We hear that Sheriff Charles Smith has decided to hang up his robes next month, leaving the much-coveted shrieval post up for grabs, to put it somewhat crudely.
Traditionally, the title of sheriff at Cupar has come with a courtesy honour, membership of the Royal and Ancient at St Andrews. Which is all very
well, except if the new sheriff just happens to be one of these chaps who don't play golf. And stand by for a test case at the nineteenth hole at the home of golf if it is a woman who is appointed.
No excuse
Meanwhile, Allcourt's new office at the Carmondean Shopping Centre in Livingston possesses a feature which surely no other solicitor's office in Scotland can boast. The former Bank of Scotland sub-branch has a cash dispenser which is still in operation.
Partner Ken Hogg reckons it's good for business.
It should certainly be handy for clients who want to pay their bills on the spot, although it could, presumably, rather cramp the style of anyone thinking about sloping off for a couple of hours with the excuse: ''I'm just going to the bank.''
Open all hours
Not to outdone on the Livingston legal front, Caesar and Howie think they have achieved a first by becoming the first Scottish firm to open seven days a week.
As well as the weekend service, the firm also has plans to stay open late four nights a week because of a surge in demand.
Managing partner David Borrowman says: ''In Livingston we find that there is a high percentage of commuters in the town. That means anyone requiring legal work or advice either has to go to a city centre firm or try to fit in a visit to their local lawyer. ''Now that we are open Saturday and Sunday it will give people in Livingston the chance to use their local solicitor.''
Eye level
Rarely, does a piece in the British Medical Journal refer in such glowing terms to the architectural splendour and pleasant working environment of a modern building.
Pleasant, marble-tiled floor, tastefully arranged flowers, spacious, smartly carpeted, with good-quality wooden furnishings and comfortable seats, lunch break for at least an hour, routine work stopping at four, those not dealt with asked to return tomorrow and no-one questioning the power of the bosses.
Where is this Nirvana which aroused the envy and admiration of consultant physician Charles Swainson? Edinburgh Sheriff Court no less.
The Diary reckons that Dr Swainson will just have to wait for the new PFI building in Little France to replace the dump which masquerades as the present Royal Infirmary.
Driving force
Not everyone involved in drugs quite makes the big time it seems.
In a recent case before Lord Bonomy the Crown had considered asking for the forfeiture of a car involved in the offence.
However, the car in question turned out to be a D-registration Toyota Corolla which was lying severely damaged at Ace Recovery's premises at Buckhaven.
Lord Bonomy pondered whether any attempt at forfeiture might be more trouble than it was actually worth and advocate-depute, Simon Di Rollo, agreed to drop the motion of forfeiture.
''I would have saved you from yourself if you hadn't,'' the judge assured him.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article