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The following Article suggests that far from being independent of the Judicial System SCCRC are run "Entirely and Exclusively" by the Judicial System.

Mr Gerard Sinclair LLB (Hons) Dip L.P. N.P.
Gerard Sinclair is the Chief Executive and Principal Solicitor of the SCCRC, and took up this appointment on 30 June 2003. He is responsible for advising the Commission on the discharge of its responsibilities under both the legislation and the Management Statement.

Prior to joining the Commission, Mr Sinclair was a solicitor in private practice for 18 years, and a senior partner with a law firm in Glasgow. He is qualified in both Scottish and English Law, and his legal career included a wide variety of criminal, civil and commercial litigation. He has previously served as a member of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland, and is presently Vice-Convener of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee. He was appointed a part-time sheriff in June 2006.

Mr Sinclair is also the Accountable Officer for the Commission. He is responsible for the proper stewardship and expenditure of the public funds received by the Commission and for the day to day management of the Commission. He is responsible for ensuring the efficient and expeditious progressing of the Commission's cases.

Scott Law · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 36

More independence called into question.

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Published Date: 07 January 2008
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Scotland
Related Topics: Legal Issues
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View GalleryBy JENNIFER VEITCH
IF THE turn of a new year is a time for looking ahead to new challenges, then Neil Stevenson has more change than most to grapple with.
In his new post as the Law Society of Scotland's head of strategic change, he will be trying to stay on top of all the big issues currently facing the profession – revamping education, standards and, of course, alternative business structures.

If that wasn't enough to keep his in-tray piled high with lever arch files filled with background reading, the society is also carrying out a governance review that could lead to significant changes in its internal structure.

This newly created post represents a promotion for Stevenson, who was previously the society's deputy director of education and training.

But when strategic management is usually the domain of a chief executive, why did the society need him to step up?

"You must have picked up on the level of change facing the society at the moment and the profession," Stevenson says. "There is a great list of projects I could rattle off – the highest profile ones are education, alternative business structures and standards in the profession.

"It was just felt that the society had traditionally had real areas of expertise but had not had many people working across all the departments, and so that's really what the role is about. It's trying to make sure all these projects are co-ordinated and that they stay on track within some overall framework."

In recent years, planning must have seemed something of a luxury for the society, which has found itself on the back foot over issues like complaints handling, the Legal Profession and Legal Bill and, thanks to the Which? super-complaint, alternative business structures. Stevenson acknowledges that the society has often had to be reactive and now needs to take a more proactive approach.

"So often when issues that the society is tackling get covered in the press and suddenly become very visible to practising members of the profession, it's because there's been some external driver," he says.

"But actually most of these areas are being worked on, and what these external drivers have done is make the work more noticeable, more visible and more under scrutiny. But it is not necessarily been why the society started off on a project."

While Stevenson will report direct to chief executive Douglas Mill and his deputy, Henry Robson, he stresses that he will be working closely with other senior staff members including his old boss, director of education and training Liz Campbell, director of professional practice, Bruce Ritchie, director of law reform, Michael Clancy, and director of regulation, Philip Yelland.

"It is really about me working with other senior colleagues," he says. "That is why I am so excited about getting the job, because instead of just working with Liz, which was fantastic, now I am getting to work with all my senior colleagues and get involved in all the big projects that are going on. They are still leading them – I am trying to make sure everything is co-ordinating together."

Stevenson, who studied law at Edinburgh University and previously worked for NHS Education for Scotland, has considerable experience in running major projects for the society, such as the research into women and the profession and the recently published profile of the profession. He has also played a significant role in the ongoing consultation into education and training.

While education underpins many issues facing the profession, particularly regarding standards, he says he has much to learn about the bigger picture, and what practising solicitors think.

"There is a certain amount of getting up to speed – I am regularly being passed lever arch files of reading at the moment," he laughs. "I am also trying to make sure I am aware of the profession's views on new areas. I spoke to them a lot over education issues, but I want to make sure I am aware of what people who are practising think, as well as where we are trying to take policy."

With so many pressing changes facing the society and the profession, it will be difficult for Stevenson to have a priority. However, the short-term agenda is likely to be dominated by the society's consultation on alternative business structures, which is due to end on 31 January.

"We are looking at how we analyse the results of that, and what might happen next," he says, adding that this is far from straightforward. "Alternative business structures are something that members of the public will have a view on and will want to have their say on, but they are also in some ways quite difficult to understand.

"There will be complex regulation and overlaps with Companies House and the Financial Services Authority and so on, whereas standards of service that solicitors should be delivering, almost everyone you spoke to would have a view on that."

On standards, Stevenson plans to set up focus groups in the spring to gauge what consumers expect from solicitors, before moving to a full public consultation later in the year.

Of less direct interest to the public – and possibly even many in the profession – will be ongoing work to look at the governance of the society itself. Stevenson believes that structural change could be fundamental to ensuring the society "delivers what people want", but he cautions that it won't necessarily mean the society can respond more swiftly in the future.

"Some of these areas are incredibly complicated and they do take time – what we want to avoid is having a quick reaction just to prove we can move quickly," he says. "We want to make sure that where it's about areas such as public protection, we really are looking into what all the implications are before just making a quick response because one group wants it.

"Having worked in the public sector before coming here, I think we can be faster than some of the areas I have worked in previously. Equally I know there are probably examples of where we have been a bit slower.

"One of things we are trying to do is make sure we get it right and things like involving the public do take time to do properly. In some ways it is very easy to rush out a quick document, give people a few weeks to reply and say that's consultation."

Ultimately, amid the myriad challenges facing the society, Stevenson sees opportunity: "If you look at alternative business structures, standards, education, the fact we are reviewing internal structures – there's actually a huge package of change in place.

"Over the next couple of years, we have an opportunity to emerge as a very different type of organisation. For me, that is what is should be all about."

The full article contains 1140 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.Last Updated: 06 January 2008 6:08 PM
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1 2Right,On Location 07/01/2008 01:50:10
The first thing he should change is the way they investigate or rather refuse to investigate their friends.
If the following links are anything to go by they have a long way to go to rectify all their wrongdoings over the years.
http://lawsocietycomplaints.blogspot.com/

http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/
Report Unsuitable2 Ross Fyffe,Scotland 07/01/2008 03:04:35
Not going to happen its a club .......... Report Unsuitable3 Peter Cherbi,Edinburgh 07/01/2008 12:34:53
The chief at the Law Society seems to be good at creating posts for the furtherance of his own personal policies, paid for by the rest of the legal profession and the client base of course and what is proposed above is little more than yet another talking shop from the legal profession.

I doubt the Law Society could ever change from the monopolistic prejudiced self regulatory organisation it has always been, and has always appeared to be in some of the best articles the Scotsman have ran on the woes of it's administration of lawyers & clients interests over the years.

Rather the Law Society should focus on being a lawyers union, having its regulatory & disciplinary functions removed completely, and a new independent organisation formed to represent the interests of clients in an opened legal services market.Report Unsuitable4 2Right,On Location 12/01/2008 18:07:05
#3 Peter
Can anyone tell us why after passing Law Degree's at our universities all lawyers must Join The Law Society and must use their Insurance "The Master Policy" ?
The master policy should be investigated for price fixing.
If one company owned all supermarkets, there would be a public outcry.
The same should apply to insurance companies and the Law Society.
Lawyers should be allowed to pick their own Insurance this is what competition and fairness is all about.
SNP should look into this with the utmost urgency.
One insurance company should not be allowed to benefit alone from Lawyers.

After passing all exams Lawyers should be free to practice without having to join Law Society in this supposed free society