News

The private client team at Balfour and Manson has been awarded STEP Gold Employer Partner accreditation, in recognition of its specialist skills in inheritance and succession planning. The firm becomes of only a handful of law practices in Scotland to achieve ‘Employment Partner’ status

A senior judge has warned that too few people are qualifying as criminal lawyers, The Brief reports.

A village of only 120 people has issued speeding tickets to more than 58,000 drivers – within 10 days of installing traffic cameras. Temporary cameras were installed in Acquetico, an Italian village on the border with France, after locals complained about cars speeding through.

A man found guilty of sexually abusing three boys who claimed that a police statement given by a witness who could not remember making the statement due to memory loss should not have been admitted as evidence has had an appeal against his conviction rejected – despite the fact appeal judges r

In a landmark decision, the Inner House has refused an appeal by the GMC against a decision of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal (MPT) under s.40A of the Medical Act 1983. This is the first such appeal in Scotland. Laura Donald, a partner at BTO Solicitors LLP, provides expert commentary. BTO defen

The Scottish government has denied there is any problem with the legal aid duty rota after a freedom of information request revealed a fourfold increase in the number of solicitors withdrawing from providing cover in police stations. The new figures acquired by the Scottish Liberal Democrats show th

Morton Fraser has been appointed to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Wider Public Sector Legal Services Panel. Morton Fraser is the only Scottish independent firm to be directly appointed to lot one of the panel, meaning its public sector team will be available to provide commercial legal ser

Davidson Chalmers has recruited Laura Irvine as its eleventh partner to head up its newly launched regulatory team. She joins from BTO Solicitors where she was a partner. One of Scotland’s leading data protection and cybersecurity specialists, Ms Irvine wrote the Law Society of Scotland’

The recent Court of Appeal decision in Bellman v Northampton Recruitment Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2214 provides a stark, timely reminder of both the personal and legal consequences of what can happen when work outings turn for the worse, write Alan Strain and Kieran Buxton. Mr Bellman worked for Nort

Shepherd and Wedderburn has announced that Emma Robertson, senior associate in the firm's rural property and business team, has been accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in agricultural law. Ms Robertson joins a select group of lawyers with the accreditation, including Shepherd

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has highlighted an improving picture in its complaints handling, as it publishes its annual report and annual accounts which were laid before the Scottish Parliament earlier today. There was a 6.3 per cent increase in the number of complaints received

Dungavel immigration centre has been criticised for its use of "disproportionate" measures to ensure detainees do not escape. A report published yesterday by HM chief inspector of prisons, Peter Clarke, criticised the use of a dog to patrol the perimeter of Dungavel House, following the escape of a

A pilot of so-called flexible operating hours will go ahead in family and civil courts in England and Wales in spite of opposition from barristers. The UK government dropped its proposals for early starts and late finishes in the criminal courts after the Bar of England and Wales warned it would thr

Two police officers who were seriously injured, as well as the officers who came to their aid and arrested the man responsible, displayed extreme bravery, professionalism and sound judgement, a PIRC report has found. A 43-year-old man was deliberately struck by a police car during an attempt to arre

The audio of Professor Hector MacQueen's Stair Society Annual Lecture for 2018 is now available online. Professor MacQueen delivered the lecture on Friday entitled 'The Kings of Scots v The Earls of Douglas 1406-1455: a Game of Thrones?' and began with the minority of King James II 1437-1449 an