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SPECIALIST ACCREDITATIONS Construction PHILIP MORRISON, Semple Fraser (10 November 2005); NEIL F SMITH, Noble Partnership Limited (11 November 2005). Family ALISON WILD,Thorntons (16 November 2005). Personal injury DAVID A WILSON, Drummond The “21st Century Court Practitioners’ Forum” is an event intended to bring all interested parties together in sharing experiences and agreeing objectives for the use of technology in the courts. The all-day forum will be held under the auspices of the Law Society of Scotland’s Technology Committee, in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, on Friday 3 February 2006. The committee is pressing for a more rapid takeup of the use of technology by the courts and court practitioners, which it says is well behind industry in this respect.The recent McTear, Transco, and Napier cases have all proved the huge time savings attainable through digital evidence management and real-time transcription, and the committee believes that the Scottish courts www.journalonline.co.uk Miller WS (16 November 2005). Planning Re-accredited: ELAINE FARQUHARSON-BLACK, Paull & Williamsons (accredited 6 November 2000). Public procurement DUNCAN F OSLER, MacRoberts (22 November 2005). “THE MOST IMPORTANT LITIGATION FORUM THIS CENTURY” possess the motivation needed to become a cutting-edge dispute management and resolution tool. It is hoped to obtain access to the Technology Court, No 12. Most of the event, however, will take place in conference rooms between all interested bodies. All are welcome, including the bench, advocates, solicitors, police, Crown Office and Scottish Court Service. A more detailed article, setting the scene, will appear in the January edition of the Journal. Meantime, further information can be obtained by contacting James Ness, the secretary of the Law Society of Scotland’s Technology Committee: jamesness@lawscot.org.uk; or Paul Motion, the Convener: paul.motion@ledinghamchalmers. com, or any member of the committee. Rowena Arshad of the Equal Opportunities Commission joins Caroline Flanagan at the launch of the survey report into women in the profession, featured in the November Journal.Well over 100 guests attended the event, which attracted huge media coverage. 152 TEAMS CHASE SOCIETY DEBATE PRIZE A record total of 152 teams from 90 schools across Scotland have entered the sixth Law Society of Scotland Donald Dewar Debating Tournament. The first round took place in late November and the successful teams will compete for places in four regional finals to be held in February 2006. Four teams will then progress to the final in Edinburgh in March. The competition offers pupils a chance to develop their public speaking and advocacy skills in a competitive setting.To encourage students to think about diversity and equality in society, the motion for the first round was:“This house A long association between the Society and the publishing consultants David Fletcher Associates comes to an end with this calendar year.The Society has had an association with the firm’s principal, David Fletcher, since the 1960s and David will be retiring as associate editor of Scottish Criminal Case Reports and Scottish Civil Law Reports at the end of December. When the idea of a separate set of reports of criminal cases was first suggested to the Society in the early 1980s, it was to David Fletcher that the Society turned.At the time David was a member of the aptly titled Publications of Text Books Committee of the Society as well as associate editor of the Journal. David was renowned for his accuracy, attention to detail and overall excellent sub-editing publication skills. Scottish Criminal Case Reports was the first separate criminal case reports since Adam’s Justiciary Reports in 1916. David secured as its editor the then Sheriff Gordon. Scottish Criminal Case Reports was to be distinguished from would make the incitement of religious hatred illegal”. Douglas Mill, Chief Executive of the Society, said:“This year the Society has decided to link the debates to some fairly weighty social and cultural issues. Scotland’s cultural landscape is shifting and schools are at the forefront of nurturing the attitudes of future generations.We are looking forward to some lively debate.” The Glasgow Bar Association and Simpson & Marwick solicitors are providing support for the tournament with £1,000 awarded to the winning school and £250 for the runner up. David Fletcher retires other reports by the introduction of editorial commentaries.This particular feature together with the attention to detail and accuracy of David as associate editor made Scottish Criminal Case Reports an instant success. It was therefore no surprise that David was instrumental in introducing a similar set of reports for civil practitioners entitled Scottish Civil Law Reports.A particular initiative introduced by David for Scottish Civil Law Reports was the establishment of a panel of commentators who produced specialist commentaries in various civil law areas. A retirement dinner hosted by the Society to mark David’s contributions to legal publishing was held on 17 November.The dinner was attended by a number of those who have worked with David on the publication of these reports over the course of the last 20 years. David was presented with various gifts at the dinner from his friends and from those with whom he has worked over the lifespan of the two reports, as well as from the Society. The Journal: December 2005 : 43
