Fishing rights may have been one of the main sticking points of the Brexit negotiations, but not all recent fish-related battles have been waged between Britain and Brussels. In a case that played out much closer to home, the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) challenged the Scottish
Margaret Taylor
When Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf announced plans for increased fees and a series of grants in the dying days of 2020, he said he was offering up a “significant package of support” for legal aid practitioners who had “worked hard since the Covid-19 outbreak to help maintain acces
There cannot be many advocates who would willingly compare themselves to a notorious despot, but Black Chambers’ Tony Lenehan is one. Having replaced Ronnie Renucci QC as president of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association (SCBA) at the tail-end of last year, Mr Lenehan likens his ascension to
As the year comes to a close with Christmas all but cancelled, it is hard to imagine that any good has come from Covid-19. For Morton Fraser partner David Hossack, however, one positive to come out of the coronavirus pandemic is that it has helped to highlight the role mediation can play in the reso
When a school teacher told the teenage Iain Smith he should downgrade his ambition to become a lawyer and focus on becoming a paralegal instead, it could have gone one of two ways: he could have thrown in the towel there and then or he could have resolved to work harder than ever to prove it was the
Criminal defence work may be a tough gig, but for an aspiring writer of crime fiction it has one key draw: it throws up a huge amount of material to work from. Indeed, when Russel & Aitken partner William McIntyre decided to turn his hand to novel writing a little over a decade ago he found he h
Much has been said about the plight of criminal defence lawyers in recent years, from the inadequacy of legal aid fees to the impracticality of working hours. Almost all of it has been from the point of view of practitioners with decades of experience in the sector, though. McGovern Reid solicitor M
After she left her role at Burness Paull to join London media practice Simkins, Fiona McAllister – now a lawyer at Channel 4 – began looking for an extra-curricular activity that would allow her to contribute to society while at the same time not being too closely related to her day job.
Balfour & Manson partner Robert Holland is convinced that employment is the best practice area for a lawyer to work in because it offers what he describes as the “best combination of black-letter law with a human-interest angle”. As head of his firm’s employment practice he wou
When Amanda Millar put herself forward to become president of the Law Society of Scotland she wanted to make a difference to her profession during a time of considerable challenges. What she did not know back in the relative calm of 2018 was that by the time she took over from John Mulholland in Jun
If there is one thing the Scotch whisky industry could have done without this year it is a global pandemic. The sector, which employs 11,000 people and contributes billions of pounds to the UK economy each year, was still reeling from the impact of tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump las
When disputes specialist Rachael Bicknell flew out to New Zealand at the beginning of this year the plan was to enjoy a break with her in-laws in a coastal paradise on New Zealand’s North Island. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and a trip that was supposed to last just a few weeks began str
In ordinary times, MBM Commercial would celebrate its August birthday alongside clients, sipping drinks and watching festival fireworks from an Edinburgh HQ that has a ringside view over the capital’s historic castle. These are not ordinary times, though, and while the firm, which was spun out
As a sports-mad youngster with an obsession for TV show Ally McBeal, Jodi Gordon’s main ambition when she was growing up was to find a job that would allow her to combine her love for both. After studying at the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh and beginning her career at personal injury
When the Supreme Court gave its decision in long-running matrimonial dispute Villiers v Villiers this month it handed a significant victory to Edinburgh law firm SKO Family Law. Led by partner Rachael Kelsey – the K in SKO – the firm represented Mrs Villiers in a matter that had sought t