Law Society of Scotland Registered Paralegal
The second and final consultation of the scheme is being worked on at this very moment............
We are delighted to announce that a second and final consultation on the proposed Law Society of Scotland Registered Paralegal Scheme will run from the end of November this year to the end of January.
We had a fantastic response from over 400 stakeholders and interested parties to the first consultation. As you know, however, it was agreed not to proceed with the scheme as a result of the economic decline. Despite this setback substantial development work has continued on various aspects of this scheme in the hope and anticipation that the launch would proceed. The Law Society voiced its continued support of the scheme at our AGM and Conference in April this year and has since confirmed that final policy proposals be consulted on in preparation for launch of the scheme itself in summer 2010.
The final consultation has incorporated the information gathered from those responses to the first and is intended to give more detail than the original policy paper allowed. You will no doubt be pleased to hear that it is not anticipated that this document will be quite as lengthy as the first ! The following list is not exhaustive but the consutlation will seek to provide a background on the Scottish paralegal market in 2009, indicate why it is believed that November 2009 is the right time to bring the scheme to fruition, provide more detail to the proposals of "Phase I" including entry requirements and transitional aspects, and will highlight the necessity of an evolving scheme to balance with the changing face of legal services in Scotland in the proposed "Phase II". As before, you will be invited to respond to scripted questions but we are of course interested in any comments or issues arising from the consultation which may not be dealt with specifically.
We will be in touch again in early course but please spread the word of this great opportunity to contribute to the consultation which will be part of the changing face of Scotland's legal market. We are interested and want feedback from all paralegals, whether or not a member of an association, all employers whether that be high street firms or in-house, we are interested to hear from education providers, regulators and anyone who has an interest in the legal market.