Lucy Scott-Moncrieff is a mental health and human rights solicitor, having spent most of her working life representing mentally disordered offendors detained in high secure hospitals. During this time she won a number of test cases in domestic courts and the ECtHR that protected and asserted the rights of this unpopular section of society. She acted in the first case under the Human Rights Act that resulted in a remedial order, as a result of which the discharge criteria to be applied by Mental Heath Tribunals was amended in favour of detained patients.
Lucy also founded, and still manages, the first virtual firm of solicitors in the world, in which all the lawyers are self-employed consultants working from home or their own offices. They have to work to the firm’s standards but free to set their own working hours and make their own arrangements, which has meant the firm is particularly attractive to people who want or need to work flexibly.
Lucy was President of the Law Society of England and Wales in 2012/13 and is currently Chair of it’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Why First 100 Years is important
Women have made great progress in the profession since I started in the 1970’s, such that now most new entrants to the solicitor’s profession are women. However we all know that equality has not yet been achieved, and this project, in allowing us to see where we have come from, and how we have got to where we are, may also show us how we can best achieve our objective of full equality.
