Janet, we shall not see your like again

By Tom Johnston

The world of Scottish licensing is still reeling from the news of the sudden death of lawyer Janet Hood, aged just 66. 

Not only was Janet one of the finest licensing practitioners, she was undoubtedly the most flamboyant.

I probably knew her longer than anyone else working in the field. We met nearly fifty years ago at Edinburgh University, where we were both law students. 

Janet’s early career was as a licensing board clerk in Aberdeenshire. Even then she made her mark, becoming the only clerk to be accredited by the Law Society as a licensing specialist.

After five years at the helm of BII  Scotland, she set up her own practice, Janet Hood Training and Consulting. Her website promised ‘working positively with the licensed trade’. Unlike many manifestos this was no idle boast. It continued, ‘love being able to help you flourish, being there for you in good times and bad’. 

And boy did she deliver on her promises.

There are a few common threads among the hundreds of tributes which have poured in. 

Loyalty, compassion and generosity are foremost among them. A simple example of
the latter. Attending Aberdeen Licensing Board for the first time, I was discomfited to realise that solicitors were required to wear gowns. 

Quick as a flash Janet whipped hers off and handed it to me. I was grateful, but had to explain to the board that it wasn’t my habit to swap items of clothing with her!

Somehow she made time for numerous outside commitments. 

A regular speaker at licensing conferences, she was also a prominent and well loved figure in the Law Society.

She chaired the In-house Lawyers’ Group and the Equality and Diversity Committee as well as serving as a Council member.  She was a judge for the Scottish Legal Awards. 

Outwith the law she was consultant to Homeless Project Scotland and a great supporter of Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce.

She leaves husband Alastair, son Johnny and his partner Karen, plus Amber and Poppy, two small grandchildren on whom she doted.

I’ll miss everything about her. The bright red lipstick and the trademark amber necklace; the booming hello and the giant hug when we met. Larger than life may be a cliché. Not here.

Janet Hood, we shall not see your like again.

Janet’s funeral has taken place. There will be a Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for her life in the autumn.

Tom Johnston is a retired licensing lawyer and a close friend of Janet.