News

Property expert Phil Harris, a director at Shepherd and Wedderburn's private wealth & tax team, discusses the state of the Scottish housing market in 2022 and what to expect in 2023, as vol­umes appear to return to pre-pan­demic lev­els. The 2022 Scottish housing market and

The High Court of Justiciary has declined to issue a guideline judgment on the issue of sentencing in rape cases after three appeals by the Crown against what it considered to be unduly lenient sentences for three accused convicted of raping their domestic partners. It was argued by the Crown in all

A man who was involved in turning an industrial unit into a drugs factory capable of mass producing etizolam pills with a black-market value worth hundreds of thousands of pounds has been jailed for four years and six months. Derek Dragsnes, 49, a labourer, of Glasgow, ran the unit in the Lanarkshir

Inksters Solicitors has started the year with two major announcements. The firm has appointed Adam Johnson as its chief operating officer (COO) in Glasgow; in Dunkeld, Katherine Paulin joins the firm as a consultant solicitor.

Paul Young has joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a partner in the infrastructure team, bringing to the firm and its clients over 10 years’ expertise, with a particular focus on the energy, infrastructure and real estate sectors. Mr Young, who trained at Shepherd and Wedderburn and spent a numb

The UK government has said it will set out a timetable this week for reaching a fresh decision on whether to order an inquiry into the 1998 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. Northern Ireland’s High Court last month quashed a decision by the UK government not to establish a public inqui

Brazil's highest court was among government institutions attacked yesterday during rioting by thousands of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who lost last year's election to left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In scenes widely compared to the attack on the U.S. C

Magistrates have accused the police of undermining open justice by dealing with violent offenders behind closed doors. In a report, the Magistrates’ Association warned against the “inconsistent” use of out-of-court punishments, many of which are tougher than those magistrates may i

Pinsent Masons' Scottish corporate team looks back on 2022, having advised on deals worth billions of pounds in various sectors, and discusses its outlook for the year ahead. The stand-out deal in the last 12 months was Ithaca Energy’s £2.5 billion listing on the main London Stock Exchan

Harper Macleod has advised Connelly Group Holdings on its acquisition of Renfrewshire safety and security business Brookfield Alarms. Connelly Group Holdings – recognised by its Connelly Security Systems brand – was established in Bishopbriggs in 1986 by brothers Jim, Pat and Paul Connel

A pigeon was apprehended at a prison after it was found to be carrying a miniature backpack filled with crystal meth. The bird was discovered at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, 80km east of Vancouver in Canada.

Terra Firma Chambers will present a licensing seminar at The Mackenzie Building, Edinburgh, on Monday 30 January 2023. At this event, Denis Edwards will present a paper in which he will consider the significance of location in licensing applications, its importance in relation to over-provision poli

Andrew Stevenson relates a tale of paperclips and confusion. My first fumbling attempt to raise an action in the Court of Session taught me a little about the law but a great deal more about the importance of paperclips and heraldry. The contents of the document posed no problem at all, despite the

DWF has been reappointed to Aviva's core legal panel. The firm will provide a broader range of services to meet Aviva's requirements in England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and globally. DWF is one of four firms to be appointed to this panel, significantly reduced from the previous nine-f

A Lord Ordinary has granted decree for damages to the family of a woman who died in hospital after an attempted suicide after ruling that clinical negligence on the part of the health board that treated her had been established. Violet Paterson, the mother of the deceased Lynette Gibson, as well as