Towards 2020
The Law Society of Scotland’s strategy
Towards 2020
The Law Society of Scotland’s strategy
1. Introduction
2. Our aim
The Law Society of Scotland’s purpose is
to promote the interests of the solicitors’
profession in Scotland and the public in
relation to that profession. The Society has
been in existence for over 60 years and as
we look towards the next 10, we face a
period of immense change.
Our aim: To lead and support
a successful and respected
Scottish legal profession
It is worth starting with the question of why the
Society needs a strategy at all. A strategy is simply
a plan designed to achieve a particular goal. Like
every business and organisation, it is vital to take a
step back from the day-to-day operation and ask where
we are headed and what our priorities should be.
The Council of the Law Society initiated a review process
which culminated in this strategic plan. That process
started in December 2010 and has had its outputs
tested on the senior management and staff of the
Society, groups of members, faculties and firms.
As a result, it has evolved and improved along the
way. This document represents the final version of
that strategy.
In essence, this strategy attempts to make sense of and
distil the issues which will face Scottish solicitors over the
next 5 - 10 years. It sets a new overarching goal for the
Society as the professional body of Scottish solicitors, a
goal that puts the interests of both the profession and
the public at its core.
The strategy sets a course that, if followed, should lead
the organisation and our members towards meeting
that goal. Finally, it proposes a way of measuring success
so we can keep careful track of our progress.
Such a strategy must provide a set of common goals
for the organisation behind which our staff and Council
members, both solicitors and non-solicitors, can come
together and work as a team in a way that focuses their
time and talents. Like any good plan, it will evolve as
new challenges arise.
The strategy can and should be shared with committee
members, our stakeholder organisations and wider
public so that anyone can understand our organisation’s
purpose. Above all, it can be shared with our members
so they understand the vision which their Council has
for their professional body over the next 5 - 10 years.
This overarching statement provides a clear,
concise and memorable aim which should
connect with our members and the wider public.
In one simple statement, this aim covers the many
obligations that are placed on us by statute. More
importantly, it is a cause that can be effectively
communicated with solicitors and non-solicitors.
Achieving our aim - our five objectives
When thinking about how to achieve this overall aim
and applying it in the context of the next five years,
we have set ourselves five principal objectives.
Our intention is to assess our performance against
these five objectives every year so we can keep track
of the progress we are making. We will do so by
using clear measures against which our performance
can be evaluated.
In meeting our overall aim of leading and supporting
a successful and respected Scottish legal profession,
we have set ourselves five principal objectives.
1.Excellent solicitor
professionalism and reputation
2.Our members are trusted
advisers of choice
3.Our members are economically
active and sustainable
4.The Society is the professional
body and regulator of choice
5.The Society is a high
performing organisation
We will use these objectives to frame the work of
the Society over the coming 5 - 10 years and
will do so for the following reasons.
1. Excellent solicitor professionalism
and reputation
4. The Society is the professional body
and regulator of choice
For the profession to be successful and respected,
it must demonstrate its professionalism through
standards that are consistently higher than any of
its potential competitors. That professionalism must
also be on at least an equal footing with other
respected professions. We know that our reputation
is determined by the world outside and must be
earned. Therefore, not only must we improve the
standards to which solicitors work, but also increase
the understanding and appreciation of those standards
among the public.
2. Our members are trusted advisers of choice
We are ambitious for our members and want them
to succeed, whatever their chosen sector or market.
To that end, we want their professional qualification
to not only be recognised and valued but to be seen
as the premier qualification in any given circumstance.
This applies to individuals working in private practice
or members operating inside private companies or
the public sector. We want to create an environment
that means, whatever the problem requiring a legal
solution, a Scottish solicitor is chosen to provide that
solution. That might be a member of the public
buying a house or setting up their will; it might be a
large corporate choosing a firm of legal advisers or
an individual as their general counsel. It might equally
be a decision to employ someone as a prosecutor or
to choose someone to fill a senior risk management
role. A Scottish solicitor should be the obvious choice.
