SUMMER SCHOLARS PROGRAMME

Applications for the Society's Summer Law Scholarship programme 2025 are now open.

Designed for law students to enhance their professional and personal development, this is a unique opportunity for participants to spend two weeks as a WS Summer Scholar with the resources of the Signet Library at their fingertips.

Now a well-established programme empowering participants to raise their profile and sharpen their research and presentation skills in preparation for the world of legal work.

Participants will join a team-based research project on a contemporary legal issue, working towards a digital presentation to external delegates and written report for publication.

The programme is open to third and fourth year students from the four year LLB undergraduate degree, second year students from the accelerated LLB Degree and Diploma students.

For further information and how to apply please see here.

YOUR WS SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP

Contact details

We kindly ask all members to keep their contact details up to date with us to ensure you don't miss out on important Society news, events, and opportunities. Please let us know if there are any changes to your information so we can stay connected.

Please contact Sarah Leask or Sandra Morel with any changes to contact details.

We are keen to stay updated on your professional journey. If you've experienced a change in your career or recently graduated, please let us know so we can keep your details current and continue to support you. Career changes may also mean your membership category has changed, if you would like to discuss the transition to another membership category please contact Sarah Leask.

Member benefits

We want to ensure that members fully benefit from their membership. Members can enjoy access to designated working space in the renowned Signet Library, subject to availability, and can participate in a variety of Special Interest Group meetings and sessions.

Additionally, members benefit from discounted rates for CPD conferences and other events, along with regular updates through the Signet magazine and monthly Signet Post e-bulletins. Writers to the Signet and Associate members also enjoy reduced rates for venue hire at the Signet Library.

The Signet Library is a world class centre of knowledge and learning in law and legal practice. We offer Writers to the Signet and other members of the Society a law library and research services, both online and hard copy. They are at your disposal. If you would like to learn more about your membership benefits, please contact Sarah Leask.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

WS Society – Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Details of the WS Society’s SIGs and the launch of our Student SIG!

AI SIG

AI SIG had their first meeting at the end of 2024, the second meeting is TBA. Please note interest in joining this group by emailing membership@wssociety.co.uk.

Art SIG

The Spring schedule is being prepared and will be communicated shortly. In the meantime, please note your interest by emailing membership@wssociety.co.uk.

Book Club

Book Club will meet on Tuesday 15 April, 17:30 – 18:30, to discuss their fourth book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Register for the Zoom meeting here or note interest in joining this group by emailing membership@wssociety.co.uk.

We can also confirm the fifth book will be On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. The fifth meeting will be held at the end of May – exact date TBA. 

Charity and Third Sector SIG

Charity and Third Sector SIG will also meet at the end of May, date TBA. Future meeting discussions will include the following topics, with expert guest speakers:

• AI, Ethics and Third Sector Governance  

• View of the CEO - challenges of a Board

• Fraud and cyber security

• Community Wealth Building

• Trustee Recruitment and Induction

To note interest in joining this group, please email membership@wssociety.co.uk.

History

Future History SIG dates are TBA. Please note interest in joining this group by emailing membership@wssociety.co.uk.

History SIG members may be interested in Scotland's Greatest Palace - A talk by Dr Godfrey Evans.

Student SIG

We are pleased to launch the WS Society’s Student SIG. This is open to all our student members and offers the opportunity to network and support one another. The Student SIG will be led by Matthew Bruce, Trainee Solicitor at the WS Society. If you would like to join the Student SIG, please email membership@wssociety.co.uk.

For general SIG enquiries, please direct any questions to Sarah Leask, sleask@wssociety.co.uk.

CHARLES KIRKPATRICK SHARPE MUSIC

The discovery at the Signet Library of a previously unrecorded manuscript written in the hand of the Scottish artist and antiquary Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781-1851) promises to throw new light on Sharpe’s thinking on musical history and development. Sharpe was a famous eccentric of his day, who retained the clothing fashions of his youth long into his life. He was a friend and contemporary of Sir Walter Scott and contributed material Scott’s Border Minstrelsy and in 1823 published his own Ballad Book.

The new manuscript consists of eight leaves and presents a concise history of Scottish song from the earliest times until the late sixteenth century, along with notes and comments about other historical accounts including that of the Writer to the Signet William Tytler (d. 1792).

WS SOCIETY WELCOMES ITALIAN LAWYERS AT THE SIGNET LIBRARY

On Wednesday 26 March, a group of six Italian lawyers arrived at the Signet Library for a visit of the building and of Parliament Hall. Diana Stoica, Solicitor, who grew up in Italy, gave the group a guided tour in Italian.

