Mitchell Skilling

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled that a position taken by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that it is never possible to make advance payments of Universal Credit to claimants who do not possess a National Insurance number at the time of their initial application is flaw

A man who had decree by default granted against him after he walked out of court during a diet of debate has lost a Sheriff Appeal Court challenge against the sheriff’s decision. Appellant Mohammed Aslam was the defender in an action raised in Glasgow Sheriff Court by the Royal Bank of Scotlan

A property investor who sought the reduction of three personal guarantees granted by him to the Royal Bank of Scotland has been unsuccessful in establishing misrepresentation in an action before the Outer House of the Court of Session. Ved Parkash, 74, argued that he had signed the guarantees on the

A judge of the High Court of England and Wales has dismissed a representative claim for misuse of private information brought against Google UK arising from its partnership with a London NHS Trust to develop an app for clinical treatment. Andrew Prismall sought to bring a claim for damages on behalf

A note of objection challenging the decision of the auditor not to allow an organisation involved in supplying milk to Scottish schools and nurseries to recover fees for an English firm of solicitors as judicial expenses has been allowed by a lord ordinary. The School and Nursery Milk Alliance Ltd,

A Kirkwall sheriff has varied a contact order to allow an eight-year old boy to have more contact with his father after his mother unilaterally reduced the father’s residential contact arrangements to reduce the number of weekends he spent with his father.  Pursuer DM, who sought contact

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal by HM Revenue and Customs against a decision that items constructed for the collection and transmission of water through a hydroelectric power station in Fort Augustus were not tunnels or aqueducts for the purposes of the Capital Allowance Act

A building company that was hired to build an extension for a house has been successful in an Outer House action in which it sought over £370,000 from a client following adjudication in its favour. AGB Scotland Ltd sought £367,808.84 plus VAT from defender Darren McDermott, along with ad

A man who embezzled £170,000 from a deceased woman who had hired him as a financial advisor and later appointed him executor of her estate has lost a High Court appeal against his conviction.  Gordon Couch, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for embezzling funds from the

A couple who moved into a property in order to redecorate it for its owners and subsequently refused to move out have lost an appeal against a sheriff’s decision that they occupied the property under a licence agreement rather than a private residential tenancy. Original defenders Jamie and Lo

The High Court of Justiciary has refused an application by a man convicted seeking to extend the time period in which he could make an appeal against a series of rape and assault convictions from February 2021. Robert Garden was convicted in 2021 of various charges of rape and assault against multip

A commercial judge has dismissed a £400 million action by an offshore energy company that alleged it had suffered loss by means of an unlawful means conspiracy perpetrated by another company and its partners in a bidding process for offshore wind farm sites. Moray Offshore Renewable Power Ltd,

A commercial judge has ordered a law firm to pay around £12.5 million, inclusive of interest, to a former client after a finding of professional negligence in relation to a failed litigation in which it failed to timeously lodge caution on behalf of the client. Centenary 6 Ltd had sought the s

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation was not vicariously liable for a rape committed by a former elder on a 29-year-old married woman after an appeal by a Wales-based congregation of the organisation. The Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s

The Inner House of the Court of Session has reduced by one third an award of expenses due to be paid by an airline to a successful co-defender in an action raised by an injured passenger following a challenge to the determined expenses. It was not disputed that pursuer Colin Mather was entitled to h