3. Our members are economically active
and sustainable
Although not the only measure of achievement,
economic success is vital to our members. A number
of firms have ceased trading over recent years,
not through a lack of legal knowledge or skill but
from a failed business practice or because of the
wider economic backdrop. Similarly, we know the
economic downturn, coupled with reductions to
public sector budgets, has impacted many of our
employed status solicitors, whether in-house or
working in private practice. We could not sustain a
membership which was in large part economically
inactive. A successful legal profession must have, not
just deep legal knowledge but increasing business
acumen. That is why we must support firms to ensure
they are economically sustainable. We must also
support individual members, not only to gain or retain
employment, but to ensure their skills are utilised
within their chosen workplace and to greatest effect.
The reform of the legal services market in Scotland
will bring more choice, not only for consumers but
also for those thinking of a career in legal services
too. If we are focused on a successful and respected
profession then we need to ensure the brightest
and the best individuals choose to enter the Scottish
solicitors’ profession and choose the Law Society of
Scotland as their professional body. Equally, as the
licensing regime for legal providers opens up and
competition emerges in terms of who might regulate
such entities, we must aim to be the regulator that
is chosen by those who would seek to provide legal
services to the highest professional standards.
5. The Law Society is a high performing
organisation
A successful and respected profession needs to be led
and supported by an organisation which sets itself the
highest standards of performance. Whether through
our ruling Council, our regulatory and non-regulatory
committees or our staff, we must be an efficient and
effective organisation, which seeks to continually
improve the quality and value of our work.
Towards 2020
The Law Society of Scotland’s strategy
3. Measuring our progress
In order to ensure we meet our principal objectives, we need a framework which allows us to measure our progress.
In some cases, such as the results from our Cost of Time Survey, we already have initial 2010/11 benchmarks in place.
For others such as public perception levels, we will have to initiate work in 2011/12 to produce initial benchmarks.
Our suggested measures are as follows
Strategic objective
Metric
Excellent solicitor professionalism and reputation
•
•
The Society is the professional body and regulator of choice
•
•
•
•
Our members are trusted advisers of choice
Perception audit amongst public and business
Number of complaints upheld
Percentage of the sector regulated by the Society
(our market share)
Measure of attracting best and brightest
Numbers of Society accredited paralegals
and ABS entities
Members’ satisfaction levels
• Perception audit amongst public and business
• Perception of employers (of solicitors) survey
Our members are economically active and sustainable •
Higher level of economic activity
- Cost of Time Survey results
- Firm revenues
- Number of unemployed members
- Annual salary survey of employed solicitors
The Society is a high performing organisation
•
•
•
•
•
Performance against annual key performance indicators (KPIs)
Staff retention and performance
Great Places to Work benchmark
Feedback from SLCC, MSPs survey and
other public stakeholders
Financial performance
- Delivery against budget each year
- Percentage of non subscription income
- Number of months of reserves
- Strength of the balance sheet
4. What difference will this make?
Having set our strategic objectives and clarified how we
will measure our progress against meeting these objectives,
it was important to think about how the strategy would
change the work we do.
The diagram below illustrates the way in which our strategy
will, from the top down, guide both our annual planning
and our budget setting process.
The top two parts of this triangle, our strategy and
objectives, will guide our annual corporate plan each year.
This plan will include the three elements in the lower half
of the triangle – business plans, targets and budgets.
Our corporate plan for the financial year 2011/12 will
be considered by the Council at its meeting in August
2011 and will be published in September 2011 in
advance of our special general meeting. Over the next
five years, our annual plans will include key initiatives
which will assist in meeting our principle objectives.
These include:
• Pursuing projects which increase the standards of
excellence of the solicitors’ profession
• Promoting that excellence to the public and to
employers of solicitors
• Creating a regulatory framework for new licensed
providers of legal services that recognises the
association with the solicitor profession and
responds by keeping standards high
From the
outside in
STRATEGY
OBJECTIVES
From the
inside out
BUSINESS PLANS
KPIs / TARGETS
Control
BUDGETS
• Building new and strengthening existing
relationships with our key stakeholders
• Delivering support services that help our members
to survive and thrive in a challenging and
competitive environment
• Driving increased efficiency, effectiveness and
innovation within the Society in pursuit of an
organisation which is respected by members and
non-members alike
Towards 2020
The Law Society of Scotland’s strategy
5. The context in which this strategy sits
In deciding a strategy towards 2020, it was important for the Council to carefully consider
the likely external environment which will face Scottish solicitors over the next 5 - 10 years.
