THE SYLA COMMITTEE 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT
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Patricia Taylor

Patricia is a Commercial Litigation Associate with DLA Piper LLP. She completed the LL.B. at Glasgow Caledonian University; obtaining a First Class degree and graduating top of her class. She completed the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow and was awarded the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow Prize for the Top Student in Corporate Law. Patricia completed her traineeship with an international firm and qualified as a Scottish solicitor in 2020. She passed the SQE in 2023 to dual-qualify as a solicitor in England & Wales.
 
Patricia has served on the SYLA Committee for 4 years; completing 2 terms as a Non-Executive Member, and 1 term as Secretary and Vice President, respectively. Patricia wholeheartedly believes in SYLA’s place within the Scottish legal profession, and the impact this platform allows the Committee to effect.
 
As a first-generation University attendee, Patricia is genuinely passionate about social mobility. She is unwaveringly driven to create a profession that represents the diverse society in which we live, and one in which we can confidently bring our whole selves to work.
 
She is looking forward to finalising her plans for the SYLA Mentoring HUB, strengthening the SYLA’s focus on mental health and wellbeing, and ensuring that the SYLA is able to service members far and wide (including in more rural areas) and those of up to 10 years’ PQE. Further objectives for this year include hosting intra-professional networking events, increasing engagement with the SYLA podcast, continuing to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and elevating the voices of SYLA members.

​Outside of work and SYLA, Patricia is a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation and the Law Society of Scotland, and sits on the fundraising committee of the Law Scot Foundation.  

Email: [email protected] 
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patricia-taylor-641439a4 ​

SECRETARY

​Brianella Scott

Brianella Scott is an Assistant Solicitor to the Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry within the Scottish Government. She completed the LL.B at the University of Stirling, and then went on to complete her Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Strathclyde. Brianella volunteers as a mentor with the Law Society of Scotland’s Mentoring Scheme and is a committee member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Racial Inclusion Group, which aims to understand the lived and professional experiences of minority ethnic members of the Scottish legal profession.
 
Brianella served on the SYLA Committee for two years as a non-executive committee member, and as Secretary. She is serving her second term as Secretary for the SYLA. Brianella founded the SYLA Mental Health Matters podcast series during the pandemic. The podcast aims to promote openness, transparency, and open dialogue as a means of addressing critical issues such as Imposter Syndrome, Burnout and Anxiety, which are endemic within the profession.
 
Being originally from the Highlands, Brianella is also keen to further engagement with our members beyond the central belt and has organised the SYLA’ s inaugural Launch Party for our members in Inverness.
 
Brianella hopes to use her platform on the SYLA to address issues relating to gender and racial equity, intersectionality, reverse mentoring, and social mobility. As a minority ethnic woman, she is also eager to emphasise the importance of allyship and the visibility of minority ethnic mentors and role models as a means of improving access and progress within the profession. Brianella has assisted with organising Diversity and Inclusion Roundtables, Allyship events, Women in Law events and the European Young Bar Association Conference.
 
See Racial Inclusion Group Report and recommendations here: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/research-and-policy/equality-and-diversity/racial-inclusion-in-the-scottish-legal-profession/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianella-scott-a2929795/
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VICE PRESIDENT

​Amina Amin

​​Amina is a Solicitor within the Intellectual Property and Commercial Contracts team at MacRoberts. Amina completed the LLB at Robert Gordon University, and then went on to complete her Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Strathclyde. Amina is also Committee Member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Racial Inclusion Group.

​Amina served on the SYLA Committee for two years as a non-executive committee member, and one year as the Treasurer. In her role as Vice President, she hopes to bring her passion for representation to the forefront and is dedicated to being the voice for those that are unrepresented within the legal profession.

Having personally experienced a career transition, Amina is keenly aware of the challenges faced by junior lawyers who wish to move across disciplines. Amina intends to raise awareness and organise events that highlight the potential of transferrable skills. By bridging this overlooked gap, our progression can open doors to new opportunities and enable junior lawyers to thrive in different sectors.
 
Amina believes in the power of networking and building meaningful relationships. She hopes to begin a networking group focused on bringing together professionals from various fields within the legal and professional services spectrum.
 
In addition, Amina hopes to continue with the SYLA podcast to address pertinent issues faced by our members. The SYLA podcast platform will serve as a voice for the underrepresented, tackling the challenges faced by those within our legal profession.
 
