Speaker details

Biography

Michael P Clancy OBE WS FRSE graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1979 with an LLB and in 1985 with an LLM. In 1987 he graduated LLB (Hons) from the University of London. He is a solicitor and Notary Public. After qualification as a solicitor in private practice he attained a partnership with the Glasgow firm of Franchi Wright & Co. He resigned this partnership in 1988 to become a Deputy Secretary of the Law Society of Scotland. Since 1996 he has been a Director of the Society with responsibility for Law Reform. He is secretary of the United Kingdom and Ireland Notarial Forum and is immediate past chairman of the International Bar Association’s Constitution and Governance Committee. Following the EU Referendum, he represented the Law Society of Scotland on Brexit issues in the UK and Scottish Parliaments, appearing several times before parliamentary committees on a range of issues concerning the UK’s departure from the EU. He is a member of the International (formerly Brexit) Law Committee established by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice of England. He led on the Law Society’s response to Covid 19 legislation in the UK and Scottish Parliaments. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2002. In 2022 he was admitted as a member of the Society of Writers to His Majesty’s Signet. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh-Scotland’s National Academy.