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From left to right, front to back: Jack Robertson, Thorntons chairman; Hamish Watt, Watts partner; Sandra Sutherland, Thorntons partner; Aileen Hunter, Watts partner; Anne McKeown, Thorntons partner Thorntons is to merge with Montrose-based Watts Law, combining resources from 1 July.

A last-minute amendment to the Scottish government's Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill has given statutory protection to the standard size of an allotment. Members of the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS) celebrated as the government confirmed it would defend the standard plot size

Some of the Scottish Law Commission's proposed reforms to succession have been introduced to the Parliament in a Scottish government bill. The Succession (Scotland) Bill would see a spouse or civil partner who is named as beneficiary or appointed executor in a will treated as having predeceased the

The Scottish government is to launch a "full consultation" on giving football fans the right to buy their club. Alison Johnstone, the Green MSP who fronted the Fans First campaign and lobbied for the move within Holyrood, said it was a "landmark decision for Scottish football".

Four men involved in an investigation into the allocation of public building work contracts at Edinburgh Council have been sentenced to a total of over 13 years imprisonment for corruption and bribery. Former council employees Charles Owenson, 62, and James Costello, 44, received tens of thousands o

A female architect has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages following a court's ruling she was subjected to sexist bullying at work. Julie Humphryes was accused by male colleagues of “exhibiting maternity paranoia” at the firm YOO, prompting her to take her employer to court and w

ESPC has announced that its website is now the only property portal in Scotland offering the ability to search for homes by school catchment areas. For every property advertised within the capital, ESPC will show the four council catchment schools available; primary, RC primary, high school and RC h

Community empowerment minister Marco Biagi MSP The Community Ownership Support Service (COSS), which helps groups and local authorities transfer buildings or land assets, will enjoy a funding boost over the next year.

Jim Hume MSP Police Scotland will not enforce a ban on smoking in cars when children are present as a priority, a senior police officer has told MSPs.

One in forty drivers stopped in the past fortnight were over the legal drink drive limit, according to new Police Scotland statistics. The Scottish government and Road Safety Scotland released the figures, which apply to drivers stopped and breathalysed between 29 May–12 June 2015, the first two w

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson MSP The Scottish government has launched a new five-year national strategy to prioritise preventative approaches to confront youth offending.

A 29-year old woman from Perth who faked an abortion in order to sell the child to a friend behind the father's back has been jailed for three years. After a week-long trial at Perth Sheriff Court, a jury found the woman and her friend guilty of carrying out fraud against the father, who believed he

Denise Laverty bto solicitors has announced the arrival of Denise Laverty as an associate in the family law team.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that an internet news portal in Estonia was liable for offensive comments posted by its readers below one of its online news articles about a ferry company. This was the first case in which the Court had been called upon to ex

A man who was jailed for four years and given a supervised release order after being found guilty of assault has had his sentence quashed but replaced with an extended sentence. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that the SRO was “incompetent” in light of the custodial term and the fact the sheriff