In thinking ahead, the Council made some informed assumptions about the future and
considered the economic, social and political change that will influence and impact the
legal sector. The Council also looked at the changes now being seen within the profession
itself and thought about the threats and opportunities that our members will likely face.
In summary:
A. Economic
B. Social
The economic outlook over the next three to five
years remains challenging. We know that the
legal profession will not be immune from the
continuation of that tough economic climate.
Like every other sector, the legal profession must
keep pace with social change in both attitude
and behaviour. The consumers of legal services,
whether they are individuals, businesses or
institutions, will be increasingly well informed and
in many ways hold a greater balance of power.
The reductions in public spending planned over the
course of the coming years present a significant
challenge and one that will impact on both access
to justice as well as those of our members working
in the public sector.
We expect large scale commercial legal work emanating
from big businesses headquartered in Scotland to
be less evident. In looking for new business, our
commercial legal firms may need to look outside
of Scotland if they are to sustain their firms.
Overall, we expect to see consolidation of private
practice, with fewer but larger firms emerging from
this process. We can also expect more firm acquisitions
and mergers. Our members will continue to need
practical support that assists them in understanding
and dealing with these pressures. We will also need
to remain vigilant from a regulatory perspective.
This increasing consumer power, coupled with the
financial pressures that continue to exist on both
households and businesses, will only add further
pressure on the margins of legal firms.
The commoditisation of some elements of legal
services also presents a threat as well as an opportunity
for some firms. Reputation and quality assurance,
both at solicitor brand and at firm level, will become
even more important.
This all requires the Society to be an increasingly
effective regulator, which ensures the highest possible
standards. We must also be a professional body
that not only holds a deeper understanding of the
brand of solicitor amongst the public but also takes
action to protect and strengthen that brand.
C. Legal sector
D. Political
The demographics of our membership have
changed steadily and we can fully expect to see
recent trends continuing over the coming years.
Our profession is on average becoming younger,
with the gender balance swinging decidedly
towards females.
Given the cross party support for the
Scotland Bill, we can be certain of further
devolution of power from Westminster to
Holyrood over the next 5 - 10 years.
The ongoing debate around the constitutional
future of Scotland means further change is a
real possibility over the coming years.
These general trends do not disguise some specific
pockets of demographic pressure within some sections
of the profession, such as an ageing criminal defence
bar, a trend not evident on the prosecution side of
our membership. If we are to avoid a future imbalance
in the justice system then some intervention may be
required to encourage younger members to move into
criminal defence work. We also expect to see a further
rise in the numbers of ‘employed’ status solicitors,
which now account for a majority of the membership,
with principals and partners in private practice
representing a decreasing proportion of the profession
as a whole.
The passing of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act by the
Scottish Parliament in 2010 means that, within the time
horizon of this strategy, we will see new alternative
business structures becoming a reality. The impact of
these changes remains uncertain and we anticipate
it taking some time before licensed legal services
providers significantly alter the market for legal services.
Many members remain cautious in approaching what
for some will be an opportunity and others a threat.
We know that pressure to reduce public spending over
the coming years will impact upon access to justice
and the provision of legal aid. Whilst the constraints
on government budgets may limit the ability for early
action, we know that there remains strong political
will to see through the reforms proposed by the
review by Lord Gill. We also await the outcomes
of reviews being conducted by Lords Carloway
and McCluskey. This presents new risks but also
offers new opportunities for our members.
All of this comes in the unexpected context of a
majority government at Holyrood and a coalition
government at Westminster, at least for the next
four years, which itself brings a degree of political
uncertainty.
Towards 2020
The Law Society of Scotland’s strategy
The Law Society of Scotland
26 Drumsheugh Gardens
Edinburgh
EH3 7YR
Legal Post LP1 Edinburgh - 1
Tel: 0131 226 7411
Fax: 0131 225 2934
Email: [email protected]
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Website: www.lawscot.org.uk