News

Insurance risk and commercial law firm BLM is expected to hike NQ pay across the UK, according to reports. The firm, which has offices in Belfast and Dublin, currently offers newly-qualified solicitors a starting salary of £45,000 (roughly €53,400) in London and £32,000 (€38,00

Justice minister Helen McEntee is to be asked why the Courts Service enjoys a private parking arrangement outside Cork’s circuit courthouse building, the Irish Examiner reports. The development follows a debate over the arrangement that arose after bollards were installed to protect the parkin

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has launched an online survey for recently qualified solicitors and barristers who are currently not practising. The LSRA is seeking the views of individuals who have qualified as a barrister or solicitor in or after 2014 by completing professional trai

The House of Lords International Agreements Committee has today written to the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, with concerns about the government’s dismissive response to its Working Practices: one year on report. In the letter, published today, the committee calls on the government to rethink i

Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, of Doughty Street Chambers, has confirmed that she will act with a team of international lawyers as international counsel to renowned media entrepreneur, pro-democracy campaigner, and writer, Jimmy Lai. Mr Lai, through his media companies and his writings, is a high-profile

Former Law Society of Northern Ireland president W. Alan Logan has passed away. Mr Logan was admitted to the roll in 1957.

Tughans has been named Northern Ireland’s most active corporate law firm, as it topped the Northern Ireland league table in the Experian MarketIQ M&A review for a seventh year in a row. The Belfast-based law firm advised on 73 deals during 2021 with an overall value of more than &poun

The Irish M&A market recorded 240 significant transactions in 2021, a 33 per cent rise on 2020 and the highest deal volume since 2006. The William Fry M&A Review 2021, in association with Mergermarket, also found that total M&A value recovered significantly, rising by 185 per cent to &eu

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has opened the international protection strand of the regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants. Applications for this separate international protection strand are being accepted for six months until 7 August 2022, when the strand will close.

DLA Piper has increased NQ salaries, with rises for its London lawyers as well as a substantial boost for those elsewhere. London NQs will be given an eight per cent pay rise, from £88,000 to £95,000.

A priest dubbed “Don Euro” because his flock had unknowingly funded his lifestyle of swingers’ parties, diamonds, luxury holidays and the services of sex workers has been jailed for extortion. Luca Morini, who has been defrocked by the Vatican, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half yea

Charles Darwin stole his theory of evolution from a Scottish naturalist, a criminologist has said. Dr Mike Sutton says his research proves “overwhelming” similarities between On the Origin of Species and the work of Perthshire-raised Patrick Matthew.

The penal system has regressed over the last five years in key areas of practice, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has said. In its latest Progress in the Penal System (PIPS) report, IPRT measured progress in the penal system against international human rights standards and best practice, coverin

A case in which a court failed to offer a deaf man an interpreter has prompted calls for a review, the Irish Examiner reports. Justice Minister Helen McEntee has been asked to look into the case which saw the man prosecuted without being offered any assistance.

Francis Hanna & Co’s family law partner Claire Edgar presented a talk at the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland event last week entitled “Refusing Contact and Parental Alienation”. The online webinar was hosted by SBNI’s Domestic Violence and Abuse Committee and atte