Opinion

As the first week of COP26 drew to a close, and fireworks lit the sky in celebration of Diwali and Guy Fawkes night, a group of mediators from across the globe gathered on Zoom to discuss the World Mediators Alliance on Climate Change Green Pledge. The event was hosted by John Sturrock Q.C of Core S

An EAT judgment suggests failure to consult may render dismissal unfair, writes Laura McKenna. There are many things that employers should consult with their staff upon, but is the appropriate sanction in misconduct proceedings really one of them? The Employment Appeal Tribunal in London Borough of

On Thursday 18th November 2021 I appeared on John Beattie’s Drivetime Show on BBC Radio Scotland to discuss the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Esther Brown – and the criminal proceedings that followed. It occurred to me that there were certain public misconceptions about t

The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures was considerable. The loss of revenue suffered during the extended periods of lockdown inevitably had a significant impact on businesses. While the Job Retention Scheme (i.e. the furlough scheme) which ended on 30 September 2021

A recent EAT judgment finds even costs incurred by choice need to be deducted when calculating NMW, writes Nicole Moscardini.  According to HMRC's National Minimum Wage Manual, deductions made from a worker's pay or payments made by the worker to the employer will always reduce national mi

What is admissible in evidence in our ongoing trial of the past? The Arab slave trade? Modern slavery across Asia? Or are rules and consistency passé? Does Lady Justice need scales or will the sword suffice? Edinburgh Council, for example, remains coy about its plaque in Abercromby Place that

Very few of you will have tuned into the Roberton Report a couple of years ago. Even fewer will be aware that the Scottish government (after a lengthy and entirely understandable delay) is only now consulting on its recommendations. Even fewer will respond to the consultation. Why should you? How co

The way we work continues to evolve following the Covid-19 pandemic and clients are now expecting more than just sound legal advice from their full-service law firm. As a result, there has been an increase in demand for legal project managers, writes Amy Ferguson. Legal project management is the app

As COP26 draws to a close today and Glasgow bids farewell to international leaders, business leaders and global environmental campaigners, we have to hope that the commitments made over the last two weeks will be delivered in full (or exceeded) and to the agreed timescales, writes David Young. More

As Sheryl Crow crooned, in her wispy-voice, there are three things James Bond cares for: martinis, girls and guns. But today, I question, after an almost sixty-year career of indulging liberally in all three, why Bond is still employed as a Double-O MI6 spy. This blog contains zero No Time To Die sp

In The Times today, Jamie Greene, the Scottish Conservatives’ shadow justice secretary criticises the new guidelines on sentencing which state that those under 25 should be spared jail, wherever possible. I do not have a problem with that suggestion, but only if the public can be assured that

At almost the half-way point in my presidential year, my term in office at the Law Society of Scotland continues to be shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic. The past 18 months have undoubtedly been among the most challenging any of us have ever faced. However, despite the difficulties, the legal professi

In a recent decision that will be of considerable interest to insolvency practitioners, the English High Court dismissed a challenge to a liquidator's decision to assign causes of action originally vested in an insolvent company to a specialist insolvency litigation financing company, writes An

The week, in addition to being the second week of COP26, is also International Mediation Awareness Week, and events across the world are taking place in an effort to raise awareness of the power of mediation to resolve conflict. That power is something not lost on those working on the fringes of the

In March 2020, I wrote about the rising tide of climate change litigation and how the courts were being used by activists as an alternative to traditional protest activities. The trends we were beginning to see have continued unabated over the last 18 months. As of October 2021, almost 1,900 climate