new obligations on firms which take custody of another law firm’s clients’ assets, including trusts, to identify the owners as soon as practicable, as well as assess any action required to protect clients’ best interests and ensure they safeguard these assets in the same way as for their own clients.

Here is a summary of the proposed changes:

• Rule B6 – Accounts Rules   
  • Two new draft rules are proposed to be added to the rules at B6 and will be applicable to all practice units. The first new rule requires all practice units to maintain a central record of all trusts where a trustee is connected to the practice unit (subject to an exception).  The record must include specified information and the Society can request a copy of the record at any time. This is intended to improve record keeping in relation to trusts by all practice units so that better information may be available, should the practice unit cease. The second new rule is intended to clarify the responsibilities of a practice unit to which files and papers are passed from a ceased firm.
• Rule B9 – Money Laundering Rules
  • In relation to the Money Laundering Rules (B9) it was considered that the Society’s AML regime would be further strengthened by including a “dishonesty” rule, equivalent to the one already in the Accounts Rules, within the Money Laundering Rules which could be applied in response to situations such as : a general and reckless disregard for the requirements of the money laundering regulations (as opposed to the findings on individual transactions); the deliberate provision of false or misleading information to information requests from the Society related to AML inspection/investigation.
  • Further amendments aim to simplify wording regarding reinspection charges and to enable more flexibility regarding fair and proportionate charging for reinspection.
• Rule C2 – Incidental Finance Business Rules
  • The proposed changes to Rule C2 in relation to Incidental Financial Business amend the definition of an accounting period at C2.1.1 to require annual submission rather than every 6 months, remove Rule C2.18 and amend C20.4 to remove the requirement to report on all inspections and use wording from

David Gordon said: “It’s important that the Society’s members have the opportunity to discuss the proposals before they go to the Lord President for his approval.

“The changes will enhance consumer protections for people who have set up trusts with solicitors as well as providing welcome clarity for both our members and for clients in cases where a firm takes custody of another firm’s assets. The proposals also mean there would be no unnecessary barriers to law firms taking custody of client files in the unfortunate event of another legal firm ceasing. Safeguarding client files and assets and ensuring an orderly transfer remain the highest priority in such cases.

“The updates to AML and IFB rules reflect the Society’s work in ensuring it has a robust but proportionate regulatory regime.”

The Law Society’s Regulatory Committee will submit the draft Practice Rules and Guidance to the Lord President for approval before they come into effect.