News

Six in 10 people in England and Wales believe the legal system is not designed for ordinary people, new research has found. The research was conducted to mark the launch of the Legal Access Challenge – a new prize run by Nesta Challenges in partnership with the Solicitors Regulation Authority&

A leading Scottish mental health charity has benefited from funds raised on its behalf by staff in the Edinburgh office of Shoosmiths. The latest fun initiatives to support the Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH) saw over thirty Shoosmiths’ staff enjoying a social quiz night held in t

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Brazil: Supreme Court Votes to Make Homophobia a Crime

A vet has been suspended from the register for six months after stealing a newborn puppy and telling its rightful owners that it died. Zahra Rafiq, 29, delivered a litter of six French bulldogs but told owner Safinah Mhagrh, 29, that five had been delivered and one had died, The Times reports.

A businessman who challenged a Scottish judge’s decision to grant a decree ordering him to conform to a Hong Kong High Court ruling that he make a payout to a former associate has had his appeal dismissed. The Inner House of the Court of Session upheld the decision of the Lord Ordina

A man has pleaded guilty to offences under the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act, the first conviction since the new law was introduced on 1 April 2019. William James Murdoch, 43, of Glasgow, made his guilty plea at Glasgow Sheriff Court. He was sentenced yesterday.

The number of commercial rent disputes reaching a third party in Scotland fell to its lowest level for more than five years, according to analysis from Knight Frank. Figures obtained by the independent commercial property consultancy from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed th

A coalition of more than 50 civil rights groups, security experts and tech companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft have signed an open letter calling on GCHQ to abandon proposals for eavesdropping on encrypted conversations. Under the so-called "ghost protocol", the providers of end-to-end e

Audrey Junner, a partner at Miller Samuel Hill Brown, has been accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in liquor licensing law. The specialist accreditation scheme recognises solicitors who have developed expert knowledge in their field through their experience with complex cases,

Pioneering female academics and Polish ‘soldier students’ are among those who feature in a new book celebrating the teaching of law in Dundee. Dundee Law 1865-1967: The Development of a Law School in a Time of Change, is published by the Abertay Historical Society and written b

As someone who has worked in an M&A specialist law firm, I have great respect for the important role these lawyers play in advising clients involved in a transaction. It is, however, surprising that tax considerations are often overlooked in the initial stages of the deal process only to have ta

The Scottish Law Agents Society (SLAS) has issued an invitation to all law firms, local faculties and societies to consider whether the Scottish government has indicated an intention to transfer the regulation of legal services from the judicial to the executive branch of state authority and, i

New rules and forms for taking the views of children in family and civil partnership actions were explored at a special seminar by the Advocates’ Family Law Association (AFLA). The rules come into effect on 24 June, and there will also be new associated forms in the Court of Session and the Sh

Numerous fraud convictions have been made unsafe following the collapse of a trial yesterday in which the prosecution's expert witness was found to have no academic qualifications. Andrew Ager was involved in 20 previous trials and up to 50 police investigations into allegations of fraudulent carbon

Judges in the Netherlands have banned the biker club Hells Angels and ordered that its chapters be closed as authorities crack down on motorcycle gangs. It is the first ban for the club, which operates 470 chapters in 56 countries, The Guardian reports.