Tag Archives: Portree

Law Awards of Scotland recognise Crofting Endeavours

Law Awards of Scotland - Finalist - Solicitor of the Year - Brian InksterBrian Inkster has been shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year at the Law Awards of Scotland.

This nomination recognises his endeavours in crofting law over the past year and in particular his quest to see justice done over the alleged abuse of power within the Crofting Commission over the sacking of three common grazings committees.

Brian Inkster has been very vocal in the press, radio and on TV over the issue. He has written 97 blog posts on this topic alone over the past six months.

The Crofting Commission recently accepted their decisions as being wrong and issued an apology to the crofters affected. However, conflict continues within the Crofting Commission with a clear divide between their convener and the other commissioners.

Brian Inkster said:-

I am honoured to be one of only three solicitors in Scotland shortlisted for this award.

Hopefully it will help to highlight further the plight of the ordinary crofter at the hands of a regulator that is out of control.

There is still much more that the Scottish Government needs to do to restore confidence in the Crofting Commission and I will be making my views known on that in the coming months.

Inksters Solicitors who have offices in Glasgow, Inverness, Forfar, Portree, Wick and a visiting base in Lerwick have also been shortlisted for Litigation Firm of the Year and their trainee solicitor, Alistair Sloan, for Trainee of the Year at this year’s Law Awards of Scotland.

The winners will be announced on 24 November at a gala dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.

All quiet on the crofting law blog

All quiet on the crofting law blogThere have not been any posts for a while on the crofting law blog. That is not because nothing has been happening in the world of crofting law. It is simply because the crofting lawyers at Inksters have been somewhat occupied over the past few months with activities that have kept us away from blogging. Inksters have moved into a new HQ in Glasgow and expanded staff numbers by four including a Gaelic speaking solicitor based in Glasgow and an Estate Agent based in Portree who will enhance the service Inksters can provide to crofters selling their crofts in Skye and Lochalsh and the surrounding areas. The new Estate Agent will also cover Inverness-shire, Fort William and Oban. Eilidh Ross of Inksters’ Portree and Inverness offices has been on maternity leave with Brian Inkster and Martin Minton covering for her during that period. Eilidh is now back at work from the beginning of May.

With things settling back into place we will be able to catch up with some crofting law blog posts on here. Indeed we have at least five in the pipeline: A Review of crofting law in 2013 and a glimpse at what 2014 may have in store (an article from Brian Inkster that first appeared in the Scottish Legal News Annual Review 2014); ‘To buy or not to buy?’ and ‘Did the 2010 Act Equalise Availability of Crofting Grants?’ both by Eilidh Ross; a guest post on owner-occupier crofters by Derek Flyn; and a post by Brian Inkster on the recent Land Court decision on whether resumption of part of a common grazings triggers registration in the Crofting Register of all crofts with a share in that grazings.

So keep an eye on the crofting law blog over the next few weeks as things will be far from quiet here in May.

Brian Inkster