Sheriff Lesley Johnston’s Fatal Accident Inquiry into the derailment near Carmont on 12 August 2020, which killed Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough and injured six others, found that reasonable precautions might have prevented the accident.
Latest Articles
Appointments
See all articlesCompass Chambers has announced that Lesley Hogg has been promoted to the new role of senior deputy clerk. Ms Hogg joined Compass in 2013, having previously worked in other stables for 13 years. This makes her one of the most experienced deputy clerks in Scotland. Her friendly approach, great sense o
Shepherd and Wedderburn has elected Joanna Boag-Thomson as its new chair. Ms Boag-Thomson succeeds Gillian Carty, who steps down after serving two successful consecutive terms as chair. Ms Boag-Thomson joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a partner in 2000 and is a highly experienced lawyer. Her practi
Jones Whyte, named Firm of the Year (250+) at the 2026 Scottish Legal Awards, has announced eight promotions across its legal teams, with its private client department leading the way. The firm, which employs more than 300 people across its Glasgow and Edinburgh offices, has promoted team members in
National law firm TLT has strengthened its Scottish pensions offering with appointment of Edinburgh-based partner Amanda Cooke – the third new partner to join the firm in Scotland since July. Ms Cooke brings 20 years' experience across private practice and in-house and is recognised in
Pinsent Masons has appointed Glasgow-based Stacey Bairner as its first co-head of innovation and transformation, alongside Claire Francis, to accelerate the firm's existing focus on embedding innovation into service delivery. Head of restructuring, Ms Bairner, has been with the firm for 13 years and
LawCare, the mental health charity for the legal sector, has welcomed Mark Evans as its new chief executive. He joins as the charity approaches its 30th anniversary and looks to reach more people across the legal sector and help make working in law healthier.
Universities
See all articlesA lecture at the University of Edinburgh will examine how adoption law defines family relationships and how approaches to adoption vary across legal and cultural settings. The W.A. Wilson Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Professor Anne Röthel, director of the Max Planck Institute for Compa
Samantha McPhillips, an LLM student at the University of Edinburgh, has won the postgraduate category of the Mason Institute’s 2025/26 Student Essay Competition. Her winning essay, From Risk to Capacity: The Limits of Fusion Law in Reforming Involuntary Treatment, was recognised in the competi
Kehinde Adeogun, director of legal services and policy at the Black Equity Organisation (BEO), is to discuss strategic litigation and racial justice in a lecture at the University of Glasgow next month. Her lecture, entitled On Racial Justice and the Law: In Conversation with Kehinde Adeogun, will t
Strathclyde Law School is to become the first Scottish host of LawWithoutWalls (LWOW), with the international legal innovation programme coming to Glasgow in March 2027. LWOW is a global initiative that annually brings together lawyers, in-house professionals, business leaders, academics and student
An internationally acclaimed Scottish scholar who has written about the extremely high number of murders and prisoners in the US lectured on the topic at Middlesex University. David Garland, a professor of law and sociology at New York University, spoke to academics, criminal justice professionals a
And Finally
See all articlesA court has upheld a two month suspension for a Korean army officer who left base without permission during working hours 64 times over a ten month because he needed to feed his lizard and wash his car.
The trial of a terminally ill man who spent a bag of cash containing 22 million yen (£103,906) that he found lying in the street has ended after just one day with the accused admitting the charges.
The Canadian Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board has ruled that a federal correctional officer should not have been disciplined for giving the middle finger to two government buildings.
A State Duma committee has backed a bill allowing Russia to register vehicles reported stolen in countries it labels “unfriendly”. The proposal would let the Interior Ministry set special procedures for cars listed as stolen internationally. The ministry says it has found about 1,500 suc
A 36-year-old man who allegedly attempted to rob a supermarket while wearing underwear over his head later stole a funeral company’s vehicle and drove to Brussels to buy cocaine. The man appeared before Nivelles Criminal Court on Tuesday, facing charges including attempted extortion, weapons o









