SUMMER STUDENTS

The WS Society recently hosted three first year law students as part of the University of Edinburgh’s Insights Programme.  The Insights Programme is designed to remove some of the barriers which prevent students from fulfilling their full potential. The programme is open to students who come from families, schools and/or communities where university is not always a typical destination.

The executive team at the WS Society spent time with the students, sharing knowledge, providing advice, widening their legal networks, and demystifying the professional working environment.  During their week with the Society, the students were also tasked with researching and presenting on the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament. As part of the week’s programme, students also met Isla Davie KC, Advocate, who very generously gave some of her time to provide an insight into the Scottish Bar, and Alison Howells, of Lisa Rae & Co, who kindly provided insight into family law practice.

The WS Society is committed to broadening access to the legal sector and encouraging students to pursue a career in law.  The Society was delighted to partner with the University of Edinburgh to successfully deliver this initiative. Feedback received from some of the students following their week with the Society is below:

“This experience with the WS Society at the Signet Library has been one of the most intriguing, incredible, amazing and informative weeks I have ever had. I have found new areas of law that I would like to delve into more, and has also given me an opportunity to make connections with solicitors and advocates so that I can have people I can ask for experience or to have a talk about my legal career. I have decided that whilst I am still going to work towards working in counter-terrorism, I am going to look at other areas of law that have peeked an interest. I would like to thank WS Society for giving me this experience, and I look forward to becoming a member.”

 – Brooke Stewart

“I really enjoyed my week at WS Society and cannot thank Sophie and Anna enough for giving us the opportunity to experience this through the Insights Programme. They were able to open us up to new experiences and areas of law I had never heard or thought about before. We made some really great connections and spoke to some amazing people. Thank you!”

 – Amy McInally

You can find out more about the Insights Programme at the University of Edinburgh here.  For enquiries to the WS Society regarding the Insights Programme, please contact Sophie Mills (smills@wssociety.co.uk).

AUTUMN CPD

The Society’s leading CPD programme continues with six further conferences during September and October, across a wide range of practice areas.  Events are open to all, with discounted rates for WS members. All events will take place, in person, at the Signet Library. Further information on speakers, timings and online booking is available here.

  •  WS Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference – 7 September 2023

  • WS Abuse Law Symposium – 12 September 2023

  • WS/PNLA Joint Conference on Professional Negligence Law – 21 September 2023

  • WS Employment Law Conference – 28 September 2023

  • WS/STEP Joint Conference for Private Client Advisers – 5 October 2023

  • WS Sports Law Conference – 13 October 2023

RESTORING PATRICK GEDDES’ EVERGREEN

Signet Library conservator Jo Hockey has recently completed the restoration of the Signet Library’s rare complete set of Sir Patrick Geddes’ Celtic Revival journal, The Evergreen. These beautiful volumes, famous for their beautiful leather Tree of Life bindings and Celtic page decorations, were originally published seasonally in the mid-1890s. They inspired a revival in interest in Celtic and Highland culture, including the Gaelic language, and were a platform for major artists and writers such as John Duncan.

The Evergreen was just part of the astonishing career of the polymath Sir Patrick Geddes, who began life as a biologist but found fame as a city planner, an educator and a campaigner for peace. In Edinburgh he is remembered for his attempts to revive the Old Town, creating community gardens, encouraging inhabitants to improve their environments, running international summer schools, building Ramsay Gardens and renovating Milne’s Court as student residences, and, most famously, transforming the Outlook Tower into an international university of town planning and an international inspiration for the restoration of communal life. His memory in the city is preserved in the Patrick Geddes Centre at Riddle’s Court: he himself would eventually leave Edinburgh for a late career blossoming in Israel, India and France.

Those copies of Geddes’ Evergreen that have survived have suffered heavily from discolouration and the decay of the leather in the bindings (most bookbinding leather of the time was treated with sulphuric acid in the production process, which means that bindings from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards display deterioration beyond their seventeenth- and eighteenth-century equivalents). Jo Hockey has treated the leather to halt the decay and restore much of the dwindled colour, and has replaced the long-lost leather book spines with Japanese paper tinted to match the shade of the boards.

