Kirsten Gallacher

Amina Amin will remain on the committee as past president. The other committee members who were elected at last week’s AGM are:

• Vice president – Jay Elder, associate at Freeths
• Secretaries – Kate Docherty, trainee solicitor at COPFS and Emma Brown, associate at JHS Law
• Social media manager – Zoe Kerr, solicitor at NHS National Services Scotland

Non-Executive Committee:

• Sonyta Ty, law student at University of Edinburgh
• Michael Gray, solicitor at Scottish Government Legal Directorate
• Scott Kennedy, trainee solicitor at DWF
• Aimee Thomas, trainee solicitor at Ledingham Chalmers
• Urooj Chaudhary, trainee solicitor at DWF
• Jura Gillespie, solicitor at Holmes Mackillop Solicitors
• Cara Hope, solicitor at Weightmans
• Charlotte Richmond, solicitor at Jones Whyte
• Emma Smith, trainee solicitor at MFMac
• Maisie White, trainee solicitor at Drummond Miller

Ms Gallacher said: “It is an absolute privilege of my career to be elected as president of the SYLA, I am ready to hit the ground running with the new committee and a fantastic year ahead of us. It was delightful to see such a high number of existing committee members re-elected and their experience will lay the groundwork for an exciting new term. I am a highly ambitious person and want to do all that I can for this incredible Association.

“A commonly-shared view from the new SYLA committee is that we wish to widen access and opportunities for law students and young lawyers to eventually see a legal profession in Scotland that is accessible to all. The newly elected committee will further SYLA’s central objectives to educate, represent, and entertain our members to the best of our abilities, exploring avenues to bring plenty of new opportunities to the table.

“Looking ahead, we aim to further the great progress made so far with our mentoring initiative, podcast, CPD and networking events, and will continue our engagement with key organisations and sponsors to whom we are very grateful for their support. We have seen a real appetite for in-person events and we would like to get more events organised for young lawyers across the whole of Scotland. Coming from a rural background myself (points to anyone who can tell you where Fochabers is), I’d love to connect with and expand more in-person events for young lawyers outwith the central belt.

“We would like to extend our greatest thanks to the outgoing SYLA committee 2025/26 for all of their hard work, including our outgoing president Amina Amin who served on the SYLA Committee for the last six years, bringing great expertise and helping the SYLA further its goals.”

Junior lawyers or advocates who would like to hear more about the SYLA’s initiatives and events can do so by joining the weekly mailing list here.