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The Belfast head of global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has been appointed to a new advisory group established to help rebuild the Northern Ireland economy after COVID-19. Lisa McLaughlin, who was recently promoted to the firm's global partnership, is one of 11 members of the new economic adviso

Human rights expert Professor Caroline Fennell has been appointed to lead a new independent anti-racism committee tasked by government ministers with drawing up a new action plan against racism for Ireland. Professor Fennell, a professor of law at University College Cork and a member of the Irish Hu

Qualified social worker Mark Wilson has been appointed as director of the Probation Service, succeeding Vivian Geiran. Mr Geiran retired last December, having worked in the Probation Service for over 30 years, including as director for over seven years.

Employment lawyers have welcomed the launch of a consultation on parental bereavement leave and pay in Northern Ireland. The consultation, to run until 10 August, follows the recent introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay legislation in Great Britain.

Scottish lawyers who visited Ireland to learn about the conduct of sexual offence trials here have called for complainants in Scotland to be given their own legal representation when applications are made to lead evidence of bad character or sexual history. Solicitors Eamon Keane and Tony Conve

Police have seized dozens of bags full of cannabis which were apparently delivered to the wrong house. A bewildered household in Houston called the cops after receiving an unexpected package filled with weed, which remains illegal in the state of Texas.

Lawyers and judges have paid tribute to Mr Justice Peter Kelly, president of the High Court, on his retirement today. Micheál P O’Higgins SC, chairman of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, called him "an advertisement for the Irish bar and bench".

Irish lawyers are overwhelmingly in favour of working from home (WFH) more often after the end of the COVID-19 crisis, but are less confident that their employers will agree, a survey of Irish Legal News readers has found. All of the respondents to our survey, launched in our free daily newsletter o

The help-to-buy scheme introduced in 2016 will continue for the next five years under the draft Programme for Government agreed by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. Party sources told The Times that it would be retained for the entire five-year term of the proposed coalition, despit

Solicitor Brenda King has been named as the interim Attorney General for Northern Ireland following the end of John Larkin QC's second term. Mr Larkin will step down at the end of this month, 10 years after he became the first Attorney General for Northern Ireland since its functions were taken over

A woman in Northern Ireland is today challenging the legal definition of "terminal illness" after being refused access to special rules designed to fast-track the award of benefits without the need for assessment. The High Court will today hear an application for judicial review from Lorraine Cox, w

Dr Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, assistant professor in law at DCU, outlined the interaction between the intersex community and the law in an online event hosted by OUTLaw, a network created to promote and drive the inclusion of LGBT+ people across the Irish legal community. Yesterday's event, titled

Dorit McCann, partner at Beauchamps, considers whether firms emerging from the COVID-19 crisis with access to financing can use the "failing firm defence" to justify acquisitions of competitive businesses. COVID-19 has turned our world upside down but, while it presents great challenges to many busi

Ireland released a relatively high number of prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new figures from the Council of Europe. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) reported releasing 476 prisoners, or 12 per cent of its total prison population, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Colin Russell, trainee solicitor at William Fry, considers a recent European Court of Justice ruling that copyright protection can apply to a product's shape. In a case concerning the Brompton folding bicycle, a Belgian court sought a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on wh