News

Research covering 5,000 law firms across the UK has found that 55 per cent of respondents see improving profitability as the biggest challenge of 2015, The Lawyer reports. In response to the question of the level of growth expected, 43 per cent of those questioned said they expected increases of bet

Perthshire property bosses are reflecting on ‘a year of stability’ in the local market, and predicting a similar theme to 2015. Recently collated statistics from Perthshire Solicitors Property Centre (PSPC) reveal that 2014 was a strong and steady year for the local market, and a year which perf

A planned new regulator of the UK’s oil and gas reserves could face conflicts of interest in its work and “robust” measures will be needed to eliminate the risk, according to the Faculty of Advocates. Proposals for setting up the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), with headquarters in Aberdeen, have

A number of new sheriffs have been appointed in Tayside, Central and Fife. Gillian Anne Wade QC (pictured right) and Simon Geoffrey Collins QC have been appointed as floating sheriffs of Tayside, Central and Fife.

Scottish ministers have been warned by lawyers to be careful over moves to make it incumbent on social care and medical staff to disclose medical blunders to patients. The Scottish government is proposing a statutory “duty of candour” but the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has war

A landlord who was forced to go to the Inner House of the Court of Session to defend his property rights has been awarded expenses from the Lord Advocate after judges ruled that he had been “unavoidably drawn” into a “costly and prolonged litigation”. The motion for expenses against the Lord

A body comprising Scottish lawyers, family consultants and financial specialists has found that businesses in Scotland are suffering as a result of divorce and separation. Consensus Collaboration Scotland (Consensus), offer couples a non-confrontational way of agreeing the legal and practical arrang

Two new commissioners were recently appointed to the Scottish Law Commission (SLC). The SLC was established under the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purposes of promoting the reform of the law of Scotland, and reviewing the law with a view to its systematic development and modernisation.

Sheriff Graham Cox has died aged 81. Sheriff Cox was born in Newcastle in December 1933 and was brought up in Cambuslang until he moved to Dundee at the age of 15.

The parents of a man who was killed after being struck by a car as he walked across a zebra crossing have failed in an appeal over the level of damages they were awarded. Judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session refused the reclaiming motion by James Currie and Margaret Currie, who were awa

The next series of "Parliament Days" have been announced, with three more locations across Scotland set to host the Scottish Parliament over the coming months. Parliament Days aim to take the Parliament out of Edinburgh and into communities around Scotland, inspiring local people to take an interest

Glasgow City Council has appointed lawyer Annemarie O'Donnell its new chief executive to replace George Black, who retires next month. Ms O'Donnell was chosen by the appointment of the senior officers committee recently.

Improved standards for hospital nutrition and catering are to be introduced, and the Scottish Government will consult on making them legally binding, health secretary Alex Neil (pictured) said this week. The improvements are part of a package of measures being introduced to build on the progress alr

Two legal specialists are to join Edinburgh and Fife legal company Pagan Osborne, creating a new family law offering. Partner Jackie McRae, who is also a qualified social worker, will be heading up the new unit within the leading legal, financial and property company from early 2015 along with solic

A number of appeals by the Crown against decisions at Dundee Sheriff Court to throw out cases as a result of police and prosecutor failures have been abandoned. The president of the Dundee Bar Association, solicitor advocate Jim Laverty, called the process “a complete waste of time”.