Law Society accused of 'affront to democracy' as voting postponed

A LAW Society meeting held to discuss legal reforms descended into acrimony yesterday after the society was accused of "shaming democracy" by adjourning proceedings before a potentially damaging vote could be held.

Opponents of the society's policy on alternative business structures for law firms called for the president, Ian Smart, to resign after the meeting was brought to a close early without a ballot of members being taken.

They claimed the society was set to lose a vote on the measures, contained within the Legal Services Bill, and accused the society's council of using a "technicality" to adjourn the meeting until an as yet unspecified date.

The adjournment was approved solely by the solicitors at the meeting, despite the rebel group holding more than 2,000 proxy votes from lawyers disgruntled with the reform policy pursued by the society.

The proceedings drew stinging attacks from critics, who have already forced a profession-wide referendum on the society's role as the representative body for Scottish solicitors.

Mike Dailly said it was a "dark day" for Scotland's legal profession. "You can deny a democratic vote by filibuster or technicality, but the only loser is the reputation of our legal profession, which now lies in tatters after this affront to democracy," he said.

But Mr Dailly's claims were dismissed by the society as it insisted the adjournment was entirely proper.

Mr Smart said it had been called to enable the factions in the dispute to negotiate.

He said: "We are going to try and get representatives of the two sides together very soon, ideally before Easter, to see if we can reach an agreement as to what is and isn't acceptable in terms of the current provisions of the bill."