News

A career at the bar is becoming "less appealing, or even viable" for new entrants, according to a report by LexisNexis. The company's survey found that despite the fact that nearly three quarters of respondents said their practices had either remained stable or grown, compared to three years ag

A bank robber who hid his face with a pillowcase had to remove it mid-robbery when he realised he couldn't see through it. Matthew Davies, 47, forgot to make eye holes in the pillowcase he put over his head while robbing a bank in Dunfermline last year.

A plumber who injured his arm while playing football over 16 years ago has been awarded more than £540,000 in damages after a Scottish health board admitted liability over its “negligent diagnosis and treatment” of the injury. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that, h

MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee are seeking views from the public, media organisations and publishers, internet firms and other experts on proposed changes to the law on defamation. The Justice Committee has been tasked with considering the Defamation and Malicious Publicat

Non-healthcare professionals will require a licence to undertake cosmetic procedures under proposals from the Scottish government. Currently, treatments such as lip enhancements are available at premises including hairdressers and pharmacies.

Vialex has appointed four new lawyers as it prepares for a year of expansion. The firm, which recently announced a strategic venture in London, has hired experienced corporate lawyer Emma Seddon as a senior legal adviser. Ms Seddon, from Aberdeen, joins Vialex from EDF Renewables where she work

International corporate law firm Rooney Nimmo has announced that Scott Nelson has joined the firm as a partner, based in its London and Edinburgh offices. Mr Nelson is an experienced corporate transactional lawyer who has spent his entire legal career focused on the representation of leading private

Judges will be kept out of politics under plans to reform judicial review, the Lord Chancellor has said. Robert Buckland QC MP said the judiciary needed protection after a series of cases saw political decision-making “contracted out” to judges whose independence ought to be preserved.

Samira Ahmed's high profile victory in her equal pay claim against the BBC should be sounding alarm bells for many employers who do not have a clear and transparent system for valuing jobs and setting pay, writes Sarah Gilzean. In its judgment issued on 10 January, the London Central Employment Trib

The Supreme Court of Ireland sat as a five-judge panel with four women on the bench for the first time in Irish legal history yesterday.

Millicent Grant has become the first chartered legal executive to be appointed an Honorary Queen’s Counsel. A Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) board member and a former CILEx president had her appointment approved by Her Majesty The Queen yesterday, along with nine other Honorar

iBIC's Masterclass on joint investigative interviews (JIIs) will take place on 24 January 2020. Places are limited. Book your place by 17 January 2020. Getting It Right For Every Child Witness is necessary and achievable. Children can be good witnesses when adults are good questioners, as this short

Japan is planning new legislation to protect its prized wagyu beef from being reared in neighbouring China. Farmers are worried that smugglers are ramping up efforts to bring wagyu cattle to China in defiance of a two-decade export ban.

An oil and gas company has been granted a court order to prohibit environmental campaigners from carrying out protests on four offshore installations in the North Sea. Shell UK was granted an interdict to prevent Greenpeace activists from boarding or attempting to board the Brent Alph

Harper Macleod has won a competitive tender to be appointed as principal adviser to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), the country’s biggest landowner, on a wide range of legal services. The appointment means that Harper Macleod has continuously advised the government body responsible for manag