SOCIETY Stirling celebrates LLB launch Stirling University’s first LLB undergraduates attended a special reception on 2 November, hosted by the university’s principal, Professor Christine Hallett, to mark the launch of the new degree course, which admitted its first students in September.The event was also attended by academic staff and a number of senior local lawyers. The university is soon to create the Stirling School of Law and from 2006 the LLB will also be available as an accelerated graduate degree, along with a new LLM in Commercial Law. Pictured are (left to right): Neil Stevenson (Deputy Director of Education and Training at the Law Society of Scotland); Professor Christine Hallett (Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Stirling University); Sheriff Andrew Cubie; Professor Gavin Little (Head of Law). OBITUARIES ALEXANDER RICHARD DAWSON, Aberdeen On 22 October 2005, Alexander Richard Dawson, formerly employee of Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen. AGE: 58 ADMITTED: 1970 44 : ANDREW MACMILLAN PRINGLE, Edinburgh On 1 November 2005, Andrew Macmillan Pringle, associate of the firm Brodies, Edinburgh. AGE: 30 ADMITTED: 1999 The Journal: December 2005 ILG chair Janet Hood and vice-chair Colin Anderson at The Hub ILG event raises £2,000 for CHAS The In-House Lawyers Group’s AGM and symposium 2005 was hailed a major success by all who attended the event at The Hub in Edinburgh. Solicitor General Elish Angiolini QC gave the keynote speech at this year’s symposium, which was followed by a formal dinner in the evening enjoyed by over 200 guests. Other speakers included Lynn Welsh, head of Scottish legal affairs at the Disability Rights Commission, who gave the first public presentation on the new Public Sector Duty Code. Raffle prizes, including champagne, dinner for two at the Bonham and theatre tickets for Saturday Night Fever, were donated by sponsors and helped raise a grand total of £2,000 for the charity CHAS, which provides hospice and respite care for children with terminal disease JAMES BROWN MACDONALD SLOSS,Ayr On 10 November 2005, James Brown Macdonald Sloss, consultant of the firm D W Shaw, Ayr. AGE: 67 ADMITTED: 1961 and their families. Janet Hood, chair of the Group and head of BII Scotland (British Institute of Innkeeping), said:“The event was fantastic from start to finish and we have had terrific feedback from many of those who attended.The speakers were excellent and offered insight and expertise into some of the major issues affecting in-house lawyers today.” The event was sponsored by BII Scotland, Shepherd+ Wedderburn, Brodies LLP and Pinsent Masons. The AGM was also sponsored by DataCert, MLP, First Title and Frasia Wright. Young solicitor’s Empower award Jelina Rahman, a solicitor working in the Asylum Department at Livingstone Brown, Glasgow, has won the Empower Scotland Social Equality & Justice Award. The achievement is the more notable as Jelina has serious health problems of her own, and was unable to attend the ceremony as she was in hospital. Her nomination for the award cited her dedication to providing her clients with the best possible legal advice (often working overtime to achieve this) and helping them deal with other CPD QUESTIONNAIRE The Society is currently reviewing the hours based CPD system. Consultation with the profession is imperative to the success of the review. In short we need your input. We have devised a questionnaire for completion and return to Lisa Hamilton, The Law Society of Scotland, 26 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh. The results of the questionnaire will allow us to consider whether or not the current system of CPD is working. The questionnaire focuses on your training needs and whether the current system of CPD fulfils those needs. We are pleased to advise that completion of the questionnaire will count as 30 minutes’ management CPD. Kim Leslie, Convener of the CPD Working Party aspects of their lives that they are having trouble with. She achieves this as a volunteer board member for Positive Action in Housing and secretary of GARA.Through her efforts, she has prevented many deportations, and through her professional and private roles, Jelina has given hope and confidence to some of the most vulnerable and largely misunderstood people in our society today. She has also played an important part as cross-cultural ambassador. www.journalonline.co.uk
Page 1 and 2: THE ournal OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SC
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Page 23 and 24: CHARITIES How the profession can he
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