Search

Latest civil cases, including interdict of solicitors; abuse of process; recovery of documents; expert evidence; judicial intervention; actions ad factum praestandum; expenses; which procedure?

Employment briefing: requests for anonymity are becoming more common in employment tribunal cases, and the relevant provisions can create a complex picture

Family briefing: the much criticised forms intimated to seek a child's views where a parent wishes to obtain orders relating to the child are changing, and the court will be given greater control

Human rights briefing: the court has upheld the ECHR compatibility of the fixed penalty provisions of the Antisocial Behaviour Act, administrative necessity justifying the short time limit for action

Pensions briefing: as auto-enrolment reaches the maximum planned contribution levels, the Pensions Regulator is monitoring compliance – and imposing substantial penalties for serious defaults

Reports relating to Patrick Baxter (s 42ZA appeal); Thomas Barclay Duff

Criminal law briefing: a round table organised by the Law Society of Scotland has led to a report proposing a strategy to improve the position of vulnerable accused in the Scottish justice system

Property briefing: the Scottish Law Commission has published its Report on Section 53 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003, recommending a new statement of the law on pre-2004 real burdens

Stepping down soon, after 31 years in-house, the convener of the In-house Lawyers’ Committee reflects on his career and the in-house profession today

Recent work of the Society's policy committees, including redundancy; defamation; charity law; post-mortems

Firms working in trust or company services provision have been selected to take part in a review of anti-money laundering compliance

An Inverness legal firm was invited to contribute to a parliamentary guide to industry best practice. Two of its directors describe its approach to GDPR and AML compliance

The competences needed for accreditation in this practice area

Laura Mack, a new committee member, qualified as a family law paralegal in 2014, receiving accredited paralegal status in 2015 which she retained until moving to an in-house paralegal role

Another successful Scottish Paralegal Association annual conference saw Nyona Nicol named Paralegal of the Year

Advice column: my new colleague shuns any social encounters with colleagues

Some further risk management issues for property lawyers, this time focusing on issues that arise in relation to practice after a transaction settles

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission explains why it would like amendments to the practice rules on recording complaints to go further than proposed

The Word of Gold: the leaders of failed law firms have made serious mistakes, but suggesting they are also immoral is unreasonable

Introducing the work of Solicitors For the Elderly, a UK organisation with a distinct Scottish presence and an ethos of building relationships with trust and respect

Three recent Scottish commercial actions have seen the court rule on challenges to an expert witness, providing useful guidance on what the court will find acceptable

Scotland should consider following other jurisdictions by introducing a presumption of shared care, which on the research has numerous benefits for the children involved

From the Professional Practice team: difficulties have arisen in some cases in requesting medical records post-GDPR, but solicitors are entitled to these with the client's authority

This month's contribution on wellbeing comes from a solicitor who offers a candid personal account of accepting the need for help, and searching until he found it