The visit focussed on the history and role of the WS Society as the historic legal institution privileged to supervise the use of the King's Signet, (the private seal of the early Kings of Scots) since the early 14th century, up to the modern-day life at the Society, now a hub for conferences, exhibitions, legal education, and home office to a team of lawyers working in the governance and charities sector.

The lawyers discussed the modern role of a Solicitor working in the Society’s Governance and Charities team and the differences between the Italian and Scottish legal professions, covering qualification entry routes and the day-to-day life of a lawyer in the two respective countries.

The group stopped at Parliament Hall to hear about the history of Parliament House - the world’s first purpose-built parliament -from when it was built in 1637 to its present use within the Court of Session and the College of Justice.

The visit closed with a mini-exhibition on Italian books and manuscripts held at the Signet Library, curated by Principal Researcher James Hamilton. A few highlights of the exhibition were Lelio Torelli’s Florentine Pandects of 1533 (one of the finest juridical works of the time and one of the greatest ornaments of the Western press); The story of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots by the Jesuit Nicolas Caussin, confessor of Louis XIII, as translated into Italian by the Jesuit Carlo Antonio Berardi and published as a separate book in Bologna and Milan; and De origine, moribus, et rebus gestis Scotorum libri decem, a history of Scotland by John Lesley, Bishop of Ross, the first book to contain a map of Scotland.

The visit was part of a broader initiative by the Italian Consulate to promote and foster good relations between Italy and Scotland and their legal professions. 

Jean Guild Award Funding for WS Society’s John Watson’s Institution Archive

The Signet Library is delighted to announce that it has been awarded one of the 2025 round of Jean Guild Award grants from The Old Edinburgh Club to fund research, conservation and publication of its archive of the Society’s former school for orphaned children, John Watson’s Institution (1828-1975).

John Watson’s Institution opened in the autumn of 1828, paid for by a fund set up by the last will and testament of a wealthy Scottish lawyer, the Writer to the Signet John Watson (d. 1762). The school building, overlooking the banks of the Water of Leith and now home to the National Galleries of Scotland Modern One , was the work of the WS Society’s architect William Burn. Over the course of the next 150 years, it became for its pupils not just a school but a home and an anchor for life. It closed in 1975, and is remembered now by the members of the John Watson’s Club and in the form of the modern charity John Watson’s Trust (SC014004).

This project takes its origins from a seminar at the University of Edinburgh in 2015 which centred on Professor Richard Rodger’s MESH (Mapping Edinburgh’s Social History) initiative. We have known for a long time that these records are ideal for a study along the lines laid out by Professor Rodger and MESH, and we are grateful to the Old Edinburgh Club for opening up this marvellous opportunity for us.

RAILWAY EXHIBITION

2025 sees both the 135th anniversary of the building of the Forth (railway) Bridge and the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. There is a small exhibition of material on show in the Upper West Library of the Signet Library to commemorate both events.

These include two early albums of images of the Forth Bridge under construction, Grant and Son’s vast and luxurious commemorative publication and engineer William Westhoven’s more cerebral and detailed account for The Engineer.

Also on show are David Octavius Hill’s 1832 lithographs of the opening of the Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway – down which the Garnkirk vase would travel on its way to the Upper Library in 1841 (the gift of Thomas Sprot, whose family were involved in the financing of the line).

This is accompanied by a copy of one of the very earliest of Bradshaw’s Railway Guides, published in 1842 and showing the first years of operation of the Garnkirk line, the Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway and the first Dundee and Fife railways. The pocket diary of the Lord Advocate John Murray (d.1859) from 1841 shows his handwritten notes on the timetable of the Glasgow and Greenock Railway, on which he would have been one of the very earliest passengers.

WS CPD

The Society’s leading CPD programme continues this year 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 will be available on our event page.

SPRING

• WS Charities & Third Sector – 3 April 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Intellectual Property – 24 April 2025 , 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Personal Injury – 1 May 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• ALA/WS Joint Agricultural Law – 6 June 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

AUTUMN

• WS Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference – 4 September 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Employment Law Conference – 25 September 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS/STEP Joint Conference for Private Client Advisers – 9 October 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS/PNLA Joint Conference on Professional Negligence Law – 23 October 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Sports Law Conference – 30 October 2025, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm

Please contact Sophie Mills WS if you have any questions.

STUDENT SERIES

On Tuesday 25 March, the WS Society hosted the first student event of the year with the return of Speed Networking.  

This popular format saw eleven Writers to the Signet and Affiliates network with pairs of students 5-minute meetings. The aim of the evening was to introduce the students to a wide range of legal careers as well as the opportunity for them to increase their professional network.

There were lively discussions throughout the evening about studying and practicing law. We are grateful to all who contributed to an excellent evening.