Jo’s full account of the restoration of the volumes, along with a full account of Sir Patrick Geddes’ revolutionary life and career, can be read here. An exhibition of The Evergreen alongside other Geddes materials from Signet Library collections will run in the Upper West Library until the end of July.

ARRIVEDERCI STEFANIA SOSSI

This month the Society’s Executive Manager, Stefania Sossi, moves on from her post, with our deep gratitude and best wishes. Stefania joined the WS Society in November 2015, from her former position as Duty Manager for a large American hotel company. Stefania graduated as an interpreter in Milan, and before coming to the UK, completed a Masters in the Economics of Tourism in Italy. During her 8 years with the Society, Stefania has demonstrated her flexibility and professionalism in her multi-faceted role in managing our office function, hospitality and charity administration, including finance, membership, events, HR and IT.  We know the Society’s members, and visitors to the Signet Library, will miss her warm presence and calm efficiency. Stefania leaves the WS Society to spend time with her young son, husband and family in Italy, before taking up a role with an international NGO later in the year.

SUMMER EXHIBITION

The Trustees of the WS Society are delighted to announce the public opening of the Signet Library from 31 July to 13 August 2023, for an exhibition with the artist, David Eustace, to coincide with the Edinburgh International Festival. For the first time in Scotland, David Eustace will exhibit his sculpture work including works in acrylic, steel and granite, as well as a print portfolio of 24 unseen images, in a collective body of work, entitled ‘Thereafter’.

The exhibition is produced in collaboration with the Fine Art Society, media partners, The Times and academic partners, Edinburgh Napier University  We are grateful for the support from sponsors Vialex, Midton and Balblair Whisky.

The exhibition is open to all, with free admission, 10 am – 4 pm each day, offering the chance for visitors from around the world to experience the beauty of the Signet Library’s interiors and David’s striking work.

SPOTLIGHT ON EQUALITIES IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

We were proud to collaborate with the Scottish charity, FJSS Group (SC042868), to produce their 2023 Equalities Workshop at the Signet Library on 8 June. The workshop is a flagship event for the Scottish justice sector.  It has been running for four years, following its launch in June 2019, at the Scottish Justice Conference. The event is focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the justice sector. This year, the spotlight fell on the Scottish legal profession, with an analysis of how far the profession has come in terms of race and ethnicity equality, fair representation and inclusivity. The calibre of the expert speakers, who participated from across the country, was outstanding and included, amongst others, Professor Sir Geoff Palmer OBE, Siobhan Brown MSP (Minister for Victims and Community Safety), Professor Amos Haniff (Dean, Heriot Watt University), Silence Chihuri (CEO, FJSS Group) and Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie (Police Scotland). The event also marked the launch of FJSS’s ‘Roadmap to Diversity and Inclusion’, the culmination of several years of research and grassroots engagement.  We look forward to continuing to support our colleagues’ important work in this area.

NEW KEEPER

We are truly delighted His Majesty The King has appointed Lady Elish Angiolini LT DBE PC KC FRSE, as Lord Clerk Register of Scotland and Keeper of the Signet, the first woman to be appointed to the role. Formerly Lord Advocate for Scotland, Lady Elish has had the most distinguished legal career. She is currently Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford and Chair of the Public Inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard.  In June 2022, Lady Elish was appointed by Her Late Majesty The Queen to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.  Further information on Lady Elish’s career in law and public service can be found here.

Lady Elish joined Deputy Keeper, Mandy Laurie WS, to present new Writers to the Signet with their commissions at the latest Diet of Admission on 6 June, and to welcome all new members of the Society. The new Keeper shared some personal remarks during the ceremony, recounting memories of her own admission as a WS in 2005, when her mother accompanied her to the Signet Library. Along with their families and friends, the 33 new members of the Society enjoyed chatting with Lady Elish over drinks after the formalities.