Rising stars and stars that have risen – double celebrations at Law Society’s conference

The award was presented at the Law Society’s Law in Scotland Conferencereception, along with a presentation to the Scottish Law Commission to celebrate its 50th year anniversary on Friday.

Runners up to the Rising Star Award were Emma Blundell of City of Edinburgh Council and Martin Campbell of the Scottish Social Services Council, based in Dundee.

The award was launched two years ago to support and promote new lawyers working as part of in-house legal teams, a group that now makes up 30 per cent of Scottish solicitors.

Lynda Towers, chair of the In-House Lawyers’ Group said: “All the nominations this year were of an exceptional standard, and we had a very difficult task in making our final decision, with every nominee being a potential candidate for top spot.

“I’d like to congratulate Leigh, our very deserving winner, and also our two runners up, Emma and Martin. Not only have these three exceptionally talented solicitors shown a fantastic commitment to providing the best possible legal services within their respective organisations, but they have also contributed to the wider community through volunteering their personal time and expertise.”

Christine McLintock, president of the Law Society, presented the Rising Star trophy and the runners up prizes, and congratulated the Scottish Law Commission on its 50th anniversary.

Ms McLintock said: “This year has given us a fantastic opportunity to combine the presenting of our Rising Star Award with the celebration of a star that has risen – the Scottish Law Commission (SLC).

“Over the last 50 years, the SLC has made the most valuable contribution to Scottish law reform. It has modernised family and incapacity law, abolished feudal law, and reformed Scottish land law and criminal law, to name but a few areas.”

The SLC, along with the English Law Commission, has worked with both the UK and Scottish governments to introduce a new parliamentary procedure for non-controversial Law Commission bills, in both the UK and Scottish parliaments.

Ms McLintock said: “Both the Scottish and the English law commissions are to be commended for their work on these new parliamentary procedures. This has very much paved the way for a speedier and more efficient passage of new law through the legislative process.

“I’d also like to congratulate and add my thanks to the many solicitors across Scotland who have contributed to the work of the Commission, and in doing so help to underpin SLC discussion papers with genuine, practical experience.

“We very much look forward to working with the SLC for the next 50 years.”