Student member Kaitlin Bastow from Abertay University said after the event:

“Speed Networking was a fantastic opportunity to meet lawyers from different backgrounds. It demonstrated that there are so many different routes to follow and it allowed me to meet with other law students too.”

For future student events, keep an eye on our membership page.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Kelly Hardman WS

This month’s Member Spotlight features Kelly Hardman WS. Kelly tells us about her role as a Director at Fragomen LLP where she leads the firm’s UK Energy Sector Group, as well as the UK Space Industry Group, and how becoming a WS was a deeply meaningful moment of connection to history, tradition, and legacy. Read on to learn more!

THE LIBRARY’S FLORENCE VASE

This article was published as a Feature. Explore more of our articles here.

Gracing the west end of the upper hall of the Signet Library is a remarkable object. Its story weaves together Greek mythology, Ancient Rome, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the film industry. A monumental presence at the far end of that most beautiful of interiors, the Garnkirk Florence Vase has stood mute witness to over 150 years of history at the WS Society.

The Garnkirk is a replica of an original Medici Vase. This ancient masterpiece is a marble bell-shaped krater or crater (a type of mixing vessel) believed to have been sculpted in Athens in the 1st century AD for the Roman market. It was conceived as a garden ornament for well-to-do Roman gentry at a time when ambitions of pastoral elegance were clearly in vogue. It was uncovered in Rome in the sixteenth century…

SIGNET MAGAZINE

Signet magazine covers law, history, and culture in a beautifully illustrated format. Some of our recent magazines are now available online to be read and enjoyed by members and friends of the Society.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Robert Macduff-Duncan WS

This month’s Member Spotlight features WS Society trustee, Robert Macduff-Duncan WS, who tells us about his vast legal experience and cherished family connection to the Society.

CPD — WS CHARITIES CONFERENCE

The WS Society’s legal education programme begins on 3 April with the popular Charities Conference.  The event brings together charity lawyers, charity trustees and charity professionals to explore the latest themes in charity law, governance and policy.  Sessions will help empower your charity to stay compliant with OSCR and employment law, strengthen your finances, protect your data, and discover pathways to a sustainable future.

Speakers at the conference include Lorraine Davidson (Chief Executive, Scottish Council for Independent Schools) and Gair Brisbane (Partner, LGT Wealth Management). We will also hear from OSCR. The conference will be chaired by Gavin McEwan WS (Head of Charities, Turcan Connell). Full speaker line up with be announced soon.

Sessions:

• A candid discussion on current challenges and pathways forward.

• An update from OSCR.

• Employment law update.

• Responding to financial pressures and staying a going concern.

• Navigating and safeguarding your charity's data.

• Building a sustainable future for your charity through prudent investment management.
  

Join us for this engaging and popular event. With thanks to conference sponsors, LGT Wealth Management.

For conference rates and booking details, please visit here.  

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Ben Braidwood

Ben Braidwood is the WS Society’s Operations Assistant.

Sarah Leask spoke to Ben about his role at the Society and learnt about some of his interests outside of the Signet Library.

SCOTLAND'S GREAT PALACE

THE TREASURES OF HAMILTON PALACE

Wednesday 21 May 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Signet Library

Hamilton Palace in South Lanarkshire was once one of the premier country houses in the British Isles, replete with fabulous collections of outstanding works of art, furniture, and furnishings.

Beginning in the 16th century, leading authority Dr Godfrey Evans (Principal Curator of European Decorative Arts at National Museums Scotland) traces the architectural development of the palace down to the 19th, when extraordinary interior works of black marble, copious gilding, vibrant furnishing, and exotic ornamentation created a truly majestic whole. This fascinating talk will explain and illustrate how the Dukes of Hamilton — premier peers of Scotland — enlarged the palace and amassed their great collections to create one of Europe’s grandest, most ostentatious statements of power, wealth and taste.

The Virtual Hamilton Palace Trust’s project is to bring the palace alive online for scholars, researchers, and everyone to marvel at this lost magnificence.

Booking is required. The event is free to attend, however a voluntary donation can be made to support the work of the Trust.

Please note the event is held in the Upper Library which is only accessible by stairs.

Please contact 0131 220 3249 if you have any questions about the event or venue.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

The WS Society’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs) continue to be popular with members. This month the AI SIG met for its inaugural meeting. Last week, the Charity and Third Sector SIG was joined by members of the team at OSCR to discuss upcoming changes to charity law. The Book Club met this week to discuss The Importance of Being Seven, Alexander McCall Smith.

Future dates for AI, Art, Charity & Third Sector and History are to be confirmed. Please keep an eye on our SIG page for further updates.

The fourth Book Club meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday 15 April, 17:30 – 18:30 and the book chosen is Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. You can register to join this meeting here.

The fifth book has also been selected and this will be On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (the date for the fifth meeting is to be confirmed).

