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Belfast lawyer Lisa Boyd has been co-opted onto the executive committee of the Procurement Lawyers' Association (PLA). Ms Boyd, a director at Cleaver Fulton Rankin, will bring a Northern Ireland perspective to the leadership of the association, whose membership consists of procurement law experts fr

Approved organisations have been reminded by The Bar of Ireland that they can directly access barristers for legal opinion on a wide range of matters. The Bar issued the reminder about the Direct Professional Access Scheme in response to widespread legal uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis

Dr Aisling McMahon, assistant professor at Maynooth University Department of Law and an expert in medical and intellectual property law, makes the case for a (bio)ethics space within patent law. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 12th March 2020 and by 9th April had claimed 81,580 lives. COVID-19 h

A trial date has been set in the case of former solicitor Michael Lynn, who is accused of multi-million euro thefts. Mr Lynn, 51, is facing 21 charges relating to the alleged theft of almost €30 million from seven financial institutions.

Couples are set to be married in online weddings following a shake-up of marriage rules in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Twitter that he is issuing an executive order allowing for marriage licenses to be obtained remotely and for clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference.

The UK has dropped to 35 out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in part due to a "worrying legal environment" for journalists in Northern Ireland. The international NGO said the UK's efforts to promote media freedom globally were unde

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has launched a consultation on remote hearings during the coronavirus pandemic. All adjudication hearings, face-to-face conciliations and meditations, and on-site inspections have been postponed until after Tuesday 5 May 2020.

Recruitment for lay members of the Judicial Council has begun, in another milestone for the new judicial body. The Judicial Council met for the first time in February following its establishment through legislation late last year.

Lawyers involved in the controversial 2018 Belfast rape trial have launched defamation proceedings against former Ireland captain Rory Best. The lawyers acted for rugby player Paddy Jackson in the high-profile nine-week trial in which he and three others were found not guilty of raping a 19-yea

The Oireachtas has received legal advice indicating that it cannot convene meetings via video-link, according to reports. The advice centres on the wording of Article 15.1.3, which provides that the "Houses of the Oireachtas shall sit in or near the City of Dublin or in such other place as they may

Litigation is set to be brought against the decision not to carry out mass testing for coronavirus in Northern Ireland care homes. Belfast firm KRW LAW LLP is acting on behalf of Keith Gray, whose mother is a resident in a care home in Castlewellan, Co Down.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director at Amnesty International, argues against a return to "business as usual" after the coronavirus pandemic is over. Amid the rising death toll, the dangers faced by our front line workers and the wider dislocation for a society dealing with COVID-19

Healthcare workers should be granted "immunity" from civil liability for medical negligence during the coronavirus pandemic, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) has said. The largest medical defence organisation in the UK, which provides legal support to around 200,000 healthcare workers, said existing

Police are preparing enforcement action for alleged licensing law breaches against a pub which has been delivering pints of Guinness during the lockdown. Belfast pub Hatfield House has been offering a "Guinness-on-wheels" service out of adapted vans, with plastic cups of the stout left on customers'