In light of our 10th anniversary, current Lawscot Foundation scholar Tom Campbell shares the impact of mentoring and legal connections on his career and how our support has ensured he sees a future in law here in Scotland.
In about a months’ time, I will graduate from the University of Glasgow with my LLB in Scots Law – marking the end of four years that have flown by far more quickly than I had imagined possible. Throughout those four years, I have gained so much from the comprehensive support I received as a Lawscot Foundation Scholar.
I applied to the Foundation in 2022, a year which marked the end of one particularly challenging period of my life, and the beginning of another. Over the prior four years, my father passed away in a car accident in 2018, and my mother became seriously unwell with COVID-19 in early 2020, requiring my younger sister and I to take on additional responsibilities to help look after her. Focusing on my studies helped me to cope with the resulting stress and uncertainty, leading me to obtain an offer to study the LLB at Glasgow. However, I knew entering the legal profession represented a significant challenge, I was also worried about the financial pressure that attending university would place on my family. I came across the Lawscot Foundation in my search for additional funding – and while the Foundation’s financial support achieved just that, I quickly came to realise that it was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the opportunities offered to Scholars.
My journey with the Foundation started before I was formally admitted, with an invitation to attend the Law Society of Scotland’s Summer School in June 2022. This was a great introduction to what I could expect from the Foundation – an opportunity to lean from experienced professionals across a multitude of legal disciplines, mixed with practical guidance on how to approach law school and the process of qualification. These two key aspects of the Foundation have been prominent throughout the past four years; from the very welcome deliveries of core textbooks from Bloomsbury and opportunities to meet my fellow scholars and build my network, to the annual Lawscot Challenge events designed to test legal and commercial awareness (one of which I was lucky enough to win in 2025!). It was networking at Foundation events that allowed me to secure work experience with Allan McDougall Solicitors and NatWest Group – providing some great insights into very different types of legal practice – while taking up an invitation to an insight evening at Shepherd and Wedderburn led me to successfully apply to their summer placement scheme in 2026.
However, I feel the true highlight of my time as a Foundation Scholar has been my mentoring relationship with Gillian Turner, a senior solicitor at the Scottish Parliament. I have a particular interest in politics and constitutional law, so it was fascinating to learn about her work with legislative competence issues and cooperation between devolved and central government. More importantly, our bi-monthly meetings have been a welcome constant throughout my time at university. Being able to discuss my progress, plans and goals for the future with an experienced member of the legal profession was a truly invaluable resource.
To put it very briefly, being a scholar has played a massive role in helping me to overcome the challenges I faced in putting myself in the best possible position to join the Scottish legal profession. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Foundation staff (especially Milly Berndes-Cade, Dr. Amber Shadle, and Fi Das), to the Law Society, and to the many sponsors and partners who make it all possible. I am certain the Foundation will continue supporting students like me for many years to come.
If you’re a student with an offer to start the LLB later this year, applications are now open for our next cohort of scholars. Applications close on Monday 29 June 2026.
