News

Nearly 300 workers are claiming millions of pounds from Sports Direct after being excluded from the company’s bonus scheme as they were on zero-hours contracts. The employees were ineligible for the bonus scheme which saw 2,000 permanent workers see a payout of £160 million in 2013.

A new Dundee investment house with £350 million of funds under management has been spun out of northeast law firm Thorntons. Thorntons Investment Management Limited(TIML) has taken over responsibility for funds previously administered by the law firm, but has been launched as a new limited company

From left: Graham Jones, Charles Scott and Caroline Cumming

The Law Society of Scotland has responded to growing use of gender neutral titles to include "Mx" among the option of titles available as part its registration process. Neil Stevenson, director of representation and support at the Law Society, said: “We work very hard to ensure that the society ad

Nearly two-thirds of entrants to the legal profession in Scotland are women, according to statistics produced by the Law Society of Scotland. The Law Society’s report on traineeship figures reported in Scottish Legal News yesterday indicate that in 2013-14, 502 trainees were admitted. Of these 202

An apprentice joiner who raised an action for damages after being injured at work will be able to pursue his claim against his now insolvent former employer but not against the company’s sole director, appeal judges have ruled. By a 2-1 majority, the Inner House of the Court of Session allowed an

A company has been fined nearly £16,000 for failing to provide interpreters seven times in an adoption case. Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division(pictured), described Capita’s failure as “lamentable”.

Scottish lawyer Helena Kennedy QC (pictured) has presented a programme for BBC Radio 4 entitled A Modern Magna Carta in which she attempts to design a Magna Carta for today's globalised world. The original charter sought to control the power of the king, but in a fluid world without borders, much po

Hot on the heels of its nomination for “legal training provider of the year” at the forthcoming Scott & Co Legal Awards for 2015, the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association (SYLA) has launched its latest events to members. The programme over the next eight weeks includes a new Civil Day Confe

Scientists working for the Scottish Police Authority(SPA) Forensic Services can now identify DNA in smaller and lower quality samples than before following substantial investment in forensic technology. Established within the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, scientists working at the Scottish Poli

House prices continued to rise in the third quarter of 2014-15, according to official statistics published today by Registers of Scotland (RoS). The average house price in Scotland in the third quarter was £165,197, up 3.4 per cent on the same period in 2013.

Plans to introduce legislation to create a more accessible, affordable and equitable civil justice system for Scotland have been set out by Scottish ministers. A consultation on proposals for primary legislation on the expenses and funding of civil litigation has been published, with all those invol

The European Court of Human Rights(ECtHR) has ruled the whole-life sentence imposed on a murderer and rapist who challenged his sentence on the basis it infringes his human rights is competent because a mechanism for review of such sentences exists. British citizen Arthur Hutchinson was the first pr

Additional specialist prosecutors are to be introduced, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has said in its strategic plan. COPFS said it would consider bringing in more specialist units to deal with a rise in complex cases.

The Law Society of Scotland has reported a rise in the number of traineeships available for aspiring solicitors. Following a slight decrease the previous year, an 11 per cent rise in the number of traineeships started in 2013/14 indicates improving prospects for Scotland’s future lawyers.