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The Law Society of Scotland has announced that Diane McGiffen will be appointed as its new chief executive. She succeeds Lorna Jack, who will leave after 13 years in the role. Diane McGiffen has worked in senior roles at Audit Scotland for the last 20 years, most recently as chief operating officer,

In response to pressure applied by the Law Society of Scotland, plans to introduce a new economic crime levy, will see smaller law firms exempted. The Law Society opposed the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) levy in principle and put forward arguments stating that it would be wrong to add such a financia

The Law Society of Scotland has been shortlisted for a national award for its work to support its members during the pandemic. The professional body for Scottish solicitors is one of seven finalists in the Best Covid-19 Response in Associations category. Organised by GCN Events, the Covid Response A

Five Scottish solicitors have been granted extended rights of audience. The new solicitor advocates will be allowed to exercise their extended rights of audience in the Court of Session, the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The Law Society of Scotland has accused the Scottish government of dragging its feet on legal aid reform following the announcement of its programme for government. An independent legal aid review, which reported over three years ago, recommended an overhaul of the system. However, while the governm

The search for the latest ‘light bulb’ idea in risk management within the Scottish legal sector has been launched today. The Innovation Cup aims to tap into the expertise of the Scottish legal community and improve risk management across the profession. The Law Society of Scotland is run

Two partners at Harper Macleod have been accredited as construction law specialists by the Law Society of Scotland. Euan Pirie, head of the firm’s infrastructure and projects team, and Michael Conroy, who leads on construction, have been recognised as being among Scotland’s leading advis

The head of the Independent Afghanistan Bar Association should receive urgent assistance from the UK government, the Law Society of Scotland has said. Ken Dalling, president of the Law Society, has written to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to echo the call from the International Bar Association (IBA

Should climate change be a mandatory part of legal education to prepare Scotland's lawyers of the future? Or, would having a universal definition of 'ecocide' help to tackle climate change globally? Scots Law students have been challenged to write or record their views on climate change and the law

Scots lawyers would like the 'not proven' verdict preserved whether Scotland adopts a two or three verdict system, a survey by the Law Society of Scotland has found. The survey – the majority of whose respondents were civil practitioners – asked about the need for change in the context o

The Law Society of Scotland has added to criticism of the prime minister over his remarks last week about the legal profession. Boris Johnson had suggested that “left-wing criminal justice lawyers” act against the public interest.

The Law Society of Scotland has warned the justice secretary that proposed reforms to sexual offences cases must respect the presumption of innocence. Keith Brown said yesterday he will not shy away from reforms that would raise the conviction rate in sex cases.

The Law Society of Scotland has expressed irritation with the pace of court re-openings as Scotland moves to level 0. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) announced today that it will keep in place the suspension of physical attendance at courts, except in relation to criminal trial diet

Diversity data collected as part of the annual Practising Certificate (PC) renewal process has been published by the Law Society of Scotland today. Diversity questions were included for the first time in the 2020/21 PC renewal process, in order to give a better understanding of what the profession l

In-house solicitor Angus Niven has been crowned the Law Society of Scotland in-house rising star of 2021. Law Society of Scotland president Ken Dalling announced the winner at the In-house Annual Conference today.