Blogs & opinions
Covid: Making or breaking virtual traineeships
Sébastien Flowerdew, a second year trainee solicitor at the Scottish Social Services Council, explores the difficulties organisations face in supporting their trainee solicitors virtually.
What I'm doing on my summer break
University of Glasgow accelerated LLB student Alexandra Lee reveals how she's planning to use her summer holidays to broaden her legal knowledge and skillset through virtual work experience programmes and volunteering.
Journal editorial June 2021
The future of remote civil court hearings will need the same spirit of collegiality that enabled the collective delivery of the process – and some fresh thinking
Street Law during a pandemic? Absolutely!
Street Lawyers and final-year LLB students Ethan Llewellyn and Rebecca Millar reflect on their experience of delivering Street Law lessons online at Breadalbane Academy during the pandemic.
Reflections on how to run a valuable virtual work experience programme
In order to gain insights into how firms and organisations might adapt to run a successful virtual or hybrid summer placement this year, Olivia Moore speaks to Burness Paull and CMS about the programmes they ran last year.
Applying for an entrance certificate? Here's what you need to know!
Our Careers and Outreach Coordinator, Lyndsey Thomson, shares the Education, Training and Qualifications team's top tips to getting your entrance certificate application right first time.
Mental health and law school
DPLP graduate, Hannah Ridgway, discusses mental health and studying law and explains that, whilst it's not all 'unicorns and rainbows', you can maintain a balanced and positive mental wellbeing with the right support and resources.
How small steps can make a big difference
Allison Harrison, owner of Hot Yoga Edinburgh, explains how taking small steps to improve your wellbeing can make a big difference to how you feel and shares her top tips for students to encourage positive mental health throughout their studies.
Mental Health Awareness Week: What we did
Executive Director of Scullion Law, Diana McLeish, shares how the firm marked Mental Health Awareness Week this year, with a focus on one of the firm's core values, Care.
Staying Open-minded about Open Banking
Following up on their session about how legal tech can help with regulatory requirements at our Annual Conference in April, here Olly Thornton-Berry Managing Director from our sponsors ThirdFort explains the advantages of open banking.
Journal editorial May 2021
After featuring in the election campaign the future of the not proven verdict is in doubt – but are there alternatives to simple abolition?
Our 2021 priorities: Trust me, it’s a £500 billion industry
Yvonne Evans is a member of the Law Society's Trusts and Succession Sub-committee. Here she reflects on the importance of trusts to the Scottish economy and makes the case for introduction of a Trusts Bill in the next session of the Scottish Parliament, one of our priorities for the 2021 elections.
Our 2021 priorities: Protecting Scotland's crofting communities
David Findlay of our Rural Affairs Committee writes about the impact of much-needed reform of crofting law to support the crofters who play an important part of Scotland's rural economy, one of our priorities for the next Scottish Parliament session.
Exam stress: How I manage mine
For Stress Awareness Month, Wiktoria Wisniewska, fourth-year law student and President of Abertay University's Law Society, talks about exam stress, how she manages hers and what you can do to reduce yours.
Wellbeing during exams: How to reduce stress and anxiety
For Stress Awareness Month, our Careers & Outreach Coordinator and Mental Health First Aider, Lyndsey Thomson, shares her top tips to help you reduce the stress and anxieties brought on by exams, deadlines and dissertations.
Exams in a time of Covid
Third-year LLB student, Daniel Walker, explores the nature of online exams and discusses why they should be approached in the same way as traditional, pre-Covid examinations.
Our 2021 priorities: Incapacity, mental health and adult care and protection
Adrian Ward makes the case for cross-party commitment to coordinated and updated legislation across adult incapacity, mental health, and adult support and protection law and practice, one of our priorities for the next Session of the Scottish Parliament.
Adapting to new ways of working
Ahead of their panel session at our Annual Conference on Friday 30 April, our sponsors Lockton considers what to consider when adapting to our current working environment.
What can we learn from IBA research on mental wellbeing in the profession?
Our Careers and Wellbeing Manager Olivia Moore takes a look at the recent International Bar Association research into mental wellbeing and considers how the findings compare with Society’s own research in this area.
Journal editorial April 2021
Truth and power: democracy in the UK is not in a very healthy state at present. What will happen after the May elections?
Exploring alternative careers: How I ended up building a career in marketing
As part of our blog series looking at alternative careers with an LLB, Emma O’Day, Head of Marketing at Cashroom, explores where her degree took her after graduating and deciding not to pursue a career as a solicitor.
Making the most of price transparency
Council member and convener of the Society's Professional Practice Committee, Austin Lafferty writes about the recent introduction of Price Transparency Guidance for the profession - and how he has found it a useful management tool for his business.
My time as a co-opted Board member
Lynsey Walker, Partner and Solicitor Advocate at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, shares what it was like to be the Society's co-opted Board member with less than 10 years PQE, how it helped her and why she would recommend the experience to all.
Easter: Bringing hope in troubled times
For Easter, Anthony Horan, Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, considers the meaning of this important Christian festival and the hope it offers as we begin to emerge from lockdown.