Lawyers are accustomed to giving advice but where do legal eagles fly to when they themselves need some wise owl council?
To the Law Society of Scotland, of course: the professional body that represents Scotland’s 11,000 solicitors.
If you’re a solicitor looking for your next career move on s1jobs, you’ll know all about this organisation that’s been around for almost 70 years.
What you might not know, however, is that Chief Executive Lorna Jack has won a major gong for her work in transforming the organisation and setting it up for the future.
At a recent gala dinner, she picked up the UK Association Excellence Award for Leadership, with the judges selecting Lorna over the other finalists for what they described as clear demonstrable change in the organisation delivered with a combination of leadership and innovation.
Since becoming Chief Executive in January 2009, Lorna has been busy blowing the cobwebs off the organisation, putting its core functions in order and delivering a program of modernisation.
This has included improved transparency, governance arrangements, business efficiencies and outreach to members and stakeholders.
Programmes she’s championed include Street Law, where law students go back to school to bring pupils up to speed on legal issues, and the new Lawscot Foundation.
This supports talented students from economically challenged backgrounds through their law education.
At the moment Lorna is focusing on the Society’s five-year strategy, called Leading Legal Excellence, which aims to sort out many of the basic rules and legislation surrounding legal practice in Scotland by the year 2020.
With all this on her plate, it’s no wonder Lorna has been recognised for her work – but like the good leader she is, when picking up her award she gave the credit to her colleagues and praised their commitment and passion for the cause, saying: “Leadership is easy when we all believe in what we are trying to do.”
If you, too, believe in being the best, there are lots of exciting opportunities for solicitors on s1jobs, from property conveyancing and litigation to specialist immigration services.
Whatever area you work in it’s reassuring to know the Law Society of Scotland is there when you need it, offering guidance and support on all sorts of issues . . . and encouraging the next generation of solicitors to aim for professional excellence.
For all the latest Legal opportunities visit s1jobs.com