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Thorntons’ Edinburgh team has achieved a record annual fee income of approaching £12 million as the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary in the capital. The firm opened its doors in North Castle Street in November 2004 with just three employees. Now based at Haymarket, it boasts a team o

A centenarian former Nazi camp guard could stand trial in Germany after a regional court dismissed a ruling which had found he was unfit to stand trial. Gregor Formanek is accused of participating in the murder of 3,300 people when he was a guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, near Berlin,

Anna MacKay, a criminal defence solicitor at Scullion LAW, won the Rising Star of the Year Award at the recent Legal 500 Awards.  Kris Buchanan, head of criminal law, said: “Huge congratulations to Anna MacKay. She is considered one of the finest criminal law practitioners in the country.

The challenges in sentencing people with mental health and related issues are outlined in two new reports, published today by the Scottish Sentencing Council. An issues paper, Judicial perspectives of mental health and sentencing presents the findings of research undertaken by the council in late 20

The Law Society of Scotland has urged MSPs to make further changes to proposed criminal justice legislation because of the risk of miscarriages of justice. Stuart Munro, the convener of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice C

Hundreds of official Harry Potter replica swords have been recalled in Japan after they were discovered to be illegal weapons. Over 350 swords have been sold at the Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo, billed as "the largest indoor Harry Potter attraction in the world", since it opened in May 2023.

Microsoft is facing a £1 billion legal action amid claims it overcharged businesses for access to its products. The lawsuit, submitted to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, claims that Microsoft is punishing thousands of UK businesses and organisations that use rival cloud computing services fro

A conman who cheated friends, online dating partners and a pensioner out of thousands of pounds to finance his internet gambling habit has been jailed for more than three-and-a-half-years. Michael Higgins, 42, of Livingston, West Lothian, fraudulently obtained a total of £18,225 from 15 victim

Insurance and construction law firm Beale & Co has opened a new office in Glasgow. The office will be led by Lindsay Ogunyemi and Andrew McConnell, both of whom are members of the partnership.

Gillespie Macandrew has recently donated a record £51,000 to charity as part of its annual commitment to its charity partners.

Arrested protesters in Georgia are being denied their right to a lawyer and a fair trial, Amnesty International has said. For several nights now, protesters in Tbilisi have blocked key streets to oppose the government's announcement that it will not proceed with EU accession talks until 2028.

Wolves are set to have their protected status in the EU downgraded with effect from next March. A proposal to downgrade the status of wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected" has been approved by the standing committee of the Bern Convention, which governs the conservation of European wildlif

The prison population increased by six per cent in 2023-24 to 7,860 on the average day. The increase in the prison population was primarily driven by an increase in the sentenced population (+8 per cent since 2022-23).

Payments to people in receipt of benefits will be protected from inflation after the Scottish Parliament passed the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

A man who attempted to rape a woman and attacked another as they walked home from a university library in Dundee has been jailed for more than 10 years. Derek Lewis previously appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on 13 November where he pleaded guilty to three charges. The court heard how the 40-