Coronavirus

Peter Gray QC has raised more than £5,600 for charity after he cycled 200 miles in less than 24 hours in support of the National Bereavement Partnership COVID-19 Hub Response Appeal.

Thorntons LLP is currently accepting applications for legal traineeships beginning in 2022. Trainees at the firm have the opportunity to work in its offices in Dundee, Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife and Angus.

Pinsent Masons is set to distribute its scheduled bonuses, The Lawyer reports. The move coincides with the firm's confirmation that it has implemented an 80 per cent working week for employees in its quieter practice areas, with a corresponding “fair and proportionate” decrease in pay.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Regulatory Committee of Law Society of Scotland has suspended minimum CPD requirements for the 2019/2020 practice year. Instead, the CPD hours should be viewed as indicative figures to be met if possible. Keeping up to date in relevant practice disciplines a

Trainees' CPD requirements have been reduced by the Law Society of Scotland in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The Admissions Sub-Committee has reduced its trainee continuing professional development (TCPD) requirements for those qualifying before end of June 2020.

The Law Society of Scotland has announced cuts to the practising certificate fee and other charges made to solicitors in order to save the profession £2.2 million in response to the coronavirus crisis. The professional body’s governing Council has agreed that for the 2020/21 pr

Lockdown and social distancing measures may exacerbate the difficulties with corroborating domestic abuse, academics at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Law have warned. Dr Ilona Cairns and Dr Isla Callander – both of whom teach and research in the areas of crim

Judicial review proceedings have been brought against the UK government for failing to have a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter on stage at its daily coronavirus briefings. Sheffield lawyer Chris Fry sent a pre-action protocol letter to the government at the end of March on behalf of an 85-yea

The detrimental impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown measures imposed on people across Scotland is to be investigated by MSPs. The Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee is gathering views to inform an inquiry into the effects of the virus and the response to it by the Scot

COVID-19 is presenting challenges for the construction sector in many areas, but the marked differences between the approach in Scotland and England is causing significant confusion amongst UK businesses, write Angela Grahame QC and Murdo MacLeod QC. Businesses are already struggling to comply

Ailie McGowan discusses the need for a digitalised court system. The coronavirus pandemic and current enforcement of ‘lockdown’ measures in Scotland has sharply brought into focus the need for a fully functioning digitalised court system.

Five thousand people who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl have registered for a class action lawsuit that claims the resort and Tyrol region put private gain before public health, The Irish Times reports.

Remote courts technology is not ready for criminal trials with juries, the head of the Criminal Bar Association in England and Wales has said. After observing a mock remote jury trial, Caroline Goodwin QC concluded that "the technology is not there to deliver a safe and fair trial", The Times report

The joint administrators of the department store Debenhams have been held by the High Court of England and Wales to have adopted the employment contracts of personnel who had been furloughed due to the company’s participation in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS). The administrators so

The first virtual hearing in Scotland held as a result of the coronavirus emergency took place yesterday. The Inner House appeal, Stuart Campbell v Kezia Dugdale, was heard before the Lord President, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Menzies and Lord Brodie. The other participants were the clerk of c