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On this day, 200 years ago, the First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session, presided over by Lord President Charles Hope (Lord Granton), ancestor to Lord Hope of Craighead, gave its decision in Strang v McIntosh 1 S 1 – the first entry in Session Cases. Emma McLarty a

The Supreme Court has ruled that an agreement by a third party to fund litigation in exchange for a percentage of damages recovered in the event of success constitutes a “damages-based agreement” for the purposes of statute. The issue arose in the context of applications to bring collect

Dr Karen Baston looks at a particularly acrimonious legal dispute from the eighteenth century over the use of a garden. In February 1760, advocate Walter Steuart presented a petition to the Court of Session on behalf of his client, John Grieve, a taylor in Potter-row. [1] The petition was part of a

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has dismissed an appeal by four recipients of Universal Credit against a finding that a UK government decision not to increase the personal allowance element of certain benefits during the period of Universal Credit uplift from March 2020 to October 2021 was

The High Court of England and Wales has allowed an appeal by the Home Secretary against judicial review proceedings challenging the lawfulness of provisions under the Immigration Act 2014 preventing landlords in the private sector from letting to irregular immigrants. The application was first broug

The UK government’s former chief drug adviser has called on Scotland to legalise ecstasy and cannabis as medicines. Professor David Nutt (pictured), Edmond J Safra chairman in neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, was sacked by the last Labour government for saying some drugs were le

Clyde & Co has entered into an agreement to transfer its Simpson & Marwick Aberdeen estate agency team to Ledingham Chalmers LLP from 4 November this year. All 12 Simpson & Marwick Aberdeen staff, including property partner David Geddie and senior associate Lynne Stewart, will transfer a

Professor Alexander McCall Smith (left) and former Lord Lyon King of Arms David Sellar At the court of the Lord Lyon, Alexander McCall Smith, emeritus professor of medical law at the University of Edinburgh and bestselling author, presented a portrait of former Lord Lyon (2008-2014) David Sellar by

Members of Westwater Advocates have secured 28 individual rankings across nine categories in the latest edition of Chambers & Partners and the stable has received Band 1 firm rankings in employment law and family/matrimonial. Clerk Sheila Westwater said: “While it is very gratifying to be

A lord ordinary has found that an electrical contractor could not be held liable for injuries suffered by a solar panel engineer it subcontracted to perform work for it when he fell on a wet metal roof during a solar panel installation. It was agreed by pursuer James Miller and defender JW Wheatley

Dundee solicitor Ross Paton, described as the life and soul of any party, has died aged 71. Born James Kinross Paton but known as Ross, he died suddenly on October 13 at his adopted home of Insh.

Members and guests of the Faculty of Advocates have been given a fascinating glimpse of the historic Nuremberg Trials and the widely-debated cross-examination of Hermann Goering. Robert Hedrick, a US attorney and an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University, is an avid student of the Trials and has de

A judge in the High Court who threatened a man with imprisonment for failing to maintain divorce payments has been recused from a case for showing excessive hostility and using “intemperate” language. Sir Nicholas Mostyn (pictured) was removed from the case which concerned the former wife ofbusi

Lynne Stewart has been promoted to partner at Ledingham Chalmers. She joined the firm on 1 November from Simpson & Marwick in Aberdeen as its estate agency team transferred to Ledingham Chalmers.