News

Many Scots lawyers would like to see the salutation 'Dear Sirs' dropped from usage in favour of others that recognise that not all lawyers are men, a survey by Scottish Legal News has found.

D C Watson & Sons (Fenton Barns) Ltd, owner of storage premises known as the Turkeytorium, in East Lothian, have achieved dismissal of an action for damages at debate, following a fire at the premises. Clyde & Co's Gordon Keyden explains the details of the case. The pursuer, Philip Samson, l

Morton Fraser has launched a new payment model as part of its commercial litigation practice to enable businesses to pursue disputes without significant financial risk. Total annual losses to small businesses from legal problems are estimated at £40 billion, with over one million individuals i

The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has backed the underlying intentions behind the Scottish government’s new Domestic Abuse Bill, but warned that serious practical concerns raised during the course of its scrutiny need to be addressed. Both legal bodies and the police signalled

A peer has predicted that the Chinese authorities will sack the British judges who sit on Hong Kong's highest court amid the withdrawal of a barrister who was prosecuting the region's leading pro-democracy activists. Lord Garnier QC, a former Conservative solicitor-general, told The Times that he th

Crofters in some of Scotland’s most remote and marginal communities are to benefit from grants to improve their housing or build new homes. The Croft House Grant scheme aims to retain and attract people to rural communities while allowing them to achieve the full potential of crofts and genera

Andrew McConnell has been made a director at DWF in Glasgow. Mr McConnell acts exclusively for professional indemnity insurance clients and regularly handles high value, complex claims giving advice on all matters concerning liability, causation and quantum.

A bill to address the rise in dog attacks on livestock will be debated at Holyrood today. The Protection of Livestock (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill would increase the penalties for dog-owners whose pets chase, attack or kill farmed animals.

The Law Society of Scotland is inviting nominations for honorary membership for outstanding service for the public good by a Scottish solicitor. Honorary membership has been awarded to 18 solicitors in its 72-year history. The most recent recipients, Alistair Cockburn, Sheriff Brian Kearney and Dame

Egyptian police have arrested a woman who made "indecent" cupcakes. Photos of the controversial cakes, some of which had frosting shaped like buttocks and underwear, went viral on social media.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that business interruption losses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic are recoverable under a variety of insurance policies after appeals by both the Financial Conduct Authority and various insurance companies. The original proceedings by the FCA w

The Lord Advocate suggested using terrorism legislation to deal with the pandemic, the Scottish government has inadvertently revealed due to improperly redacting his comments in material released following a freedom of information request. James Wolffe QC told ministers that the Civil Contingencies

The Scottish Parliament has voted in favour of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Bill.  The member’s bill was brought forward by Daniel Johnson MSP and will create a new statutory offence of assaulting, threatening or abusing a retail

Scottish Legal News is asking readers whether it is time to ditch the salutation 'Dear Sirs' from correspondence following calls for its abandonment. In a letter to the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, bearing the salutation "Dear Colleagues", Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, Katy MacAskill and M&ag

Following last week’s announcement that during the latest lockdown the criminal courts will focus on the most serious cases, seven sheriff courts are now running jury trials linked to remote jury centres. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr, Paisley, Kilmarnock, Hamilton and Airdrie Sheriff Courts are now