Lastly, Amina hopes to use her platform to address issues relating to gender and racial equity, intersectionality, reverse mentoring, and social mobility. Amina is a passionate advocate for Diversity and Inclusivity and is committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive legal profession for all. ​

TREASURER

​Heather Gibson

Heather is a trainee solicitor at BTO Solicitors. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with a first-class LLB in 2020, and achieved the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice with Distinction at the same institution in 2021. After graduating, Heather joined the Diploma Team at Glasgow University as an Intern, working closely with students, academics and professionals on course materials and any other Diploma related matters. After concluding her role at the University, Heather worked as a Legal Assistant before commencing her traineeship.
 
Heather served on the SYLA Committee in 2022-2023 as a non-executive committee member, having joined the committee with the aim of promoting access to and understanding of the profession for those who did not have links to law pre-university.
 
This year, Heather would like to ensure that the SYLA caters to all of its members up to 10 years post-qualification, and including underrepresented groups. In particular, Heather is passionate about facilitating discussions around the issues facing women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and racial and ethnic minorities within the professions.  Heather also hopes to modernise the SYLA’s online presence and establish a networking group to expand links outside of the legal sphere. ​

NON-EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Giorgio Ventisei ​

Giorgio is a solicitor and Procurator Fiscal Depute. He lives and works in Edinburgh. His main role is to provide advice and assistance to the Scottish Law Officers in civil litigation & public inquiry matters. He also presents criminal prosecutions in the Sheriff Court. Prior to joining Crown Office in 2022, Giorgio trained and  practiced as a commercial litigation solicitor at a leading Scottish firm. He is an alumni of the University of Dundee and is a member of the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland.
 
Giorgio is principally responsible for SYLA’s social sport programme. He arranges weekly five-a-side football, weekly yoga sessions and a season-long golf tournament spanning across Scotland. Giorgio is also responsible for running TCPD/CPD sessions for members, particularly relative to dispute resolution, advocacy, litigation practice and insolvency.  
 
Giorgio enjoys a post-work pint with colleagues, playing football and trying not to get too frustrated with his golf game.

Amanjit Uppal

Aman is a trainee solicitor at Anderson Strathern who completed the LLB (Hons) at Glasgow Caledonian University and the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow. During her time at university, she was heavily involved in pro bono work and primarily focused her studies on discrimination and human rights law, and these have remained her main interests.

Aman is also passionate about the issue of diversity and the inclusion of women in the legal profession. She hopes to utilise her position in the SYLA committee to draw attention to the challenges faced by those who are Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic members and women. For these reasons, Aman is keen to engage with other members of the association to discuss ways in which these issues can be addressed and how we can encourage inclusivity in the legal profession in the years to come. Additionally, as Aman is at the early stages of her career, she is also keen to represent and support those who are also at a similar stage throughout her time on the committee.
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Twitter: @_AmanUppal
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aman-u-827197198
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Sophie Campbell

Sophie is an associate in the Commercial Litigation team at CMS in Edinburgh. Sophie graduated in 2019 from the University of Glasgow with an LLB and then went on to complete the DPLP in 2020. During her time at university, Sophie was involved with the Glasgow University Charity Fashion Show and worked as part of the committee to raise funds for various charities across Scotland.
 
Sophie commenced her traineeship with DWF in August 2020. Throughout her traineeship, Sophie was involved in numerous CSR and fundraising initiatives, as well as being a coach for DWF’s 5 Star Futures programmes. Sophie is also a mentor for GROW Mentoring and a member of the LawScot Foundation Fundraising Committee. She qualified as a solicitor in August 2022 and joined CMS in September 2022.
 
Sophie was first elected to the SYLA in 2022, before being re-elected in 2023. This year, Sophie hopes to use SYLA’s platform to create more opportunities for young lawyers to become involved in pro-bono work which will improve access to justice in Scotland. Sophie also hopes to connect SYLA members with other young professional organisations to give members the chance to better their business development skills and to expand their professional networks. Sophie intends to continue her involvement with the SYLA podcast and is committed to releasing regular episodes discussing issues of importance to SYLA members. 

Caitlin Bell

​Caitlin is a Senior Solicitor specialising in litigation & dispute resolution at Gilson Gray in Edinburgh. She joined the firm as a trainee in September 2019 and completed a full litigation traineeship. Caitlin has a wide practice which includes commercial, corporate, and insolvency disputes as well as a growing public law practice. Caitlin regularly appears in Sheriff Courts throughout Scotland and acts for clients in matters before the Court of Session.
 
