Mary McLeod takes top law job at Church of Scotland

THE Church of Scotland has made two senior staff appointments at its Capital headquarters.

Mary McLeod. Picture: supplied

Mary Macleod has been named as the new Solicitor of the Church and Law Agent of the General Assembly.

Mrs Anne Macintosh has been appointed as the new General Treasurer.

As the Church’s solicitor, Ms Mcleod will lead a team of nine in-house solicitors and seven support staff, taking the lead in delivering legal advice and support to the Church’s 1400 congregations and its councils, committees, statutory corporations and trusts.

After growing up in the Isle of Lewis, Mary graduated in law from Edinburgh University and trained in Inverness, before going on to work in private practice in Edinburgh.

She was appointed Depute Solicitor to the Church in 1995.

At first a specialist in private property, since joining the Church she has gained expertise in employment, contracts, data protection and charity law.

A key part of her current role involves giving legal advice and support to the Church’s Social Care Council, Scotland’s largest third-sector social care provider.

Ms Macleod said: “If you believe that you should choose your predecessor carefully, then I have got it very wrong since it will be difficult to live up to the standards set by Janette Wilson, the current Solicitor of the Church.

“The Law Department is a great team and I look forward to working with colleagues old and new to continue to support the valuable – and often unsung – work done by the Church throughout Scotland and beyond.”

Mrs Macintosh has held senior financial posts with the Church of Scotland since 2000.

A graduate of Strathclyde University, where she studied Business Administration, specialising in Accounting and Economics, she trained as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Whinney in Glasgow before moving on to industry and the public sector.

For the last seven years she has served as Deputy General Treasurer, acting in the General Treasurer role since the departure of Mr Iain Grimmond.

Born in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Mrs Macintosh now lives in Larbert with her husband Allan. She has two adult children: Ross, a biology teacher and Laura, a physicist. In her spare time, she enjoys her passion for gardening and the outdoors.

She said: “I am pleased and excited to be part of a senior management team that is taking the Church forward through a period of significant change.”