Scottish independence could be '˜financial boost for lawyers'

An independent Scotland could provide a financial boost for lawyers who could grab some of the work that currently goes to London, according to a leading QC.

Gordon Jackson. Picture: Contributed.

Gordon Jackson said if Scotland left the UK it would create the opportunity to seize commercial work that goes to the English court system.

He also said a new court of final appeal would need to be established to replace the UK Supreme Court, which hears cases appealed from Scotland’s supreme civil court, the Court of Session.

Mr Jackson, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and a former Labour MSP, told The Herald that the Brexit vote had made him “more open-minded” about Scotland leaving the UK.

He told the newspaper: “How Brexit will turn out no-one has a clue, so we should keep our powder dry.

“It is difficult to say how it will affect us but the Scottish legal profession has never been integrated with the English one, so in some ways this provides an opportunity for Scottish law because, at the moment, a huge amount of commercial work goes to London because everyone wants to litigate in London.”

He added: “Independence could create an opportunity for Scotland to grab some of that practice cake. It’s not about what the downside of change is but the opportunities that can give us.”