Search: David J Black

"Take that, sir. By God, sir, you shall more of this yet!,” cried Scottish banker George Morgan as he struck a merchant on the head with his umbrella. The incensed victim, David Landale, replied through the crisp Kirkcaldy air in measured breaths: "You are a coward, sir, a poor, silly coward."

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has dismissed an appeal by six insurers against a decision that they required to pay out on the war risks policy of a vessel detained by the Indonesian navy under border security laws in 2019 after concluding that no exclusion in the policy had been engaged b

A Glasgow sheriff has awarded just over £17,500 to an electrician and approved rot contractor who carried out communal work to his second cousin’s property before it was sold for over £1.1 million after finding that he was not paid the majority of the sum due for the job and the co

Scotland risks breaching the European Convention on Human Rights due to the way its rape laws are being interpreted in certain cases, according to the bodies representing the legal profession. In a joint submission to the Supreme Court, the Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland raised

The UK needs “Australian-style” compulsory voting to combat the “disastrously low” voter turnout seen at the last general election, according to a new report. YouGov polling, commissioned for the report published by the Constitution Society, shows that a plurality of the publ

An Aberdeen sheriff has granted the trustee in sequestration of the estates of a married couple authority to sell their family home after they failed to engage with the sequestration process for over five years. Richard Bathgate, who became the trustee in sequestration following the retirement of th

In a significant judgment handed down on 10 June 2025, the Court of Session has clarified the complex relationship between insurance policy avoidance and insurers’ rights to recover settlement payments, writes Robyn Coates. The case of Ian Whyte v David Arthur and UK Insurance Limited [2025] C

A lord ordinary has ruled that a UK motor insurer could not recover a sum of money it paid to settle an action by a man injured in a road accident from another passenger in the same vehicle, who was the named policyholder in respect of an avoided policy in respect of the car. Pursuer Ian Whyte origi

Public inquiries are imposing an "escalating and unsustainable burden" on Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has claimed, citing a growing financial and operational crisis exacerbated by six major inquiries currently under way. In evidence submitted to Holyrood’s Finance and

The Sheriff Appeal Court has refused an appeal by stated case by a woman convicted of an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 after her German Shephard bit a courier delivering a parcel to her property. Appellant Janet Macfarlane challenged her conviction on the basis that there were no grounds

His Majesty The King has appointed Lorraine Glancy, Jonathan Guy, Helen McGinty, Alan Sinclair, Graeme Watson, Chloe Millar, Michael Meehan, David Bernard, Euan Gosney and John McElroy to the office of sheriff, on the recommendation of First Minister John Swinney. Mr Swinney made his recommendation

An original issue of the Magna Carta, long mistaken for a copy and sold in the 1940s for what one historian described as a “fairly derisory price”, has been identified at Harvard Law School Library. The document was acquired in 1946 from a London bookseller for just $27.50, before its tr

Police are on the hunt for a drug dealer believed to have hidden drug-filled eggs across a city as part of an Easter scavenger hunt. Five plastic eggs containing around seven grams of cannabis were allegedly hidden in spots across Lufkin, Texas, with clues to their locations posted on Facebook.

A couple who leased a property in Renfrewshire who argued that their landlords had breached the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 by transferring their deposit from one approved scheme to another without telling them have lost an appeal to the Upper Tribunal against a decision that

We are delighted to invite you to our Glasgow Reparation Conference on Friday 16th May 2025 at 200 Conference & Events Ltd, Glasgow from 1pm to 5pm. The conference is open to all Solicitors, In-House Lawyers, Trainees and Paralegals. Under the Law Society of Scotland's Guidelines, delegates may