Features

On 22 December the Scottish government ushered in a reform of the legal services market that has been sitting on the statute books for more than a decade, when it authorised the Law Society of Scotland to begin acting as an approved regulator under the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. This change

Copycat branding is nothing new; we regularly see it happening where a store sells an own-brand product (usually for a lower price) that very closely resembles a name-brand product. So, where should we draw the line between harmless lookalike and detrimental copycat? Last year, high-end gin company

What could have been done better in response to the Covid-19 pandemic? Has any aspect of the response broken Scots criminal law? Are there any circumstances in which compensation should be paid to those who have suffered the disease or to relatives of those who have passed because of it? Though

The gambling industry awaits the outcome of an imminent white paper which is sure to deal operators a fresh deck of cards which may not all be to their liking, writes Audrey Ferrie. The existing Gambling Act 2005 came into force in 2007 but it is widely recognised that current legislation needs a re

Ruaidhrí Groom, solicitor at Northern Ireland law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin, reviews a recent case where the Good Law Project and EveryDoctor challenged the allocation of several PPE contracts to businesses on the UK government’s 'VIP lane'. Due to the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had

Clyde & Co recently successfully defended a claim in the All Sheriff Scotland Court against a dissolved company from a pursuer who had previously made a successful claim against another party, writes David Tait. The second action related to a former employer of the pursuer for whom the insurance

Kirsty Stewart and Hannah Smethurst look at the IP issues surrounding a book compiled during the production of Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade Dune film. The epic was to feature artwork by H.R. Giger, a soundtrack from Pink Floyd and a cameo appearance from none other than Salvador Dalí –

Justice Secretary Keith Brown’s wish to find “credible and consistent” alternatives to a custodial sentence is laudable. That said, finding these is not an easy task, nor can it be done without substantial and long-term investment – something which many governments do not esp

Few outside the legal profession will realise the role that lawyers play in society and the extent to which our work is dictated by the actions of Parliament. I had not been aware of just how close that connection was until taking up my post around four years ago as head of our survivors team. The t

As one of Scotland’s busiest trial counsel, Thomas Leonard Ross QC is well-known for passionately fighting for justice – in the courtroom and out of it. Most recently he has been a vocal opponent of the proposal that the historical right to trial by jury be removed where serious sexual o

The legal market in Scotland has changed over the last year, although perhaps not to the extent that anyone would have predicted. Firms have, in general terms, coped well with remote working and are beginning to cope well with hybrid working too. Traditional streams of work have been maintained and

A successful ship arrest in Scotland requires consideration of various key factors coming together and an element of good timing. When an instruction to arrest is received, moving quickly is often important, but should never be at the cost of accuracy, write Duncan MacLean and Sarah Polson. The init

In December 2021, the Scottish government published its terms of reference for the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry, to be chaired by Scottish judge, Lady Poole. The overall aims of the inquiry are to investigate the strategic handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in a number of areas in order to establish the

A new association has been launched by the Faculty of Advocates to provide a supportive and accessible platform for newer members of the bar. Its first president, Antonia Welsh, explains the details. The junior bar association will focus on the needs of advocates called five years ago or less a

Douglas J. Cusine highlights a worrying bias in the Scottish government's consultation on the 'not proven' verdict, which sits alongside its botched consultation on the reform of legal regulation. As was mentioned in Scottish Legal News in December, the Scottish government is consulting on the &ldqu