The Scottish Young Lawyers' Association (SYLA), in conjunction with Scott + Co, held our Annual Conference, taking place in the Corinthian Hotel, Ingram Street, Glasgow, on Friday 24 June 2011. 

In keeping with years past, we were proud to welcome some of Scotland's top practitioners to speak to our delegates on the development of their skills, market awareness and business acumen. We were joined by some of Scotland's top commercial practitioners to speak to our delegates on innovation in these times of challenging economic recovery, along with representatives of the Faculty of Advocates and Society of Solicitor Advocates, who addressed the future of litigation services in Scotland, following the possible implementation of both the Gill and Thomson Reviews. Increasingly, firms of all sizes are benefitting from a presence on Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media: we held a seminar on this topic to provide tips and guidance on how to enhance your career through these sources of business development. We were also delighted to offer our delegates expert advice on how to progress their careers in these challenging economic times, in Scotland, the UK and beyond.

We were also delighted to offer delegates the chance to hear an important and timely keynote addresses. Leading UK legal commentator Richard Susskind, the author of the End of Lawyers, came to Scotland to discuss the future of our profession post-ABS and where the profession is heading over the coming years. 

The Scottish Young Lawyers' Association, in association with the Scottish Human Rights Law Group, hosted "So you want to be… a human rights lawyer?" will take place in Edinburgh on Thursday 23 June 2011.

Speakers included advocates Anna Poole, First Standing Junior to the Scottish Government, and Chris Shead, Black Chambers, who offered differing perspectives from the bar on the role of human rights in both public law litigation and the criminal sphere. Insight from private practice was provided from leading immigration and human rights solicitor, Jamie Kerr of Drummond Miller LLP, and the expertise of the Government Legal Service for Scotland provided a unique specialist in-house perspective on work in this field. 

On the 19th and 20th of April 2011 the SYLA in association with Morton Fraser hosted seminars on 'The Implications of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011' delivered by Professor Kenneth Norrie.

For Photos click here.

SYLA Criminal Day Conference, November 2010

In November 2010, the Scottish Young Lawyers' Association held our Fifth Annual Criminal Day Conference in the Edinburgh Corn Exchange.

In its fifth year, the conference is one of the highlights of the SYLA's calendar, and this year continued that precedent, offering delegates practical and informative sessions on advocacy techniques, case preparation and recent legal updates, delivered by some of Scotland's top criminal practitioners.

John Hamilton of Black Chambers, Faculty of Advocates Director of Training and Education and one of Scotland's most experienced criminal juniors, opened the conference, delivering a timely session on examination-in-chief. With the conference delegates comprising defence agents in the main, it would be all too easy for us to forget the importance of an effective examination-in-chief, however, this session illustrated the need to master this skill, crucial in bolstering the case of the defence before your decision maker: judge or jury. John emphasized the importance of a strong case analysis and thorough preparation, before addressing effective ways to structure questions, both in terms of form and content. 

Handling expert witnesses is an oft-cited minefield for criminal practitioners, and to this end, we were delighted to welcome advocate Steve Love to address our delegates on mastering the use of experts at trial. This session emphasized the importance of illustrating exactly why your expert is to be preferred by the decision maker, and also the benefits of developing your own understanding of the technical areas experts of the other side address, particularly useful in formulating an effective cross-examination. 

Tackling cross-examination can prove a challenge for the young criminal practitioner - we therefore welcomed leading senior solicitor-advocate John Scott, Capital Defence Lawyers to share his expertise with our delegates.  Illustrating that cross-examination is far from just a mental dual between advocate and witness, John emphasized the virtues of brevity, plain language and, interestingly, not using your opportunity to cross-examine, or rather, using it only where absolutely necessary. John also narrated notable examples where the defence has gone horribly wrong, thanks to the cross-examination vices of asking too many questions, or asking a question you don't know the answer to… delegates paid heed!

After lunch and an opportunity to mingle with practitioners from all over the country, delegates returned to gain advice and insight from leading criminal law accountant, Derek Wilkinson, of Alex Quinn & Partners Ltd. With his previous experience working for SLAB proving invaluable, delegates were able to pose questions to Derek on matters varying from the criminal quality assurance scheme and the new solemn legal aid accounts, to effective file management - a must when files are being submitted for audit.

A rare opportunity was presented to delegates in a session on the Perspective of the Judiciary, delivered by Sheriff Sean Murphy QC - the chance to question a real sheriff on the best way to handle their cases. Sheriff Murphy provided a timely session on the current perspective of the judiciary on how to manage current issues cropping up at both summary and solemn trials, which was peppered with insightful anecdotes from his many years in practice and on the bench.  "Please be alert and take onboard hints you may get from the bench" and "Don't labour your point or overstay your welcome" being two extremely helpful tips for all young court practitioners. 

In our closing session delegates were treated to an address delivered by leading human rights counsel, Chris Shead, Black Chambers, on his experiences of employing ECHR arguments before the Appeal Court, and most recently, before the UK Supreme Court in Cadder v HMA [2010] UKSC 43. Chris highlighted the importance of all criminal practitioners being live to the implications of devolution arguments for their clients.

Finally, delegates were privileged to welcome Scotland's premier senior counsel, Donald Findlay QC, to deliver a master class in jury speeches. Enrapturing the audience with his take on the skills and delivery required to persuade a jury, delegates were offered the chance to learn from a true master of the criminal trial, and left with a rare insight into the art of successful jury advocacy. "The art of advocacy is painting, using words rather than paints, oils or watercolours." 

Our grateful thanks are extended to all speakers who assisted with the SYLA Criminal Day Conference 2010.  We are indebted to our speakers for their time and effort spent training and addressing delegates.

Finally, we are also very grateful for all the support offered by our sponsors, Black Chambers:

 

 "... offering more combined experience in criminal law than any other stable at the Scottish bar" - for further information please visit

http://www.blackchambers.co.uk/

Reviews of the SYLA Criminal Day Conference from 2010 Delegates:

 "I was so impressed by the caliber of speakers at the SYLA Criminal Day Conference and it was great to have the opportunity to meet and chat to some of them throughout the day. Our host Derek Ogg was hugely entertaining; his stories were fascinating and they really helped translate theory into practice. I learned a great deal from him and indeed all the other speakers. It was informative, yet highly enjoyable."

 "It was very nice to have CPD which was entirely relevant to my area of practice. The conference was very enjoyable and I would certainly go again."

For Photos click here.

 ''So you want to be a lawyer' seminar series

In 2010 the SYLA ran a series of seminars which gave an insight into the daily life of a solicitor in various areas of the profession. 

Seminars already held in this series included:

'So you want to be a civil litigator?' with David Wilson, Partner, Digby Brown LLP and Leonie Young, Solicitor, HBJ Gateley Wareing.

'So you want to be a property lawyer?' with Tanya MacLeod and Alan White both associates at Brodies LLP.

'So you want to be a criminal lawyer?' with Frances McMenamin QC and Alex Prentice, Solicitor Advocate.

'So you want to be an In-House lawyer?' with Janet Hood, Janet Hood Consulting and Chair of the In-House Lawyers Group and Christopher Nicholson, Solicitor, Government Legal Service for Scotland.

Another incredible successful conference focussing on criminal law and advocacy with a stellar line-up of practitioners:

Mike Jones QC, Mungo Bovey QC, John Scott Solicitor Advocate, Gary McAteer Solicitor Advocate, Krista Johnston Solicitor Advocate, Shona Barrie, Divisional Procurator Fiscal.

 

 SYLA Annual Conference 2008