News

Mixed-sex couples will be able to enter a civil partnership for the first time under new legislation introduced to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish government consulted on two options for civil partnership in Scotland in 2018: scrapping civil partnership or making it available to mixed-sex coup

A new report from the International Bar Association (IBA) Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee and the World Bank claims that improving legal aid services is as important for economic growth as providing functioning hospitals, schools and roads. The report, A Tool for Justice: A Cost Benefit An

Private client specialist George Stevenson has joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a consultant, bringing more than 40 years’ expertise across the spectrum of personal legal and tax matters to the firm and its clients. Mr Stevenson, who specialises in all aspects of estate and inheritance tax pl

Construction specialist Ross Taylor has joined Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP as partner. Mr Taylor, who has headed up Taylor Law in Dunfermline for the past 10 years, will be working as part of the firm’s construction team from today, specialising in contentious construction disputes.

UK law firm TLT has elected its first new managing partner in 19 years, with corporate head John Wood winning support from the firm's partnership. Mr Wood will replace the firm's long-standing managing partner David Pester who has decided to step down at the end of his sixth term in office. Mr Wood

Burges Salmon has appointed Stuart McMillan as a partner in its banking team in Edinburgh. Prior to joining Burges Salmon, Mr McMillan was a partner at DLA Piper in Scotland, based in its Edinburgh office. He advises a wide range of banks and borrowers in project finance (including PFI/PPP and renew

The Government Actuary has confirmed that the discount rate in Scotland remains unchanged at -0.75 per cent following the completion of his review. The rate takes effect from today. A report has been prepared in accordance with the Damages (Investment Returns and Periodical Payments) (Scotland) Act

New legislation increasing animal cruelty penalties and improving powers for front-line enforcement agencies has been published. The Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill will increase the maximum penalties for the most serious animal welfare and wildlife offences

CMS has awarded two school pupils scholarships to help them achieve their ambition of completing a law degree. S6 pupils Nikita Stevenson from Carluke and Regan Brown from Irvine were the lucky recipients of the scholarships, worth £2,500 per year.

An event to help students gain industry knowledge of the legal sector is being held at City of Glasgow College this month. Emma Jackson, curriculum head for legal services, said: "We want real industry input on the skills that make for an effective employable paralegal, legal technologist, lega

Two experts on Sir Walter Scott have developed a free online course for people who would like to learn about the giant of Scottish literature. Professor Alison Lumsden, director of Aberdeen University’s Walter Scott Research Centre, and Kirsty Archer-Thompson, collections and interpretation ma

A well-respected chef arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis has told police he was simply looking for "new flavours". Police say they found two cannabis plants, around two metres tall, at his home, as well as half a kilogram of Indian hemp.

A contractor which claimed the Scottish government acted unlawfully in giving taxpayers' money to a competitor in the purchase of a Highland industrial yard has had a £25 million damages action dismissed. LC Management Services (Scotland) Ltd claimed that the financial awards to Global En

A sheriff has questioned why the Crown brought charges against a doctor who used force against a boy who was misbehaving, The Scotsman reports. Dr Alexander Waters, 45, pinched and pushed the six-year-old who was wrecking a bedroom with another child while the off-duty medic was looking after them.

Changing how digital evidence is collected, viewed and shared across the justice system could allow cases to be resolved faster and improve the experiences of victims and witnesses. The Scottish government has launched the procurement process for a new Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC), whi