Is it time to ditch ‘Dear Sirs’ – have your say in our poll

In a letter to the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, bearing the salutation “Dear Colleagues”, Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, Katy MacAskill and Màiri McAllan, co-founders of RebLaw Scotland, suggest “in the spirit of new year resolutions” that “we should all leave behind this year is the use of ‘Dear Sirs’ in formal letters”.

They write: “The use of “Dear Sirs” privileges the male norm. It tells women that we do not belong. Lady Hale, writing about the lack of women in the judiciary, noted that ‘the absence of women from the bench is even more important than our presence, in the message it sends out’. We suggest the same can be said here.”

While some law firms, such as CMS, have specifically suggested gender-neutral alternatives to the phrase, it remains in widespread use in Scotland.

The lawyers advocate a number of alternatives.

They add: “Fortunately, unlike increasing judicial diversity, there is a simple solution. It does not take radical measures and is not resource intensive. A number of firms in Scotland have already issued guidance and updated their styles. The Law Society of Ireland discontinued the use of “Dear Sirs” last year. Suggested alternatives include Dear Sir or Madam; Dear [firm name]; Dear Solicitors; or Dear Colleagues.”

Amanda Millar, Law Society of Scotland president, told SLN: “I entirely agree with the view expressed by Reblaw Scotland co-founders Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, Katy MacAskill and Màiri McAllan, that the use of ‘Dear Sirs’ in formal letters is a practice that we as a profession should leave behind.

“This is something we are promoting within the Law Society and we encourage the use of gender-neutral language by our members if correspondence is not addressed to someone by name, part of which is stopping ‘Dear Sir’ as a salutation.”

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