Former Glasgow bank to be turned into not-for-profit law office

A former bank in Glasgow is to be turned into a not-for-profit law office by its new owner to fill a gap left by ongoing legal aid cuts.

Solicitor Graham Walker, a road traffic law specialist, is to renovate the former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) building on Shettleston Road – part of an old tenement building – which he bought at auction for £75,000.

Mr Walker, who already has an office in the city’s Maryhill Road, told The Herald: “I noticed that the bank was due to come up for auction and in between trials I ran over to the Trades Hall in Glasgow to bid on my very own bank.

“It wasn’t until afterwards that I thought ‘what have I done’. I hadn’t even told my wife I was thinking about it!”

The project could also feature on the TV programme Homes Under the Hammer later this year if logistics permit.

Following renovation, which Mr Walker estimated will run to thousands of pounds, the office will be opened as a social enterprise, with lawyers working pro bono in some cases and all profits being put back into the local community.

He said: “We all get to a time in our lives when we think that it would be good to give something back.

“Now it won’t be Social Bite, and I don’t expect George Clooney to come popping in, but I do hope that I will be able to attract the funding that will allow us to build a quality law practice.”

Speaking to Scottish Legal News, Mr Walker also said that RBS, who would like to leave an ATM at the site, have been very supportive. ATMs carry a considerable amount of annual liability, which Mr Walker said he was not aware of before beginning the project. However, the bank has said it will cover the costs associated with the ATM.

He said: “RBS have said they’ll take on liability, effectively being our first sponsor.”

In addition, he added that “Some clients have come forward to say they’ll help with the fit-out costs – the whole fit-out and the painting.”

Mr Walker hopes others will join the project to “bring a degree of specialisation and effectiveness to the area that the people of the east end of Glasgow would never have been able to afford”.

He said: “It is all too clear that cuts in the legal aid system and cuts in the voluntary sector have left many people without an effective voice.

“A not-for-profit organisation will hopefully help to change that and we will make sure that every penny earned is ploughed back into the community to help break the cycle of deprivation.”

“Hopefully, with the help of friends, relations and folk with a good heart, we will turn the place into a working law office by the spring of 2016. Watch this space.”