News

The Law Society of Scotland has commissioned a new research project to ensure it can best support smaller firms and the essential services they provide. Independent research company Taylor McKenzie will be contacting solicitors working in smaller firms, ranging from sole practitioners to firms emplo

Tributes were paid to the "impossible but fabulous" Ethel Houston to celebrate the 75th anniversary of her becoming the first female partner in a Scottish law firm. Ethel, who would have been 100 this year, became a partner at Balfour and Manson in 1949 – and her life and achievements were cel

Aberdein Considine has opened an office in Manchester’s Spinningfields as it embarks on a UK-wide expansion of its commercial property business. The firm, founded in 1981 in Aberdeen, has 21 offices across Scotland and the north of England.

BTO Solicitors LLP has announced record turnover and increased profits in its latest set of figures lodged at Companies House. Turnover amounted to £19.575 million (an increase of 6.9 per cent), with profits of £6.371m, representing a 16.9 per cent uplift on the 2022/2023 result.

A rapist who subjected three young children to a campaign of sexual abuse has been jailed. Alan Todd was found guilty of five charges on 28 October 2024 following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The 54-year-old's offending took place at various addresses in Edinburgh between 2001 and 2019.

The Lawscot Foundation is aiming higher than ever to support talented law students from less-advantaged backgrounds with its annual Christmas campaign, Baublefest. The foundation has increased its target for the festive fundraiser to £7,500, topping last year’s record of £5,500. Th

The Scottish government has called for the UK government to consider a pilot proposal in Scotland which would give people seeking asylum the right to work in some parts of Scotland. The Scottish Right to Work Pilot Proposal proposes a number of changes to current UK policy, including enabling the ri

The average price of a property in Scotland in September 2024 was £198,000, an increase of 5.7 per cent when compared to September 2023, according to the latest figures from Registers of Scotland (RoS). Compared with the previous month, house prices in Scotland fell by 0.9 per cent on a non-se

It is no longer a crime to cheat on your spouse in New York. The state has repealed an adultery law dating back to 1907, which said it was a crime where a person "engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse".

The lack of criminal court sitting days has piled pressure on the justice system, Lady Chief Justice Dame Sue Carr has told MPs. She said that a decision to prevent crown courts from operating at full capacity has only increased case backlogs.

The Scottish Prison Service's waiting list for sexual offending rehabilitation programmes would take 14 years to clear, according to new figures. The SPS was urged by Emma Jardine, policy and public affairs manager at Howard League Scotland, to increase the transparency over access to such schemes.

Legislation to help reduce the high prison population has been passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Bill will change the release point for offenders serving sentences of less than four years from 50 per cent of their sentence to 40 per cent. There will be no ch

An online system to assist trainees and junior solicitors in drafting legal correspondence has won the Law Society of Scotland’s 2024 Innovation Cup. The judges selected Andrew Logue – an Aberdeen-based associate with Clyde & Co – for his proposed tool to facilitate collaborati

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been excoriated as "incompetent at best, dishonest at worst" in a new report from MPs and peers. The culmination of a three-year inquiry involving testimony from 175 individuals, the report highlights the FCA's failure to protect consumers and small business

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has reported challenges with accessing human rights to health, housing, and food across the Highlands and Islands. Critical issues include an apparent failure to meet the most basic international obligations related to the right to health, the right to housing an