Jennifer Veitch
Jennifer Veitch
Jennifer Veitch: Why the art of conveyancing just can't be a commodity
FROM last Monday, anyone selling a house in Scotland now has to put it on the market along with a home report – a pack containing an energy report, a property questionnaire and, of course, the controversial single survey.
Jennifer Veitch - Post-recession question: Is there a lawyer in the house?
WITH law firms among the first businesses to be hit by the recession, much of the focus has been on how solicitors on Scotland's high streets are coping with the downturn in the housing market.
More top stories
Jennifer Veitch - Still room for improvement as complaints fall
AT EVERY firm in Scotland, client relations partners will have recently received the first of what promises to be a flurry of letters from the Law Society's new regulation liaison team.
Jennifer Veitch: Jobless graduate trainees should not panic just yet
UNTIL the crunch came, the biggest hurdle for law students aspiring to become practising lawyers was getting a place on the Diploma in Legal Practice course.
Jennifer Veitch: For society's sake we must mind for children in care
A FEW days ago, I was one of hundreds of people packed into the Edinburgh Playhouse to watch a young cast do their stuff in 365, the latest play from the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS).
How has Kenny MacAskill fared in the hot seat?
BY THE time the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) started looking at that Which? super-complaint in May, the political landscape had shifted - Labour were out and the SNP were in, albeit by a nose.
Freedom for innocent Richey is long overdue
IT is just over 21 years since a little girl called Cynthia Collins died in a house fire in the city of Columbus, Ohio. In ordinary circumstances, her memory would have been laid to rest a long time ago, living only in the hearts of her family.
Airport chaos will land us in it - or ground us
IT must be a measure of just how utterly desperate we all get for a few rays of sunshine. Every year, millions of us are willing to submit to enduring the sweaty hell of departure lounges, delayed flights and lost baggage, in order to go on what's been sold to us as a relaxing "holiday".
'Making role less political could be an advantage'
ELISH Angiolini, QC, has managed to notch up a remarkable number of firsts in her legal career. In 2001, she became the first solicitor and the first woman to become Solicitor General. Last October, she went one better by becoming the first solicitor and first lady to be appointed Lord Advocate.
Plans to unify the judicial hierarchy need special care
WHOEVER ends up holding the reins of power at Holyrood, work is already piling up for the next justice minister - and near the top of the in-tray are the proposals for a draft Judiciary (Scotland) Bill.
Staying on the ball
TO JOURNALISTS at least, Amanda Jones's CV invites some questions that are perhaps as predictable as they are inevitable. For example, has her decision to specialise in discrimination law stemmed from some bitter personal experience of sexism at work? Did she have to claw her way up the ladder, fighting tooth-and-perfectly-manicured-nail to secure a partnership with one of Scotland's leading firms?
Finding common legal ground within Europe
COMMON standards for the education and training of lawyers across the EU will be top of the agenda when delegates from Europe's bar associations meet in Edinburgh this week. For the first time in a generation, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) will gather in Scotland for their plenary session. And this Friday and Saturday , 120 delegates - representing 700,000 lawyers - will discuss the CCBE's policy on issues affecting the profession across the EU.
Violence has no place at home
THERE was a defining moment in her early career when Helen Hughes realised just how sheltered her own life had been. As a 22-year-old not long out of law school, one of her first clients was a woman who had been told the exact time - and the precise, graphic nature - of the assault she could expect from her husband that night.
Shiny pamphlets, smiley faces, but little on lawyers
WITH only a few days left to go, I am in what can only be described as a quandary. I just cannot make up my mind how to vote this Thursday.
Under starter's orders as new stables start the race
SOME of Scotland's leading QCs are today due to unveil two new chambers-style "stables" at the Faculty of Advocates. Axiom Advocates and Compass Chambers are the first new groups to emerge since stables were allowed to "devolve" from Faculty Services Ltd (FSL), the company that provides clerking and other support to counsel.
Dean says changes to stables are part of an ongoing 'evolutionary' process
WHEN John Campbell QC announced last year that he was breaking away from Faculty Services Limited (FSL) to set up an alternative, Oracle Chambers, only one other advocate was willing to join him.
There is nothing second class about good service
ONLY a few years ago, as Mike Dailly still clearly recalls, not everyone in the legal profession was supportive of the idea of law centres. Why should the public receive this "second-class" service, they asked?
Would a register help mediation services grow?
FROM commercial disputes to the breakdown of family relationships, mediation is increasingly billed as a cost-effective and constructive alternative to litigation.
Advocates need to start making the case for the Faculty
I'VE noticed something rather odd has been happening recently. Advocates seem suddenly eager to be on speaking terms with journalists. This is not entirely without precedent, and the Faculty of Advocates is not quite as cut-off from reality as its detractors might like to suggest.
Advocate who realised her job had a shelf life
WHAT is it about Edinburgh that inspires crime novelists? From Sherlock Holmes to John Rebus and Bob Skinner, the city has spawned some of the most memorable detectives in fiction. Now advocate Gillian Galbraith hopes her new literary creation, Detective Sergeant Alice Rice, can add a feminine touch to this macho world.
- Rangers run into the ground as furious HRMC battles to claw back tax
- Broken Rangers: Club signals intention to go into administration
- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation talks bid
- Rangers blame HMRC for driving club to brink of administration
- Six Nations: Steadman given notice as ruthless Robinson seeks to strengthen team
- Scottish independence: No breakthrough in talks between Alex Salmond and Michael Moore
- Devo-max merely a dodgy back-up plan to save SNP, says Jim Sillars
- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation talks bid
- The Rumour Mill: Tuesday’s football news and gossip
- The Rumour Mill: Monday’s football news and gossip
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Weather for Edinburgh
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: South west
