There’s a new broom at the Scottish Young Lawyers Association in the form of Maryam Labaki and she plans to clean house during her term in office. With her newly appointed committee She plans to sweep out the misguided perceptions of the SYLA and show that it is a professionally operated organisation that exists to represent, educate and entertain young lawyers during a time of great change within the profession.

Trainee solicitor Maryam Labaki is the epitome of what a young lawyer should be in today’s competitive legal profession. She’s intelligent, opinionated, straight-talking, approachable and, perhaps most importantly, passionate about the legal profession and the people who are embarking on their legal career at a time of incredible change.
Just days after being elected as the new president of the Scottish Young Lawyers Association (SYLA), Labaki is in Glasgow to talk to The Firm about what she plans to achieve during her time as head of the independent organisation that has been representing, educating and entertaining Scottish lawyers since way back in 1974. As she quickly admits it is a huge responsibility to take over the SYLA, alongside her newly appointed committee, at this particular time when the hunger for change in all areas of the profession is at a level never witnessed before.
“I’d like to alter some of the perceptions that exist out there about the SYLA,” she says. “I feel that in recent years awareness of the SYLA may have dipped a little as there has been so much change going on. I don’t feel that during the many consultations on legal reform taking place we have had a clear voice to put forward the concerns of young lawyers. This is a very challenging time to be a young lawyer. All the changes taking place at the moment will affect our careers more so than anyone’s. The people leading these changes may not be practising law in 20 years’ time, but we will. Today’s law students, trainees and newly qualifieds will be the generation that has to work with these changes and deal with their consequences, and I feel that we must be allowed to have our voices heard now. The SYLA is not just focussed on students, trainees and newly qualifieds, but represents lawyers up to ten years qualified.”
It is a sense of community that Labaki is keen to foster within the SYLA’s membership.
“I want the SYLA to be seen as a very approachable organisation that young lawyers feel they can approach if they have a problem or an issue they need help with, but may not be in a position to speak to their own firm about. I’m not saying we have all the answers, but through our links to other legal organisations we can more often than not point people in the right direction. Recently we had a young lawyer come to us who wanted to convert so that they could move to England. We were able to put them in touch with the Young Lawyers’ Group in London and I believe they met the right person to move that forward. ”
Unlike many other organisations created specifically to cater for the young members of a profession, the SYLA is independent of the Law Society of Scotland, which is something that Labaki feels is important as the organisation continues to evolve. She says: “While we work closely with the Law Society on many projects I think that over the years the SYLA has benefited from retaining its independence from the Society as it gives us the freedom to lobby the Society on certain issues. For example representation which led to an increase in trainee salary recommended rates.
“It also allows us more freedom to hold the types of events, conferences and seminars that we feel young lawyers want to attend. And it allows us to include some pretty controversial and outspoken speakers in the line-up of our annual conference, which I feel is important for young lawyers – who are still really developing their own views and opinions on the world in which we work – to see and speak to.”
It is primarily through its ongoing schedule of events and seminars that Labaki aims to build the young legal community, and already she and the new committee members appointed at the AGM earlier in May have put together a list of events which cover both the practical and academic sides of the profession. In recent years the SYLA has perhaps had an east coast bias, but that is also something that Labaki aims to change during her tenure.
“I want the SYLA to become a real national body supporting lawyers across the whole of Scotland,” she says. “Years ago the focus was more west coast and more recently it has been more east coast. I think it has really depended on where the majority of the committee members are based. But we are now planning to hold more events and seminars outwith the central belt and already have seminars planned for Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen.”
And while Labaki clearly has her own ideas for moving the organisation forward, she is also keen to hear the views of the wider legal profession. She says: “I have been invited to speak at a Law Society event in June and I plan to take the opportunity to ask the law firms directly what they want from the SYLA. We are keen to work with all firms so that we can learn what they want for their young lawyers and to see if we can work with them to provide the right sort of training and educational opportunities.”
Labaki would like to abolish the membership fee, which is currently £15 to those qualified, to encourage as many lawyers 10 years and less PQE to take advantage of the membership benefits. However, as an independent self-funded organisation funding is always high on the agenda.
“We are a non-profit organisation and we rely on sponsorship of our events from law firms and legal services suppliers to operate. We always aim to make our events as cheap as possible for lawyers to attend so they are as accessible as possible. For instance, we are running a seminar on preparing for sheriff and jury trials in Dundee at the end of May and that is just £25 for members. We are doing a series of seminars in the autumn entitled ‘So, you want to be a…lawyer’ We have invited lawyers from a wide variety of practice areas to come along and speak to trainees and qualified solicitors who are thinking about changing their field and want to get an idea of what the job is like. These seminars will be free as we are using money raised from a previous event, so we are all about offering real value for money for members.”
The SYLA has also been working with Collette Paterson, the recently appointed new lawyers co-ordinator at the Law Society of Scotland, on the creation of an ‘academic diary’, which, as the name suggests, is a diary that will be distributed to all first year law students in Scotland, offering them help and advice on developing the skills necessary to pursue their chosen path in the profession.
Labaki says: “The overall message of the diary is that this is a really great profession to be a part of, a profession that offers you so many different options along the way. It highlights the fact that there are certain things you have to do during your legal education to make sure you qualify to continue down your chosen path. For instance, identifying the topics needed for the diploma and picking up the necessary subjects you need if you want to become an advocate. The diary will help students and young lawyers compete in today’s ultra-competitive legal marketplace and make sure they have all the tools they are going to need to get where they want to get to in the profession.”
Labaki will hold the SYLA president’s role for the next two years, which gives her plenty of time to take the SYLA back to basics and to ensure that it is an organisation in tune with the needs of a profession that appears to change in some way by the day.