Dallas McMillan's Glasgow Lawyers' Blog

The Crown Prosecution Service in England has announced that gross negligence manslaughter charges are to be brought following the death of a cricket ground worker.

From From 1 May 2013, a landlord will have a legal duty to provide new tenants with a tenant information pack will have to be provided for all new assured and short assured tenancies. This includes the renewal of existing tenancies where the landlord and tenant draw up a new lease. A tenant information pack will not be required for existing leases.

A leading expert in the field of clinical quality improvement from the University of Dundee has advised that the NHS in Scotland must adopt a radically different approach if it wishes to learn from medical mistakes and improve the standards of care provided in Scottish hospitals.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the announcement in the Queen’s Speech that people with the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in the UK will get more financial help under a package of measures in the Mesothelioma Bill. This will include support for up to 3,000 sufferers who currently go un-compensated, and a more streamlined system to speed up the claims process.

A Bradford man may need to have his foot and lower leg amputated as a result of a crush injury caused by the safety failures of his employers more than a year ago.

The UK Parliament has formally approved a new law that will amend the criminal liability of partnerships in Scotland. The Partnerships (Prosecution) (Scotland) Bill will now go forward for royal assent.

A recent survey has found that around a quarter of male drivers risk catastrophic head-on crashes by overtaking blind, while more than four in ten (44%) admit speeding at 60mph+ on rural roads. Men are much more likely to take these deadly risks than women, and more than twice as likely to have been involved in an overtaking near-miss or incident.

MSP’s have now approved the High Hedges (Scotland) Bill, thus Scotland will follow other parts of the UK in having legislation to control the “thorny” problem of the height of hedges that cause nuisance to neighbouring proprietors.

A leading hotel chain has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 in fines and costs after construction workers and guests were put at risk of asbestos exposure at a Kent hotel.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the announcement from the Government that they are to publish a Green Paper on young driver safety. The ABI has long campaigned to change the way young people learn how to drive in order to reduce death and injury on the roads and make young drivers safer.

If you play any part in business these days, you will rely on your standard terms and conditions of trade to protect your interest and to limit your potential liability when providing goods or services to customers. Over time these standard terms and conditions often become outdated as the legal framework underpinning them changes. To ensure that your business can rely on its limitations of liability and is adequately protected standard terms and conditions should be regularly checked and where necessary updated.

Health and safety professionals in Northern Ireland have been given advice on how new laws can help them reduce needle, scalpel blade and other sharps injuries in the healthcare industry.

On 6th March 2013, Xavier Louis Vuitton sold Gaick, one of his Scottish Sporting Estates. The sale took the form of the sale of the entire issued share capital of a single property vehicle. Dallas McMillan acted on behalf of Xavier Louis Vuitton. The commercial property team was led by Forbes Leslie, Managing Partner and Head of Real Estate with input in relation to corporate matters from Mandy L. Quinn, Head of Corporate Team.

March 2013 saw the introduction of a volume safety limit for new portable music players such as iPods. New mobile phones and portable music players sold within the EU must now have a sound limit of 85 Decibels (dB). This is above the 80 dB which is regarded as the safe limit. This is similar to the volume of noise created by the noise of traffic or someone shouting. The 80dB limit was determined by the European Commission Assessment which concluded that 80dB was a safe level regardless of the length of time people were exposed to sound at this level.

The Green Deal is established by The Energy Act 2011 and applies to Great Britain but not to Northern Ireland.  The aim of the Green Deal is to improve the energy efficiency of residential and non-residential properties and enables householders to obtain energy efficiency improvements to their property (whether owned or tenanted) without having to make a substantial capital “up front” payment.

New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders in Scotland report that the number of first time buyers in Scotland rose to the largest annual total in four years.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published details of proposed changes to the way whiplash claims are handled.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission and CELCIS (Centre of Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland, University of Strathclyde) have hosted an InterAction event in Glasgow.

Patients’ safety and wellbeing could be at risk because the working patterns of doctors in training are leaving them too tired and stressed. These are the worrying findings of a recent study commissioned by the General Medical Council (GMC).

A major scotch whisky manufacturer has been fined after two workers had to flee a warehouse fire.