If you would like to note your interest in any of the WS Society SIGs, please email membership@wssociety.co.uk. If you have any ideas or questions regarding SIGs, please contact Sarah Leask.

DISABLING BARRIERS SCOTLAND - CREATING A CULTURE OF BELONGING IN THE SCOTTISH LEGAL PROFESSION

Following a momentous 2024, Disabling Barriers Scotland (DBS) announces partnerships with six new legal partners; Addleshaw Goddard, Brodies, Thorntons Solicitors, McGovern Reid Court Lawyers, Scullion Law and Shepherd and Wedderburn.

The charity will be hosting a variety of events with their new partners in 2025, starting with Creating a Culture of Belonging in the Scottish Legal Profession with Shepherd and Wedderburn.

Event Details

Date: Tuesday 11 February 2025, 12:00 - 13:00

Speakers: Gillian Carty (Partner and Chair, Shepherd and Wedderburn), Lindsay Jack (Head of Diversity, Careers and Outreach, Law Society of Scotland) and Fraser Mackay (DBS Chair and Co-Founder).

This event explores the importance of fostering inclusive and welcoming environments within the Scottish legal profession. The challenges and opportunities surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion will be explored. Panellists will discuss how to build a profession where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed. Through engaging discussions, expert insights, and practical strategies, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how to create lasting, positive change within their workplaces and the wider legal community. This event is essential for anyone committed to building a more representative and equitable future for the Scottish legal profession.

Read more about the mission of DBS and their recent achievements in the article below.

For further information, please visit Disabling Barriers Scotland on LinkedIn or email contactus@dbscotland.org.

DBS is a Scottish registered charity SC053043 administered by the Society’s Governance and Charities team.

WS CPD CONFERENCES 2025

The Society’s leading CPD programme continues this year 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 will be available on our event page.

SPRING

• WS Charities & Third Sector – 3 April 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Intellectual Property – 24 April 2025 , 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Personal Injury – 1 May 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• ALA/WS Joint Agricultural Law – 6 June 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

AUTUMN

• WS Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference – 4 September 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS Sports Law Conference – 11 September 2025, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm

• WS Employment Law Conference – 25 September 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS/STEP Joint Conference for Private Client Advisers – 9 October 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

• WS/PNLA Joint Conference on Professional Negligence Law – 23 October 2025, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

Please contact Sophie Mills WS if you have any questions.

JANUARY HISTORY TALKS

This January the WS Society hosted its first January Lecture Series, an extension of the History Special Interest Group. We hosted three excellent speakers who covered a range of historical subjects, many with links to Writers to the Signet or the Signet Library’s collections.

Our first speaker was Dr Kit Baston who gave a lecture on ‘The Bibliotheca Polonica: Poland and the Signet Library’. Dr Baston’s new research into one of the Signet Library’s most storied collections of books revealed a curious, open and sympathetic history of the Signet Library during the Polish revolutionary wars. A collection of Polish books, the Bibliotheca Polonica, was donated to the Signet Library to protect them from near constant conflict in Poland and out of reach of the Prussians and the Czar. This rare collection, now in the care of the National Library, demonstrated a forward-thinking Signet Library in the nineteenth century. Dr Baston reflected on the similar threats to books and libraries in present day Ukraine. Dr Baston and the Signet Library team curated a detailed exhibition with artefacts and documents related to the Bibliotheca Polonica, which is still available for viewing in the Upper West Library.

Richard Blake WS followed with a lecture on his new book Sugar, Slaves and High Society: the Grants of Kilgraston 1750-1860. This book explores the fortunes of the Grants of Kilgraston who were interlinked with the rise and subsequent decline of the British Empire and the Caribbean slave economy. Richard Blake WS presented a wonderfully varied cast of characters who were colourful, idiosyncratic, wayward and talented. As the British Empire extended its dominion, the Grants cemented their position in high society and left their mark on history as they encountered royalty and the White Rajahs of Sarawak. This history offered attendees a moving insight into a local family with global connections (and several Writers to the Signet to note).

Our last speaker in the series was Chloë Kennedy, Professor of Law and History at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Kennedy’s lecture was based on her new monograph, Inducing Intimacy: Deception, Consent and the Law. Professor Kennedy utilised the Commissioner Room’s extensive historic texts on criminal law for parts of her research. Her lecture considered the law’s response to deceptively induced intimacy across both civil and criminal law over more than two centuries. Encompassing legal responses within a fresh model of socio-legal history, Professor Kennedy takes a long-term historical view which has important implications for the law’s treatment of induced intimacy today.

We were delighted to attract a full house for each lecture in the Commissioners Room. Our guests enjoyed a drinks reception before each lecture and had ample opportunity to discuss their historical interests.