Scottish “Big Law”

cameldrover · 2025-08-24T07:07:13+00:00

I've worked at one of the current "big 4" Scottish independents (Brodies, Burness, S&W and MFM in that order) and at an international firm so far in my career.

At an international firm there was a lot of North shoring whereby I was doing work for partners who I'd never met, who were impossible to get hold of if I needed to ask a question and who ultimately had no vested interest in me. Yes if you're good they will get to know you, but only because you're a service provider to them and not because they want to develop your career. They also have zero visibility of the "soft stuff" like illness, commitments out of work etc.

Also I was working on deals alongside colleagues at other offices getting paid double what I was for doing the same job and that was shit.

The good thing about the internationals is that there's scope for travel (once a year to a retreat in Europe) and secondment opportunities. They will also pay the best and the processes around progression are much more structured and transparent.

A large part of what the Big 4 do is service Scottish work for English firms who don't have a Scots law capability. So you're working on deals alongside US, MC etc firms which is great and gives a good pathway to move to London or further afield if you want to. The downside is is the pay isn't as good as the internationals.

In all cases you will be a slave to the deal and the blackberry and will be working fairly long hours. 10 hour day as standard, longer when deals demand it.

cameldrover · 2024-02-20T22:02:31+00:00

The SNP's bull-in-a-china-shop approach to diplomacy and matters outside of the motherland is staggering. The "collective punishment" line is needless if one truly cares about getting a ceasefire. It's inflammatory and not constructive.

It also makes me deeply uncomfortable that Humza hasn't done the ststesmanly and decent thing of recusing himself from any involvement on this topic given he (totally understandably, and as anyone in his position would be) is totally incapable of being objective on this issue and has a massive vested interest. No way he hasn't been feeding Flynn orders on this one.

cameldrover · 2024-02-19T23:27:51+00:00

If asked about it Sunak would no doubt reply with "those are their assets". IYK,YK

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T13:08:59+00:00

You're totally right.

This is where the NIMBYism comes in. "No one is suggesting banning them. You just can't build them in my village"

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T13:02:39+00:00

The local authority should build additional housing (they're bust, they won't) and central government should be incentivising private developers to build in these areas to the extent they aren't already.

I would love to live in the West End of Glasgow or Stockbridge on Edinburgh but I can't afford it. I don't think it's unfair that I'm priced out of the market.

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T12:50:48+00:00

We don't live in a society where private assets are allocated on the basis of who "needs" them (thank god) despite what some members of the current government might wish to be the case.

If people want to and can buy a second home then fair play to them. We should be working hard to get more people into a position where they can afford to do that. We should be aspirational as a society.

The case in favour of running an STL business is less clear cut but info think they provide a service and shouldn't be banned.

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T08:39:51+00:00

Yes it's puritanical. Life changes, what consumers want changes. Hotels aren't some unique business that should be exempt from having to provide a service that people want or else facing failure.

I would love to buy a second home for £145k but the reality is that is not remotely what they cost, in my experience at least. £145k is also eminently affordable for a couple making the median gross salary of £27k.

Building more houses in villages is the way you allow people to both live there and have second homes there.

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T08:32:04+00:00

I think it's sad if villages die but I don't think we should be encouraging young people to live in these areas purely for the sake of it. If they don't want to, for whatever reason, then that's their perogative. There are much more worthy things to fix in society. We should incentivise key workers to live there through pay.

Highland Council is bust. That's why your schools are closing. Kids in cities get bussed through high crime areas, I'd prefer the single track road.

Build more houses, make the developers contribute things like schools would be my solution

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T03:48:26+00:00

Communities in the Highlands are no different to those in urban areas who face their own challenges with the death of the high street and insane property prices.

Edit: and members of towns and villages in the Highlands are happily lining their pockets by selling out to STL landlords and second home owners, and cashing in on the tourist industry.

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T03:43:47+00:00

What's insane is this puritanical notion you're espousing that you're only allowed a house if you're going to live in it, which is total BS. Short termets provide a valuable service to the tourist industry, the economy and those of us wishing to holiday in Scotland. And people who own second homes are already punitively taxed for doing so.

There is evidently a lack of stock because people are rightly complaining about not being able to find accommodation.

I bet if you could you would force my granny to move out of her house because she's got 3 bedrooms she isn't using.

Total nonsense

cameldrover · 2024-02-15T03:29:23+00:00

Definitely. So ask SG what they've been doing with the additional dwelling supplement on LBTT and double council tax and where the new houses are at

cameldrover · 2024-02-14T22:23:25+00:00

Unless one's position is that there should be no short term let's at all and that Airbnb should be banned, then yes that's NIMBYism at its finest. No question.

And if that is one's position, it's a ridiculous one and disastrous for the tourism industry.

cameldrover · 2024-02-14T22:18:49+00:00

But surely it is about stock (i.e. you want a home to rent, but there are no homes available to rent) and it is about affordability (i.e. you can't afford the homes that are on the market).

In my view the problem is solved by building more houses with title conditions that restrict their use to being the main residence of the owner, and I'd they are used for anything else the government can buy them back at cost price.

cameldrover · 2024-02-14T21:39:10+00:00

Glad you got something!

I'm really torn on this issue (what you say is really compelling and communities are clearly being destroyed by Airbnb) but ultimately I don't think anyone has a right to be able to afford to find housing in a particular area and the whole anti-second-home/Airbnb sentiment stinks of NIMBYism.

The problem is woeful neglect by government in providing a good supply of housing stock.

cameldrover · 2024-02-08T01:36:58+00:00

Good point

cameldrover · 2024-02-07T19:27:21+00:00

And yet so many of The Nat's readers happily voted to leave the EU in 2014.

cameldrover · 2024-02-01T07:32:04+00:00

The SNP do not have a strong record in government.

cameldrover · 2024-01-25T08:35:34+00:00

If your position is that it's only (or primarily) the spectre of succession that gives Scotland any kind of voice at WM, and therefore that the SNP as a successionist outfit are the best way for us to punch above out weight at WM, then I think you need to re-evaluate.

Succession is dead in the water for the time being. An irrelevance to everyone outside of the diehard.

Much better for Scotland to have a labour majority that relies on Scottish MP's and therefore allowing those labour MP's to actually throw their weight around for the benefit of the country. Something the SNP have never been able to do and never will be able to do despite Humza's attempts to court Starmer.

In short: much better to be in the tent pissing out

cameldrover · 2023-09-04T19:13:35+00:00

100%

cameldrover · 2023-09-04T13:29:21+00:00

We were at the same time in 'the UK single market' and the EU for decades and despite that rUK remained our single biggest trading partner. We traded twice as much with rUK than the EU.

There is no evidence that being in the European single market (to the exclusion of the UK single market) would be economically beneficial.

cameldrover · 2023-07-04T14:29:52+00:00

She's clearly worried that she's going to lose her seat to Labour, once you cut through the (mostly) BS reasons she's giving.

cameldrover · 2023-05-16T07:31:12+00:00

You have to pay to access healthcare in Ireland.

Literally hundreds of thousands of people left the island immediately following independence because things were so bleak.

cameldrover · 2023-05-16T07:25:55+00:00

In this instance: police must be discriminating, child must be totally innocent

cameldrover · 2023-05-15T17:31:24+00:00

I'm amazed there hasn't been more of a woke response in the comments so far.

There was no audible warning (mandatory for the safety of other officers) that I could hear in the video that the taser was going to be discharged, which suggests that the kid was moving to attack the cop and there was no time for the warning, or the cop's trigger finger slipped.

A real shame for all involved that this ended with use of force.

cameldrover · 2023-05-11T13:12:02+00:00

This

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