News

Gillespie Macandrew and its client have achieved a landmark decision in the development of one of the UK’s largest wind farms on croft land. The firm acted for Viking Energy in its application to the Scottish Land Court for permission to proceed with a wind farm development on central Mainland

Thompsons Solicitors has announced a number of promotions to associate level. Senior solicitors Alan Calderwood, Claire Campbell, Paul Deans, Michael Briggs and Joel Shaw will take up their new positions from 1 November. Joel Shaw from the private accident department said: “I think I speak on

House prices in Aberdeen and its suburbs remained unchanged in the third quarter of this year, a new report shows. Aberdeen Solicitors’ Property Centre Limited, in cooperation with the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Real Estate Research, has published statistics for the third quarter of 2

Graeme McKinstry comments on the pressures faced by high street practitioners. The recent high-profile changes within the profession, the latest being the disappearance of Leslie Wolfson & Co. to another English predator highlight the inexorable increase in the pressures on the traditional busin

The Scotsman has published a full obituary of Murray Sinclair, who passed away last month at the age of 57. Mr Sinclair had been director of the Scottish Government Legal Directorate since 2007. Over a career spanning three decades he served four Secretaries of State for Scotland, six First Minister

HMRC will be made a preferred creditor in insolvencies, chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his budget yesterday, but the decision could lead to an increase in corporate failure numbers, according to a Scottish insolvency practitioner. The move was revealed among a range of measures designed to c

Grampian Woman’s Aid (GWA), the charity which offers support to women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, has bolstered its board by appointing a family solicitor from one of Scotland’s oldest law firms. The work of GWA across the cit

A fascinating murder mystery will be the subject of an evening of discussion with an American lawyer in Glasgow next month. David Rudolf, the defence attorney for Michael Peterson, whose case is depicted in the hit Netflix documentary series The Staircase, will be hosting a show exclusivel

A scientist in Antarctica is alleged to have stabbed his colleague after the man repeatedly revealed the endings of books he was reading. Sergey Savitsky, 55, and Oleg Beloguzov, 52, passed their hours in a remote outpost reading over the course of four years together.

A judge should not become a party litigant’s law agent and advise on procedural matters when dealing with applications to appeal, the Court of Session has ruled. The First Division made the observation in refusing an appeal by a builder who was seeking to challenge a sheriff’s

Cyclists in Scotland who cause death or serious injury to others could in theory be prosecuted under common law, but it is unlikely, the Faculty of Advocates has suggested in a submission to the Department for Transport. The department is proposing new cycling offences, such as causing death or seri

The new Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) centre for child and vulnerable witnesses, due to open next year, will benefit from £950,000 in funding from the Scottish government. The facilities will include flexible hearing suites and vulnerable witness suites with a direct video link

Tracy Kirk has joined Glasgow Caledonian University as a lecturer in law. Ms Kirk obtained a first class LLB (Hons) from the University of Stirling in 2011. After many years of working with children and young people in education and healthcare, she commenced a PhD at Northumbria University in 2015.

The laws of access and rights and responsibilities are the subject of a new book by law lecturer Malcolm Combe. Scotland has unique and progressive rights of access to land for the public. With a landscape internationally renowned for its beauty and diversity and attracting increasing visitor number

The Scottish Debt Arrangement Scheme has jokingly had its acronym, DAS, compared with a famous washing powder (Daz), the idea being it washes away debts, which is appropriate. Like many a washing powder, it has been through numerous re-launches, with each promising to be better than the last, writes