News

A sheriff in Peterhead has found that the death of a north-east prisoner from possible drug and alcohol-related conditions the day after he was admitted to prison was not the result of an accident or any failure on the part of prison staff. Sean Taggart, a prisoner at HMP Grampian, died on the morni

The Faculty of Advocates has condemned comments made by the prime minister once again about the legal profession.  Boris Johnson suggested yesterday that "left-wing criminal justice lawyers" act against the public interest.

The Queen's lawyers lobbied Scottish ministers to amend a bill in order to exempt her private land from an initiative to cut carbon emissions, documents show. 

Compass Chambers has announced that David McNaughtan and Craig Murray have been appointed to the role of crown counsel by the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain QC. Mr Murray has already commenced his appointment and Mr McNaughtan will begin in August.

The average age of barristers has risen substantially in the past three decades, according to a study by the Bar Standards Board. The average age of a barrister in 1990-91 was 38.5 but stood at 46.5 in 2019-20.

Fiona Brown and Angie Clay have joined  Boyd Legal. Ms Brown joined from another Fife-based firm where she led the wills and estates department for more than eight years. Prior to this, she gained a specialist paralegal qualification in wills, trusts and executries from the University of S

Watermans Legal has announced the appointment of Dianne Millen as head of family law. Announcing the appointment, managing director Scott Whyte said: “I am delighted to welcome Dianne to the Watermans Legal team. She is a high calibre solicitor and is experienced in family and adults with inca

CMS has advised the Scottish National Investment Bank in relation to its investment into satellite-enabled connectivity start-up, R3 IoT Limited. The bank invested alongside US-based venture capital fund Space Capital in a round that closed at approximately £3.1 million ($4.3m).

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? debuted in 1998, and as we all know from the title, offered a cash prize of £1,000,000, the largest ever prize from a quiz show. Over the years, that cash prize has remained the same, with no adjustment for inflation. Inflation changes every year, increasing on a

A cardinal's trial began this week at the Vatican – the first in modern history. Giovanni Angelo Becciu, 73, was an influential adviser to the Pope and head of the  “saint-making” secretariat at the Vatican but is now at the centre of a €350m million fraud case.

The owner of a cottage in Ayrshire has failed to reduce a decree allowing a bank to take possession of his home under the terms of a standard security granted over it and prevent the bank from enforcing it. Stewart McLeod sought to interdict Bank of Scotland Plc from enforcing a decre

Recently I came across the text of a lecture by Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division of the High Court in England and Wales. In 2019 he delivered the Baroness Butler-Sloss Family Law Lecture at Exeter University. His subject was the development in understanding by social work and j

New research has found that witnesses are almost seven times more likely to include misinformation if a crime has been discussed with co-witnesses and that intoxicated witnesses give accurate accounts but remember fewer details. Researchers from Abertay University and London South Bank Universi

Katy Wedderburn discusses the UK government's proposal to introduce a mandatory duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment. The UK has had legislation making sexual harassment unlawful towards employees, workers carrying out work personally and job applicants, for a long time now. But despi

A wealth management law firm's equity partners have broken the £2 million pay barrier, putting them above their magic circle rivals. Macfarlanes has confirmed that full equity partners are paid an average of about £2.02 million each.