Opinion

Benjamin Bestgen asks us this week to consider just prices. See last week's jurisprudential primer here. Caricatures of fatcat lawyers and greedy shysters lining their pockets through frivolous claims and overcharging clients have linked the legal profession unflatteringly with money for centur

Further to our piece of 11 November, Lord Stewart, a former Senator of the College of Justice, writes with more detail about the fascinating life of his grandfather Archibald Stewart, who died in the bombing of Campbeltown in 1941. Gillian Mawdsley’s Armistice Day article about the death of my

The High Court in London recently heard an application which had as its aim the exclusion of evidence obtained in the course of law enforcement activity into the EncroChat platform. For reasons which this article will hopefully make obvious, that application will in time be remembered as simply the

Businesses which fail to ensure that any 'green' claims made in advertising can be substantiated are likely to breach UK advertising regulations and could result in reputational damage, writes Gill Dennis. Using green credentials as a marketing tool is entirely legitimate, provided those creden

Sorry seems to be the hardest word, which is why the law has gotten involved in recent years. Benjamin Bestgen reflects on an early injustice and the value of apologies. See last week's jurisprudential primer here. I recall an episode in primary school in which another kid teased and pestered me and

Bryan Shaw considers some of the more common pain points in syndicated deals and shares some suggested strategies to resolve any roadblocks. In the early months of 2020 and during Covid lockdown, access to capital for early-stage and scaling businesses became more difficult as investors’ risk

Justice will survive the Covid-19 pandemic, Tony Lenehan writes. All lawyers love traditions. Members of the Faculty of Advocates maybe more so. The horsehair wigs, the silken gowns. Advocates have had the same professional home in Parliament House in Edinburgh for 488 years. That’s about 90 y

Daniel Wincott, Blackwell professor of law and society at the University of Cardiff, explores the impact of Brexit on devolution across the UK. Brexit has exposed the underdeveloped and fragile aspects of devolution in the UK. Devolved governments’ relationships with London are strained. The a

The Johnny Depp case shows you should never go to court before quantifying the risk, writes Peter Graham. Last week the newspapers reported the judgment in the case of Johnny Depp’s libel action against News Group Newspapers.

The re-introduction of Crown preference and the resulting change in the order of priority of creditors on insolvency was announced as part of the Autumn budget in 2018, way before anyone had heard of Covid-19, and was originally due to come into force on 6 April 2020. It was delayed until 1 December

What's in a legal system? Benjamin Bestgen supplies the principal ingredients. See his last primer here. Last week’s article ended with lawyer and author Christopher Brown’s suggestion that fantasy authors could do more to make law and legal systems an explicit focus point in their works

In this article, Mark Conway describes his experience as a party litigant. Mr Conway was convicted and imprisoned in 2017 after defrauding Dundee City Council of more than £1 million, due to a gambling addiction. He represented himself at the High Court after his case was referred to the

This is National Pro Bono Week which provides a useful opportunity to think about when and how lawyers provide legal services to those in need. The process of going through a legal dispute, whether that is civil or criminal, is a stressful and complex one for most people even under the best of circu

The financial hurricane resulting from the coronavirus crisis is now beginning to touch down on the personal finances of millions of Scots and like all great storms, is going to leave a trail of destruction in its aftermath, with debris being made up from broken tenancy, mortgage, and consumer credi

Dr Thomas Muinzer details the work of the Scottish Climate Emergency Legal Network this year. Since its inaugural meeting at the Legal Services Agency, Glasgow, on January 20 at the beginning of this year, the Scottish Climate Emergency Legal Network (SCELN) has been meeting on a regular basis, enga