Equal under the law

When Christine McLintock started her law degree at the University of Aberdeen in 1981, she found herself in a class split down the middle in terms of men and women. “That’s a long time ago,” she laughs, before striking a more sober tone. “And it has taken that long for us to reach 50/50 in the profession.”

It has indeed been a slow-burner. The rising number of women entering the profession – almost seven out of ten female solicitors are under age 45, compared to just over four in ten male solicitors – now looks set to tip the balance for the first time. It is perhaps fitting, then, that not only does the Law Society of Scotland soon welcome its second woman president in McLintock – the first for a decade – but her vice president and chief executive will also be women.

There remains an imbalance, though. “When you look at the proportion of women in more senior positions in the legal sector, it’s far fewer than one would expect given the number of women that have been coming out of law school for that period of time,” says McLintock. Women are more likely to be assistants, associates and solicitor team members, while men are more likely to be equity partners and directors. The consequence is a “quite shocking” gender pay gap, according to McLintock, with Law Society research revealing most female solicitors earn between £15,000 and £45,000, compared with men whose earnings range from £65,000 to £150,000.

She is optimistic the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, which received Royal Assent in March and will require employers with 250 or more employees to publish details of their gender pay gap, will focus attention at board level. As for the Law Society itself, a framework of equality and diversity standards, which sets out ten principles law firms are encouraged to uphold, was launched in January of this year. “I would not be surprised if that becomes compulsory in time,” says McLintock, albeit stressing such a decision lies with the Society’s regulatory committee.

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“It is to do with cultural change as much as anything else,” she adds. “Raising awareness of the issues and getting everyone to take ownership of them, so embarking down that path through setting best practice standards on a voluntary basis sometimes is the best way to start, rather than just imposing hard standards that are almost a tick-box exercise. It is more about changing hearts and minds.”

Mentoring, McLintock argues, is critical if talent is to be retained within the profession. It presents a neat segue into the topic the former McGrigors and Pinsent Masons partner is evidently most passionate about: education. She was convenor of the education and training committee from 2007 through till last year and hails education as the “jewel in the crown” in Scotland. “Our legal education is world class,” she insists. The initiative that excites her the most is Street Law, a Law Society project that has seen university law students go into schools over a period of six weeks to help educate young people about matters ranging from how real-life murder trials operate through to the use of social media. Piloted in Glasgow and West Lothian, she has heard first hand of its success given her daughter was one of the volunteers.

Schools in Dundee, Aberdeen, East Lothian and Ayrshire are also now taking part, while delivering lessons via video conferencing to more remote schools is also a possibility. Technology is an area the body is looking to embrace more widely, becoming the first law society in the UK to press ahead with rollout of a new professional ID Smartcard that provides a secure digital signature and allows physical access into prisons, courts and the like.

On the education front, however, funding – though improved – remains an issue, claims McLintock. Students on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice – a postgraduate requirement – will be able to apply for student loans from this year to help cover living costs. This is over and above eligibility for a loan to help with tuition fees. “But for some, that is still a challenge,” she says.

“If we’re genuine about allowing people from all backgrounds into the profession, I think it would help if we had full loan funding available on a means-tested basis for those that need it. Obviously, in terms of the degree, tuition fees are met. But for the postgraduate requirement, which is a requirement for good reasons, there are no grant awards, but partial loan funding is available. It is something that we have been – and I personally have been – speaking to ministers about and trying to get a change on because I think it would make a difference for the small number of people who really struggle financially to get through that leg of the qualification."

As far as the wider profession is concerned at least, optimism appears to be growing. A recent survey of Law Society members found 61 per cent were upbeat about the future of the profession, up eight percentage points in 12 months. “When you’re out and about speaking to members, which we do a lot, there is more positivity, without a doubt,” says McLintock. “It was really tough out there for quite a long time and we are starting to find people generally more optimistic about the pipeline of work coming through.”

Smaller law firms, which make up more than a quarter of the Scottish legal market, saw their financial performance improve in the last year on record. Medium-sized and larger firms fared less well, however, with profit per partner figures down year-on-year.

“It is important to remember that the legal profession is a significant economic generator, contributing around £1bn per annum to the Scottish economy and being responsible for over 20,000 high quality jobs,” adds McLintock. “It also supports Scotland’s other key and growing sectors - financial services, oil and gas, renewable energy and biosciences.”

Money is equally as pertinent when it comes to legal aid. A few days before McLintock sat down with Holyrood, the Law Society issued their recommendations on the future shape of Scotland’s legal aid system. The top line was simple: more investment is needed to halt a real-term decline in legal aid expenditure. The Scottish Government is considering the Society’s specific proposals, but realistically, does McLintock expect ministers to put up additional funding? “I think they have to if they want a sustainable system.”