News

One in five law firms in Northern Ireland made redundancies last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research published by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. The results from two Law Society surveys of member firms, conducted in May 2020 and November/December 2020, have bee

The winter 2020 edition of the Journal of Elder Law and Capacity has been published by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. Available from the Law Society website, it includes articles on advance directives, discretionary variation of trusts and solicitors' experience as executors, as well as book r

A serving police officer has been convicted of a terror offence for the first time in UK history after a court found he was a member of the proscribed neo-Nazi group National Action (NA). Ben Hannam, a 22-year-old Metropolitan Police officer, joined the group in March 2016, nine months before it was

Lawyers in Pakistan have condemned waiters for stealing their uniform – a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. Three bar councils have written to local authorities and hotel operators to demand changes in the dress code for hotel and restaurant staff.

The Supreme Court has held that the sale and leaseback of a Scottish care home did not dispose of the seller’s entire interest in the property for the purposes of VAT legislation. The appellant, Balhousie Holdings Ltd, acquired the care home in Huntly, Aberdeenshire in 2013. It was origin

The Law Society of Ireland has announced it has reached a reciprocal qualifying agreement with the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales. A slightly more complex agreement, involving a reciprocal exam, has also been reached with the Law Society of Scotland.

Employees in Ireland now have the "right to disconnect" under a new code of practice drawn up by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Tánaiste and Employment Minister Leo Varadkar today announced the bringing into effect of the new code of practice as well as the beginning of a consultat

Victims of sexual offences will receive publicly-funded independent legal advice under a pilot scheme launched today. The new scheme fulfils one of the recommendations of retired Court of Appeal judge Sir John Gillen’s high-profile review of the law and procedures in serious sexual offences in

Crucial reforms to sexual offence trials have been delayed and victims of sexual offences now have to wait up to three years for a trial to commence as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. A new report from Criminal Justice Inspectorate Northern Ireland (CJINI) highlights improvements in the way sexua

Dentons is to give staff the freedom of choice over when to work from home or the office The firm's UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) region is to launch a new agile working policy that will give people freedom over choosing when to work from home or the office.

Lawyers have launched a class action lawsuit against the UK government over the economic impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Ballymena-based haulage company Blair International and DUP MP Ian Paisley have been named as the initial claimants in the claim form lodged with the High Court in London

William Fry has been named Irish Patent Contentious Firm of the Year 2021 at the annual Managing IP Awards, held virtually this week. The award recognises William Fry's prominent position in the area of patent litigation, having acted in the majority of patent disputes before the Irish courts in rec

UCC School of Law has been recognised for its efforts to promote gender equality with a Bronze Athena SWAN Award. The department-level award was granted following a submission process involving a robust self-assessment that identified gender equality challenges and opportunities relating to staff an

Conor McGregor has failed in a legal fight with a clothing firm over sportswear that bears his name. The 31-year-old MMA fighter applied to register his name as a trademark in order to sell clothing in Europe.

New "sobriety tags" which detect whether offenders have broken drinking bans will be rolled out across England following their successful rollout in Wales last year. The legislation underpinning the use of the tags in cases of alcohol-fuelled crime came into force last May and the tags became availa