News

The Law Society of Scotland has committed to improved support and oversight of trainee solicitors and training managers. The society’s Education and Training (Standard Setting) Sub-Committee has endorsed a number of changes in response to surveys of trainees and training managers conducted ear

Gillespie Macandrew has made a charitable donation of £40,000 to be shared between its two charity partners, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) and Alzheimer Scotland. As part of its ESG programme, in each of the last seven years Gillespie Macandrew has donated around one per c

Threats to the presumption of innocence in Scotland and Australia is the subject of a new article by Helen Dale in the online magazine Law & Liberty. Ms Dale, who has law degrees from Oxford and Edinburgh, writes: "This month, in two jurisdictions where I’ve previously practised, there hav

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the inherent power to legislate for the holding of a referendum on Scottish independence, as such a law would relate to a reserved matter. A reference to the court was made by the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, under Schedule

The Law Society of Scotland has congratulated the Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) and Ukrainian lawyer Nadia Volkova on being joint winners of Europe’s leading legal sector human rights award. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) – of which the Law Society is

In a five part series for Scottish Legal News this week, BTO partner Cat MacLean tells the story of an epic legal battle with the Clydesdale Bank. She explains the reality of litigating against a huge opponent with bottomless pockets, the cost and funding of litigation and the need to find leve

In a new paper Terra Firma's Neil Beynon considers fiduciary duties owed by directors and rights enforceable by shareholders, with particular emphasis on their application within the oil and gas sector. In particular his paper looks at:

A woman who told immigration officials that a box she was carrying contained beer has admitted in court that it actually contained a spider monkey. Savannah Nicole Valdez, 20, was arrested in March attempting to enter the US via Texas.

Squaring Circles founder and mediator, Rachael Bicknell, has been appointed to the President’s Panel of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) for mediation and as a certified mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI). Ms Bicknell, who was recently

Current guidance for solicitors on reporting serious misconduct is legally deficient and lacks clarity, experts have warned. Researchers have written to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), calling for improved guidance on when and how lawyers need to internally and externally report or disclo

Boyd Legal has acquired Fife practice Baird & Company in Glenrothes.

Bookings are now open for this year’s 21st Century Bar conference which is likely to prove as popular as ever with a host of expert speakers and a diverse programme. The theme for this year’s conference, chaired by Graeme McWilliams, is “Doing the Right Thing, for the Right Reason

A new bill that will consolidate, reform and modernise long-standing laws governing the operation of trusts in Scotland has been published by Holyrood today. Scots trust law is widely considered to be out of date, and the main legislation is now just over a century old.

The Scottish government's indyref2 bill is ultra vires of the Scotland Act, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The Sexual Offences Review has published its webpage and terms of reference to give information to the public and professionals about its work on reviewing how the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) deals with reports of sexual offences. The review was commissioned by Lord Advocate