Law and Legal Affairs: News in Brief

Published on Sunday 3 October 2010 21:45

SERVICES DEBATE Stage 3 of The Legal Services (Scotland) Bill will be debated at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday. The focus has been on alternative business structures, with the Justice Committee voting against 100 per cent ownership at Stage 2. The bill now says there must be at least 51 per cent ownership of legal services providers by solicitors and other regulated professionals.

PATTERSON QC

Lindy Patterson, head of construction and engineering at Dundas & Wilson, has been appointed a QC. She is one of five practising civil solicitor advocates in Scotland to hold the rank. Managing partner at D&W, Donald Shaw, said it was fitting recognition for her "outstanding work".

AWARDS LAUNCH

The Scott + Co Legal Awards 2010 were launched in Edinburgh's Signet Library last week. Entries opened in 15 categories, including a few new ones. Watch this space for more details. www.kdmedia.co.uk/legalawards

RULING WELCOMED

A London High Court decision has dismissed the tendering process in England and Wales for family Legal Aid work as "unfair, unlawful and irrational". A disastrous tendering process by the Legal Service Commission saw the number of firms allowed to provide family legal aid slashed from 2,470 to 1,350. This led to gaps in geographic coverage, and a big reduction in access to justice. Oliver Adair, Legal Aid Convener at the Law Society of Scotland, welcomed the judgement, saying it showed there were "fundamental difficulties with tendering for Legal Aid".

TEAM MOVES

Brodies LLP has expanded its insurance and health and safety group with the arrival of Elena Fry, head of insurance and health and safety at Biggart Baillie, with members of her former team. Brodies now has six partners representing insurers and their customers, with team headcount up from 21 to 29.

ARRIVALS

Specialist property law firm Bell & Scott has appointed four trainees. Bruce Harvie (retail and leisure) and Alasdair Johnstone (strategic land) join the Edinburgh team, while David Bowman (housebuilding) and Alan Macdonald (investment and development) start in Glasgow.

ALL IN A WHIRLPOOL

Cat MacLean, an associate with Edinburgh law firm MBM Commercial, swam across the notorious Corryvreckan whirlpool (between Jura and Scarpa) to raise money for CHAS (Children's Hospice Association Scotland). The mother-of-three and brother Fergus, a doctor whose practice is close to CHAS's Robin House in Balloch, have raised more than 2300. Donate at www.justgiving.com/corryvreckanwhirlpoolswim