News

The UK is not legally obliged to offer a gender-neutral passport option to people who identify as neither male nor female, the Court of Appeal in London has ruled. Dismissing the case brought by Christie Elan-Cane, who identifies as "non-gendered", the court said the need to have either an "M" or "F

Simon Allison and his colleagues in the Blackadders’ employment team took part in the Stroke Association’s 10k Resolution Run on Sunday. Mr Allison said on social media: “I’m basically ancient now. My life consists of short intervals between asking people to repeat themselves

Solicitors could be banned from “cosy” deals with housebuilders after conveyancing firms failed to prevent tens of thousands of people from buying new-build homes with "unfair" leases, The Times reports. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed concern over the role of

A Nova Scotia man whose car licence plate is 'GRABHER' is appealing a court decision that condoned its revocation. The plate was revoked from Lorne Grabher, 71, after a single complaint was made to the registrar of motor vehicles that it encouraged sexual violence against women.

A lawyer who allegedly bolted from a strip club after refusing to pay for his private dance has been arrested. Bouncers said Dylan T. Vinzant, a 38-year-old attorney in the US state of Oregon, ran out of the club after refusing to pay a $200 bill for a 15-minute dance.

A Scottish university which sued a distance-learning student for unpaid fees has had its claim dismissed due to “lack of jurisdiction”. Heriot-Watt University raised an action against Christian Schlamp, claiming that the parties had entered into a “contract for the provis

Dealmakers at Harper Macleod broke into the top three of Scotland's dealmaking league table after a strong performance throughout 2019. The firm reported 125 deals during the year with a combined disclosed value of £4.19 billion – a 69 per cent rise in deal numbers from the previous year

Scottish Business Network has named New York-based lawyer Fraser Grier as its ambassador in the city. The immigration law expert will aim to help SBN members find opportunities in the Big Apple and to build the community of Scots there.

Balfour and Manson, the first Scottish legal firm to name a woman as a partner, held an event for female lawyers following in her footsteps to mark International Women’s Day 2020. Ethel Houston was named as a partner back in 1949 and, more than 70 years later, Balfour and Manson has honoured h

The Crofting Law Group will be holding a conference in Edinburgh on 2 April 2020. The theme of the conference is crofting law reform. The Crofting Law Group 2020 Conference will be of considerable importance to all persons with an interest in crofting law, whether as lawyers, advisers, crofters or l

Campaigners have renewed calls for the UK government to bring the Widowed Parent's Allowance scheme in line with human rights laws a year and a half after a landmark Supreme Court ruling. Belfast solicitor Laura Banks acted for Siobhan McLaughlin in the case which led to a ruling that the legis

Alison Marshall discusses women’s rights and discrimination, problems with the gender pay gap and parental leave, changes in legislation and the road to gender equality. Recent years have seen us celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the UK. It’s now 50 years since

Scottish Legal News managing editor Graham Ogilvy is to speak to the University of Abertay Law Society on March 25. He said: “We are always pleased to talk to students about SLN, the media and the law in the digital age.

Rockstars Led Zeppelin have been vindicated in a US court after a ruling that the band did not steal part of Stairway to Heaven. A bench of 11 in San Francisco affirmed an English judgment from 2016 that found no proof that the 1971 hit was taken from the song Taurus, written by Randy Wolfe, of Los

A woman was arrested on suspicion of drug offences after handing over cash that smelled like cannabis. Stormy Lynn Parfait, 33, paid $5,000 in cash to cover bail for an inmate being held in a Louisiana prison on drug charges.