Law Society of Scotland will allow non-solicitors to become members

The Law Society of Scotland will open up its membership to non-solicitors for the first time in its 66-year history.

The professional body, which currently has over 11,000 members, said there is a need to “rethink our profile of membership” with registered foreign lawyers, paralegals and legal executives to be targeted.

The change was announced as the Society unveiled its new five-year strategy amid “unprecedented change” within the legal market.

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By the end of the decade, the body expects to grow its solicitor membership base to 12,000, including more members working outwith Scotland.

Further mergers and acquisitions are expected to lead to “fewer and larger firms” in private practice, while the Society anticipates a rising proportion of Scottish solicitors will work in other parts of the UK or overseas.

However, the Society will also seek to sign up 10,000 additional paying members from other parts of the legal profession as well. 

Law Society president Christine McLintock said: “The pace of change within the legal sector has been even greater than we anticipated, such as the rise in the use of paralegals, legal executives and legal technicians and growth in outsourcing of legal work.

“In recent years we have also seen the emergence of new types of business models delivering legal services, even without the regulatory provisions being in place which would allow the creation of ‘alternative business structures’ and see solicitors able to set up in partnership with non-lawyer professionals for the first time.

“That is why we needed to change our approach to ensure that we meet the needs of both our membership and the public they serve.

“Our membership is currently restricted to solicitors but we want other legal professionals, people who make a significant contribution to the success of the legal sector, to be able to benefit too.”

The legal profession will become younger and include greater female representation, according to the new document, with "leadership... required if the challenges on gender equality are to be tackled".

Work must also be undertaken to tackle other diversity issues such as race and socio-economic background where there has been “limited progress” over recent years, states the strategy.