Caitlin completed the LLB in 2018 at the University of Glasgow. During her third year, Caitlin spent a semester studying at Lund University in Sweden. She went on to complete her Diploma in Legal Practice in 2019, also at the University of Glasgow.
 
Having undertaken the majority of her traineeship during the Covid-19 pandemic, Caitlin understands acutely both the specific challenge faced by junior litigators today in gaining invaluable advocacy experience and also the importance of mental health support for junior lawyers and the profession as a whole. Caitlin is looking forward to working with the rest of the committee to help provide additional initiatives to provide mental health support to SYLA members and a variety of CPD events.
 
Caitlin enjoys running and finds staying active is key to her maintaining a work life balance. She ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon for Health in Mind in May 2023. 

Katie Wright

Katie is a trainee solicitor with Jardine Phillips LLP in Edinburgh. Katie graduated in 2019 with an LLB (Hons) followed by a MSc with Distinction in Human Rights and Diplomacy from the University of Stirling. She then obtained her Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in 2022 before beginning her traineeship.

​During her studies, Katie worked with the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), which is the UK’s network of independent food aid providers. This experience allowed Katie to engage with a variety of different people and cemented her desire to be an advocate for social mobility.
 
By being a part of the SYLA committee, Katie hopes to be able to engage with members and organise events that support those entering the legal profession, particularly those with no prior connections to the legal world. She hopes to help create an environment that is inclusive and diverse, allowing all young legal professionals to voice their opinions

Thomas McGovern ​

Tom is a former graduate of Glasgow University Law school, and is 18 months into a criminal defence traineeship at McGovern Reid.

After a convoluted and difficult time at university, Tom attained a number of skills that he has used since joining the profession and due to his dyslexia, decided to co-found ‘Disabling Barriers Scotland’. Tom uses his platform to promote all issues relating to neuro-diversity.

During his traineeship, he has gained a variety of skills in court advocacy and significant client contact, given the front line nature of being a criminal defence trainee.

He is passionate about the future of the criminal law profession and feels it is the obligation of his generation to make sure funding is available for those with the willingness to work within it.

Outside of work, Tom's interests include boxing, football and running.
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Latasha Kirimbai

Latasha is a Trainee Solicitor at Thorntons Law LLP based in Edinburgh due to qualify in March 2024. She completed her LLB at the University of Aberdeen followed by the Diploma of Professional Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh. 

Latasha is passionate about the profession and shaping a brighter future for everyone. She hopes to play her part in making it a happier, healthier and more inclusive place for all. As a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s New Lawyers Reference Group she seeks to collaborate directly with our regulator to do so.

Latasha is keen to use her new position as a non-executive committee member to get involved in SYLA’s important work related to educating and supporting young lawyers. She is passionate about increasing representation for under represented groups and believes everyone should have a role model that reflects them. Additionally, Latasha is looking forward to getting involved in the various social and networking events as she views making connections and friendships within the profession as key to young lawyers establishing a support network.

PAST PRESIDENT 

​Laila Kennedy

Laila is a Dispute Resolution Solicitor with Ledingham Chalmers Solicitors in Edinburgh. She graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a LL.B (Honours) 2:1 in 2019, and achieved the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice with Distinction in 2020. Laila first joined the SYLA in September 2015, and has thoroughly enjoyed representing members as a student, a trainee, and now as a solicitor. Laila begins her seventh year on the Committee, following her year as President, as Vice President, and two years as Treasurer. One of Laila’s objectives whilst President was for SYLA to become a TCPD authorised provider, and this application was approved by the Law Society of Scotland in April 2023.

Laila attended the European Young Bar Association Summer Conference in Rome in June 2019, where she assisted, and successfully bid to host the next Spring Conference in Glasgow, which took place in 2021. Laila has focused on reaching and supporting as many members as possible over the last year in particular, and gained sponsorship to host a virtual event platform to achieve this. She created a new series, ‘Connecting Trainees’, where trainees meet each other and share tips on working remotely, while discussing mental health concerns and providing a good support network.  Laila has organised a number of events including First Time Buyers and the Ethics Conference. Laila has also organised the annual Women In Law event, with Lady Hale as the keynote speaker in 2021.
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Laila enjoys making a personal contribution to SYLA by creating educational, training and networking opportunities. She continues to focus on outreach, mental health, and diversity, and is determined to support and reach as many members as possible.
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LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/laila-kennedy-40325510b 
​Twitter: @LailaKennedy15