Caroline Docherty OBE WS was the first female Deputy Keeper of the Signet and former commercial property lawyer.
1. You have had a distinguished career spanning commercial property law, leadership within the WS Society, and public service. Looking back, what moments or experiences have been the most formative in shaping your professional journey?
There have been two very important influences in my career, and that is, firstly, colleagues who effectively mentored me, though that term would not have been used at the time, and secondly the WS Society.
I had two important female colleagues who helped me a great deal. One when I was a trainee, who gave me an excellent training in property law, and then when I was an associate, a partner who showed me what it was like to be a partner. The hard work, dealing with clients and managing colleagues. I think it remains the case that good lawyers become excellent if they have a mentor at crucial times in their legal journey, and that is something I tried to “give back” when I became the ancient colleague in the team who had seen it all!
My introduction to the WS Society was perhaps a little unusual, in that I was a “first in family” to attend university, and there were no lawyers in the family. But my father had joined the Royal Bank of Scotland as a young man and was ultimately a bank manager in central Edinburgh. He became friendly with a lot of law firm partners and noticed that those who were WS were special. He therefore encouraged me to become a WS at the earliest opportunity, which I did in 1987, only 10 years after the first female WS was admitted. At the time I was an associate (not a partner) in a Glasgow firm. My gender, age and position in a Glasgow firm meant that in the Society of the 1980s I stood out from the start. I was therefore encouraged and invited to get involved in a number of initiatives, and one thing led to another. I made some of the most important friendships and connections of my life through the WS, and I feel hugely lucky to have had that. In fact, this continues in my retirement, for example through the Society SIGs. I have made new friendships through both the Book and Art SIGs.
2. As the first female Deputy Keeper of the Signet, you helped guide the WS Society through a period of significant change and modernisation. What did that experience teach you about leadership, tradition, and the future of the legal profession?
My appointment came at a time when the Society was ripe for change. What I learnt was that effecting that change within an institution that has existed for 600 years is like turning a tanker. It takes time. Along with my colleagues at the Society, we laid the foundations for the significant change that has come since – charitable status, broadening of membership, opening up the building.
I think that the tradition that is at the heart of the Society is so important in providing a foundation for lawyers, separate from their own firms or businesses. That was seen as eccentric in the 80s and 90s but is now recognised as an important strand in a lawyer’s career. We need to be careful that in making changes we do so with respect for the past. An important WS colleague was Andrew Kerr, Clerk to the Society for many years, and he used to use the term “sure footed.” We should be certain that in making changes we are not simply following the latest fashion.
3. The WS Society has such a unique place in Scotland’s legal and cultural heritage. What does being part of the Society mean to you personally, and what do you hope future generations of Writers to the Signet will value most about it?
I hope that my earlier answers have illustrated what the Society means to me – the friendships I have made, the importance of something in your legal life outwith your own firm and the benefits a rounded, cultural hinterland brings to your relationships with clients, and the grounding that tradition gives. I hope that future generations will see the same thing – albeit tweaked for whatever the future brings for lawyers.
4. Outside of your professional achievements, what interests or pursuits help keep you inspired - and might surprise people who know you only through your legal career?
I don’t think that I am a person of surprises when it comes to outside interests! My loves are very mainstream – walking, golf, good food, swimming (always in a pool, not wild!), reading and gardening. As I said when I had to compile a profile for a tender when I was 50ish – when did my interests become so middle aged?
I have a great interest in comedy – which was nurtured by my parents’ love of comedy on TV in the 60s and 70s in particular. As a family, we would gather in front of The Morecombe and Wise Show in reverential silence. How my brother became the professional comedian (Jack Docherty – he plays The Chief in Scot Squad) while I became a lawyer is an eternal surprise to me, if nobody else!