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The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has published its annual report, showing strong overall performance. The 2020-21 SLCC annual report covers performance in the July 2020 to June 2021 operating year, and was laid before the Scottish Parliament today, along with the 2020-21 SLCC annual a

Kirsty Yuill takes a look at proposed new traffic rules. According to a 2021 study by Rooster Insurance, 46.6 per cent of drivers have never refreshed their knowledge of the Highway Code. Those road users will no doubt be surprised to hear that 33 of its rules have been updated and five other change

John Laurence Dowdall passed away peacefully on 10 November. He was the son of the late Laurence Dowdall, one of Scotland's greatest criminal defence lawyers. A notice in The Herald states: "Well known as a man of integrity, generosity and compassion, he will be much missed by his friends and those

Musab Hemsi has joined Anderson Strathern as a director in the firm’s employment law team. Mr Hemsi joins from LexLeyton, where he spearheaded the Glasgow team advising across the food and drink, retail, energy, construction, and digital technology sectors. His former clients include Holland &

Thompsons Solicitors Scotland has announced a round of new promotions. Jillian Merchant, Claire Campbell and Craig Smillie have been promoted to partner while Deirdre Flannigan has been promoted to associate.

How on earth can you defend self-regulation in this day and age? How can lawyers possibly be allowed to mark their own homework? In my time as convener of the Law Society’s Regulatory Committee, I’ve often heard these questions asked. They are also the easiest questions to answer. No, I

Philip Lafferty, Susan Murray and Sheila Webster have been nominated as 2023/24 president elect of the Law Society of Scotland. Council members will now vote for their preferred candidate and the result will be announced at the December 2021 meeting. The successful candidate will succeed current vic

Social media companies will have to hand over details of anonymous users who make defamatory posts under a new Australian law. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said legislation requiring Facebook and Twitter to reveal the identities of trolls would be introduced in the country's parliament this week.

A new law providing for transgender prisoners in California to be housed and searched in a manner consistent with their gender identity has been challenged as unconstitutional by an anti-trans campaign group.

Lawyers for a man who served over 42 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a triple murder have raised more than $1.5 million for him in an online crowdfunder. African-American Kevin Strickland, 62, was freed last week from prison in Missouri, one of a number of US states which does no

Nearly a million public sector workers in India have been forced to swear off alcohol for life by their state's prohibitionist leader. Nitish Kumar, chief minister of the northeast state of Bihar, ordered all employees of the state to take a lifelong pledge to steer clear of alcohol, The Times repor

A sheriff in Dunfermline has determined that the death of a man who was electrocuted while operating a hedge trimmer could have been avoided if a risk assessment had been carried out on the area he was working in. The deceased, David Anderson, was a self-employed landscape gardener. He was declared

Proposals of the Scottish Civil Justice Council to put online courts on a firmer footing have been met with dismay by this year's devils. The trainee advocates said in a response to a consultation on the plans that they were "particularly concerned" by a presumption that certain substantive hearings

A human rights group has failed in its legal attempt to force Holyrood to investigate how Donald Trump paid for two Scottish golf courses. New York-based Avaaz had wanted to Scottish government to undertake a 'McMafia' probe into how Mr Trump obtained funding for Menie golf course in Aberdeenshire a

Insurance law specialists BLM and Clyde & Co are reportedly discussing a possible merger which would create a combined firm with annual revenue of £735 million. The firm recently entered "early-stage talks" and the details are "being kept tight by the pair's senior leadership teams", accor