“Prescription: learning from a lawyer’s reality”
Location:
Moot Court Room,
Old College
Date/time
Tue 27 February 2024
17:30-19:30
Giving legal advice on whether contractual claims have prescribed under Scots law can be very difficult in practice.
When does the 5 year prescriptive period begin to run? The discoverability test under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 continues to cause lawyers significant headaches. The changes introduced by the Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 have not reassured all lawyers. New 15 and 30 year prescriptive periods for construction product liability in Scotland were introduced by the UK Parliament through the Building Safety Act 2022 with no prior consultation on its impact on an area of law which is very different north and south of the border.
In short, the law of prescription is extremely complex. Risks abound for both lawyers and their clients.
Lynda Ross, a solicitor who has spent 30 years advising on this area of law, will give a very light overview of the law interspersed with observations on the reality of giving legal advice to clients. She will then ask two “bigger picture” questions. Are there any lessons which we can learn about the law reform process in general? How do we adapt legal education to support lawyers providing legal advice on complex areas of law in a world of increasing document automation and cost pressures? Discussion will be encouraged.
This event is in person only.