| Andrew Alexander Head of Access to Justice The Law Society of Scotland Andrew Alexander is Head of Access to Justice at the Law Society of Scotland. Joining in 2010, he has worked on issues including the outcome of the Cadder case, police station duty plans, research around legal aid contracting, courts reform and pro bono. He studied Jurisprudence at St John’s College, Oxford, and is a director of LawWorks Scotland, a pro bono charity. | |
| Tim Barraclough Director, Modernisation and Digital Innovation Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Tim Barraclough is Director, Modernisation and Digital Innovation, at the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. He supported Lord Carloway on his 2011 Review of law and procedures following the UK Supreme Court decision in the Cadder case, and on the 2014 Evidence and Procedure Review. | |
| Lord Bonomy Head of the Post-corroboration Safeguards Review Lord Bonomy was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Courts in January 1997. In August 2010 he was appointed to the Inner House. He has also served as a judge of the UN International Criminal Tribunal. From 1998 until 2004 he held office as a Surveillance Commissioner. Between June 2004 and August 2009 he served as a judge of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Following his return to Parliament House on 1 September 2009, he has again been appointed a Surveillance Commissioner, and with effect from 16 August 2010 was appointed to the Inner House. On 6 February 2014 Kenny MacAskill, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, announced Lord Bonomy would head an independent reference group to consider what additional safeguards and changes to law and practice may be needed to Scotland’s criminal justice system following the planned abolition of the corroboration requirement in the Criminal Justice Scotland Bill. | |
| Bill Cairns Cairns Brown Bill Cairns qualified as a solicitor in 1971. Within the firm Cairns Brown he handles most of the civil work including matrimonial cases as well as dealing with criminal cases and has experience of Courts Martial. Bill also holds a Master of Business Administration degree as well as his law degree and runs the business side of the firm. | |
| Dr Michael Ewart Judicial Appointments Board Dr Ewart has a First Class Honours degree from Cambridge and a DPhil from York University. He joined the then Scottish Office in 1977, where his career began in the Education Department. In 1991 he became Deputy Director of the Scottish Courts Administration and guided the Scottish Court Service to agency status, becoming its first Chief Executive in 1994. In 1999 he returned to the Education Department, first as Head of Schools Group, and from 2002, as Head of the Education Department. From April 2007 until November 2009, he was Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service. Dr Ewart is now Director of the Scottish International Education Trust and a Board Member of the Scottish Ballet. Dr Ewart was appointed in August 2010 for four years and has been reappointed until August 2018. | |
| Colin Lancaster Director of Policy and Development & Deputy Chief Executive Scottish Legal Aid Board Colin joined SLAB in 1997 and was previously Head of Policy. Before he joined the organisation Colin studied towards his PHD. His responsibilities as Director focus on improving the availability, quality and cost-effectiveness of publicly funded legal assistance, both civil and criminal. He is also responsible for compliance and solicitor investigations, SLAB's research and management information departments, and equalities. | |
| David Lee David Lee launched the Law & Legal Affairs section of The Scotsman in
2003 and edited the pages until 2009. He later returned to edit the section on
a freelance basis after leaving the paper to set up his own business. | |
| Sheriff David Mackie Judicial Appointments Board David Mackie was appointed Sheriff in 2002 and has been a resident Sheriff in Alloa since 2004. He is a graduate of Edinburgh University and from 1976 was in private practice as a solicitor. Called to the Scottish Bar in 1991, he practised as an Advocate until his appointment to the Shrieval bench. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the Ministry of Defence (Procurement) from 1996 to 2002. He is Chairman of the Edinburgh branch of SASO (Scottish Association for the Study of Offending) and sits on the National Competition Appeal Panel of the Scottish Rugby Union. A director and latterly chairman of Venture Trust from 2001 until 2011, he is now a Director of Chance4Change. Sheriff Mackie was appointed to the Board from January 2013 to December 2017. | |
| Frances McCartney Patrick Campbell Solicitors Frances is a solicitor specialising in child law and public law. She is a part time judge in the First Tribunal (Social Security entitlement) and the immigration and Asylum Chamber. | |
| Clair McLachlan Russells Gibson McCaffrey Clair is a partner with Russells Gibson McCaffrey having been with the firm since 1995. Clair is a highly regarded family practitioner, having been involved in many divorce actions. She has the willingness to negotiate backed by an ability to litigate if necessary. Described in Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as a rising star, Clair has also found time to serve as President of the Glasgow Bar Association, Reporter to the Law Society of Scotland, a member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board Quality Assurance Committee and a member of the Sheriff Court Rules Council. | |
| Richard Miller Head of Legal Aid The Law Society of England & Wales Richard Miller qualified as a solicitor in 1992, and worked for 8 years in a small high street legal aid firm in Kent. In 2000, he became the first full time director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, where he was responsible for preparing the Group’s policy responses to a whole host of Government consultations on changes to the legal aid system. In August 2007, he became Head of Legal Aid at the Law Society, where since 2010 he has led the work against Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, and has headed up the Society’s Access to Justice Campaign. He has also been engaged for the third time in ten years in the battle against the Government’s attempt to introduce competitive tendering for criminal defence services | |
