Scottish in-house lawyers are today (Nov 10th) being urged to continue to press for change to the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill at the Law Society of Scotland’s In House Lawyers\' Group AGM and Symposium in Edinburgh today.
It’s the biggest annual gathering of solicitors who work in house rather than in private practice, and who now account for over a quarter of the Scottish legal profession with more than 2,400 members.
Janet Hood, head of BII and the group’s chair, said: “In house lawyers are one of the fastest growing areas of legal practice in Scotland and are now key players in financial institutions, local and central government, oil and gas companies, procurator fiscal service and many other businesses and organisations.
“The Scottish Executive’s Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill holds particular threats for the in house lawyer. The possibility of a complaint leading to a £20,000 compensation payment, as is currently proposed in the Bill, may lead to some employers - for sound financial and risk management reasons - to cease to pay for their in house lawyers’ practising certificates. Not every qualified in house lawyer may need a practising certificate but those who do, recognise the role of the Society in regulating the profession and that being a solicitor is a privilege granted to those who are fit and proper to bear the name.\"
Hood added: “I do not want to lose the badge of my profession. I know that clients still want a professional to provide legal advice and I would urge all in house solicitors to continue to lobby MSPs for amends on this Bill to ensure that we retain a vibrant and properly regulated legal profession.”
The conference’s keynote address is from Court of Session judge Lord Mackay of Drumadoon on the modernisation taking place in Scotland’s courts, and John MacKinnon, Vice President of the Society will also address the group. The programme also includes sessions on project management, brand protection, age discrimination, construction contracts and communication techniques.
Sheriff Douglas Cusine will speak at the fundraising annual dinner to be held in the Hub that evening.