Collette Paterson & Marie Sime

Collette Paterson (left) and Marie Sime join Schools Law Project
Director, Patrick Gaffney, for a Question & Answer session
with pupils at Turnbull High School

Turnbull High welcomed back two former pupils in March when Collette Paterson and Marie Sime returned for a Question & Answer with a group of S1 pupils.

Collette and Marie, who were good friends at school, are now qualified solicitors. Marie is an employment lawyer with the large Scottish firm McGrigors while Collette is the New Lawyers’ Coordinator with the Law Society of Scotland.

During the visit, the former pupils were happy to answer questions on a wide range of topics including their time at school and university, and also how the law affects young people.

Afterwards Collette said, “We both greatly enjoyed the visit. It was interesting on a personal level of course but much more importantly, the Q&A session was designed to help the class of 12-13 year olds find out about the work of solicitors and at the same time challenge their ideas of what success really means.”

Mrs Britton, whose Modern Studies class formed the audience, described the session as a huge success with a forest of raised hands illustrating how keen pupils were to ask the young lawyers questions.

Collette and Marie were earlier welcomed to the school by Mrs Doherty from the History Dept. She said, “It was wonderful to see the girls again. They provide a great example to our current pupils of how talented and hard-working individuals can go on to achieve success if they are prepared to put in the effort.”

The return of the two young lawyers was arranged as part of the Schools Law Project, an initiative backed by the Scottish legal profession as a way of introducing pupils to the legal system and the work that lawyers do.

Director of Education & Training at the Law Society of Scotland, Liz Campbell commented, “I am pleased that the project has proved helpful for the staff at Turnbull High and that Collette & Marie received such a warm and enthusiastic welcome from the pupils at the school.”

The programme of visits is just one element of the Schools Law Project which the Law Society of Scotland has backed over the past few years. Many law firms are now involved. They partner schools of their choice by sponsoring classroom materials and pupil prizes.

The Schools Law Project is run by former teacher, Patrick Gaffney. In 2004, the Law Society of Scotland presented Patrick with what he proudly refers to as his ‘Lawscar’ for the great success of the initiative.

Patrick says, “From the outset, the success of the Schools Law Project has been due to the remarkable support of more than 200 law firms throughout the country. I have been extremely impressed by the response of the legal community.”

Any firm which would like further information on the Schools Law Project or may wish to sign up for the initiative should register here or contact:

Patrick Gaffney
Director
The Schools Project
61 Old Abbey Road
North Berwick
EH39 4BP
T: 05601 924975
E: patrick@schoolsproject.co.uk
W: www.schoolsproject.co.uk