News

Philip Yelland, executive director of regulation at the Law Society of Scotland, has retired after 30 years at the professional body for Scottish solicitors. In the past three decades, he has seen major changes within the organisation and significant regulatory reform, including two new Scottish par

Carole Ewart comments on the much-derided move by the Scottish government to extend FOI response times in the midst of the pandemic – a move that has since been reversed. On April 1, politicians voted to change freedom of information (FOI) law in Scotland. Thankfully, seven weeks later, a unit

From 8 June 2020, anyone entering the UK (whether as a resident or a visitor) will have to self-isolate for 14 days under new government rules. Elaine McIlroy details the latest rules and how they affect employers. Please note that the rules are reviewed every three weeks. Requirement to provid

An attempt to trademark the name of a malt made in tribute to Portree has failed. Diageo, which owns Talisker, had successfully applied to register "Port Ruighe" but the body representing port winemakers in Portugal objected to the name, Gaelic for Portree, because "Port" and "Porto" enjoy protectio

The Scottish arm of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 has issued an eight-point checklist to help owner/managers across the region deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their businesses. The organisation’s members, who include insolvency practitioners, lawyers, and

Many will have despaired at the poor questioning of ministers by ill-focused journalists. Andrew Crosbie, a devil, has provided a blog on how journalists should cross-examine politicians and hold them to account. He writes: "In the dystopian hellscape that is 2020, we have all become accustomed to f

A six-year-long court battle over the sound of cowbells on a small dairy farm in rural Bavaria has finally come to an end. Legal proceedings were brought against the farm near Munich by a couple who moved in next door in 2011 and said the cowbells were too loud and disrupted their sleep.

A man convicted of raping his partner, with whom he allegedly began a sexual relationship with while she was underage, has had his appeal against conviction and sentence refused. The appellant, RKS, argued that the trial judge had erred in directing the jury regarding whether they could take in

The manner in which a sexual assault case was conducted "gives rise to real causes of concern", the Lord Justice General has said. At the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Turnbull and Lord Pentland, refused the appeal of Gavin Watson MacDonald who had be

Gilson Gray has announced seven new promotions, including one legal director, four associates, and two senior solicitors.

Six dispute resolution specialists have teamed up to offer an online service for the mediation and arbitration of business and commercial disputes. With the COVID-19 pandemic driving demand for technology-led alternatives to traditional face-to-face dispute resolution and court processes, the all-fe

HMP Barlinnie is “no longer fit for purpose”, according to prison inspectors. HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland found that the prison's holding cells, “first condemned 25 years ago”, are still in use and that they may fall foul of human rights law.

Michael Reid, managing partner at Aberdeen-based Meston Reid & Co, discusses the suspension of wrongful trading. When the temporary suspension of wrongful trading rules for company directors was announced, the UK government commented that it was designed to help business owners combat the f

DWF has advised Keywords Studios, an international technical and creative services provider to the global video games industry, on its placing to raise gross proceeds of approximately £100m. The shares being issued represent approximately 10.5 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of t

Aberdein Considine has added further industry experience to its lender services practice group with the appointment of a new operations manager. Tahir Bashir has joined the firm from the Ascent Performance Group, bringing with him 20 years of experience in property and volume debt recovery.