Scottish Legal News for 14 July 2008 carries the story that Tommy Sheridan is to start a law degree at Strathclyde Law School.

Readers of Scots Law News will recall that in his famous defamation case against the News of the World in 2006 Mr Sheridan sacked his counsel and became a party litigant, a move regarded by media commentators at the time as the 'master-stroke' that won the case.  It is a pleasing thought that perhaps at some point in the future Mr Sheridan will be admitted to the Faculty of Advocates as a member.  Or perhaps he will join his friend Aamer Anwar (a Strathclyde alumnus) in the solicitor branch of the profession, although probably not as a conveyancer, one imagines.

There are however a few hurdles to clear before any of this speculation can be confirmed, as all will recognise.  But Mr Sheridan has certainly chosen the right law school, with Professor Kenneth Norrie as the author of the leading text on defamation, Professors John Blackie and Don Nicholson being about to produce a book on the law of evidence, and Professor Alan Paterson as an authority on professional ethics.

A PS to this story, obtained from The Firm's news site for 2 July 2008, is that Mr Sheridan has raised an action for breach of contract against the owners of Talk Radio, which declared him redundant in April.  The case is to be brought in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, but Mr Sheridan will be represented by Paul Holleran of the National Union of Journalists.  In essence the dispute is about whether the amount to be paid to Mr Sheridan by way of redundancy is calculated by reference to a commitment of one programme per week or three, over a three-month notice period, the difference amounting to £6,000.  Every little helps.