Skip to content
Law Society of Scotland
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
  • For members

    • For members

    • CPD & Training

    • Membership and fees

    • Rules and guidance

    • Regulation and compliance

    • Journal

    • Business support

    • Career growth

    • Member benefits

    • Professional support

    • Lawscot Wellbeing

    • Lawscot Sustainability

  • News and events

    • News and events

    • Law Society news

    • Blogs & opinions

    • CPD & Training

    • Events

  • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying as a Scottish solicitor

    • Career support and advice

    • Our work with schools

    • Lawscot Foundation

    • Funding your education

    • Social mobility

  • Research and policy

    • Research and policy

    • Research

    • Influencing the law and policy

    • Equality and diversity

    • Our international work

    • Legal Services Review

    • Meet the Policy team

  • For the public

    • For the public

    • What solicitors can do for you

    • Making a complaint

    • Client protection

    • Find a Solicitor

    • Frequently asked questions

    • Your Scottish solicitor

  • About us

    • About us

    • Contact us

    • Who we are

    • Our strategy, reports and plans

    • Help and advice

    • Our standards

    • Work with us

    • Our logo and branding

    • Equality and diversity

  1. Home
  2. For members
  3. Journal Archive
  4. Issues
  5. April 2009
  6. Defining year

Defining year

President's message: Landmark year for Society must also see the right choices made for the profession to remain fit to serve the public
20th April 2009 | Richard Henderson

It is fitting that the immediate future of the solicitors’ profession will be determined during a landmark year – the Society’s 60th anniversary. The introduction of the Legal Profession (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament is likely to pave the way for a new regulatory regime and alternative business structures; and reform of the Society’s governance arrangements will ensure we remain an effective, efficient and transparent organisation for the profession and the public. And all this will take place during a period of severe economic pressure.

Constant values

The guiding principle behind the establishment of the Society 60 years ago remains the same today as then: to promote the interests of the solicitors’ profession and the interests of the public in relation to the profession. But much else has changed during that time, not least the size of the profession itself. While the number of solicitors remained relatively steady for many years, the total began to increase rapidly in modern times. Just over 3,200 solicitors held a practising certificate at the beginning of the 1970s when I entered the profession. In 2007, the numbers practising broke the 10,000 mark for the first time. Business entities changed too, with a move away from small and medium-sized general practices to larger firms, increased specialisation and even a more visible global presence.

But the reputation of the profession has stood the test of time. Now, as then, solicitors operate at the heart of civic Scotland, upholding the rule of law, enhancing the business community and providing a valuable contribution to the democratic process. Perhaps, above all, the profession serves the community in which it practises. Central to the idea and vision is the nature of the profession itself: diverse and sometimes representing different interests, but always bound by common purpose and a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.

Process of renewal

Certainly, success in the future will require a continued willingness to show flexibility, particularly given the trading conditions. Many solicitors have faced difficult decisions in recent months. Should they cease to trade? Or contract the business? Are redundancies necessary? Will they lose their own livelihood? The scale of the difficulties seems unprecedented to many, and is indeed largely unprecedented. And while some forecasts suggest the recession will soon bottom out, others are less optimistic.

So what path should our profession follow? I suspect a network of policies will develop alongside new checks and balances and fresh ways of looking at the world, including tougher regulation of the banking and finance sectors. Alternative business structures may have a vital role to play and the Society last month set out a plan of action for reforming our own processes and procedures in line with those impending legislative changes.

A resurgence in professionalism is also likely – and the Society is well placed to be at the forefront of such a movement. In January, we produced a statement of professional standards of conduct and service that were easily understandable and accessible to solicitors and their clients. However, the process cannot stop there – professionalism involves ongoing commitment to core values and principles, and to the ideas of service and continuous improvement. Of course, many of the Society’s members are already involved in valuable work – working pro bono, if you like – both within our structures and in numerous other ways. Those values will take the profession far, while also helping to promote access to justice and a fairer society.

Joined-up working

Moving forward, we must ensure solicitors join up and work together. That way, the value of the profession – and the solicitor “brand” – will be consolidated and the reputation and profile of solicitors will be enhanced. It may also prove part of the foundation on which to build recovery from recession. How to join up and work together? For a start, come to Edinburgh for the Society’s “Law in Scotland” conference on 8 and 9 May, where you can help to tell the story and build the future.

Share this article
Add To Favorites
https://lawware.co.uk/

In this issue

  • Defining year
  • At the heart of the debate
  • In shape at 60
  • Banks doing business
  • To take us forward
  • Striving after fairness
  • Knowledge is protection
  • The changing role of the law school
  • Risk: nip it in the bud
  • Close relations
  • Conference keeps getting better
  • Booming baby boomer
  • Channel vision
  • Variations on a theme
  • Customer survey scores a plus
  • Prepare for the upturn
  • New look Society gets go-ahead
  • Backing for "Wider Choice"
  • Private client tax specialists recognised
  • Law reform update
  • From the Brussels office
  • Target 2010
  • Questions of our times
  • Ask Ash
  • Breaking the chain
  • What will they do next?
  • Sins of emission
  • Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal
  • Are we ready?
  • Website review
  • Book reviews
  • Duty within bounds
  • Change to fair
  • Home reports update

Recent Issues

Dec 2023
Nov 2023
Oct 2023
Sept 2023
Search the archive

Additional

Law Society of Scotland
Atria One, 144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh
EH3 8EX
If you’re looking for a solicitor, visit FindaSolicitor.scot
T: +44(0) 131 226 7411
E: lawscot@lawscot.org.uk
About us
  • Contact us
  • Who we are
  • Strategy reports plans
  • Help and advice
  • Our standards
  • Work with us
Useful links
  • Find a Solicitor
  • Sign in
  • CPD & Training
  • Rules and guidance
  • Website terms and conditions
Law Society of Scotland | © 2025
Made by Gecko Agency Limited