| Ian Moir Ian Moir & Company Ian Moir graduated from Glasgow University in 1991 and has specialised in court work ever since. He has focused principally on criminal defence work, representing clients in courts throughout the country and even submitting appeals to the UK Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. He also has a keen interest in family matters, Fatal Accident Inquiries and representing people facing problems under the Proceeds of Crime legislation. Ian is also convenor of the Law Society of Scotland's criminal Legal Aid Negotiation Team, dealing with the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Scottish Government on all issues regarding legal aid. | |
| Mr Alistair Morris President The Law Society of Scotland Alistair's career with Pagan Osborne spans three decades, establishing an industry-wide reputation as an expert in private client services before becoming CEO in 2005. With ultimate responsibility for the performance of the business in the increasingly competitive Scottish legal arena, Alistair is committed to creating a unique identity for Pagan Osborne through the introduction of innovative new services and the provision of exceptional client service. Under his stewardship, the company has received a number of prestigious industry awards, including twice winning the accolade of Law Firm of the Year, and he himself has once again been recommended in the Legal 500 UK 2011 directory for personal tax, trusts and executries. Alistair is one of the longest serving Council members, having joined in 1992. He is a member of the Society's Board and has sat on a number of the Society's key policy-making committees, including Convener of the Guarantee Fund Committee. Alistair is a regular speaker at key industry events, the most recent of which focus on the changing environment and landscape in which Scottish legal professionals currently operate. | |
| Stuart Munro Managing Partner Livingstone Brown Stuart Munro is the partner in charge of the Glasgow East department. He is also the firm’s managing partner. He started working with the firm in 1990, and qualified as a solicitor in 1994. His main interests are in criminal law, family law (including disputes relating to finances and children), child protection and private client business. Stuart has conducted fatal accident inquiries, and has represented the interests of clients in public inquiries. He was the President of the Association of Children’s Hearings Practitioners for three years, and is regularly appointed by the courts to represent the interests of children in cases which affect them. He is also interested in using IT to improve access to justice, and has worked with the Scottish Legal Aid Board on the development of their online systems. He is a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Technology Committee and the Court Technology Forum. | |
| Professor Alan Paterson University of Strathclyde Alan Paterson, LLB (Edin), D.Phil (Oxon), Solicitor, FRSA, FRSE joined the Law School in 1984 as a Professor of Law. He previously taught at Edinburgh University from 1975. He is Director of the Centre for Professional Legal Studies and was formerly Head of Department for six years and Director of the Centre for Law, Computers and Technology. He teaches in the areas of legal services and access to justice, professional ethics, legal profession and the judiciary. His research has focused on the legal profession, access to justice, poverty legal services and the judiciary. | |
| Andrew Smith QC A 25 year career in Scotland, ten of them in silk, he has a broad experience and practice running high value PI and Clinical claims on liability and quantum. Trials to completion in Scotland have been approximately 500, many of which are reported. Special interest in neurological conditions and disease (for example MS, Parkinsons, ME, epilepsy), oncology (failure to diagnose), orthopaedics and dentistry. Retained by GMC for revisal of their guidance; and has prosecuted for them. Experience in product liability claims, especially pharmaceutical claims (is instructed for claimants in Vioxx litigation and acts for multiple claimants in claims against Pfizer in respect of Celebrex). Worked along with attorneys in Canada and Australia. Experience of complex damages claims (including the nuances of life tables). Wide experience of Appellate work (at all levels including frequent House of Lords, Privy Council and latterly Supreme Court). Particular interest in testing experts of all kinds, from doctors and scientists to road traffic experts in respect of which he has met with considerable success. | |
| Jim Stephenson Thorley Stephenson SSC Jim Stephenson has been a solicitor since 1990 and a solicitor advocate since 2002. He is a member of the Society of Solicitor Advocates and also serves on the Law Society of Scotland's legal aid committee. His main area of practise is criminal law. In 2005 he founded Thorley Stephenson with Mark Thorley. The firm currently has 10 lawyers providing representation in the Scottish civil and criminal courts. Jim is a founder memebr of Fortis Chambers, Scotland's first chamber comprised exclusively of Solicitor Advocates. He has contributed to the Law Society paper on the Carloway Report expressing a view that if corroboration is to be abolished then it would not be safe for the Scottish Courts to rely on dock identification.He has also spoken at the Legal Aid Conference regarding the duties of a solicitor representing his client at a police interview. | |
| Kingsley Thomas Manager of Criminal Legal Assistance Scottish Legal Aid Board Kingsley Thomas is the Head of Criminal Legal Assistance with the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and has worked in Legal Aid administration since 1983. He manages a busy Department which processes and takes decisions on all types of criminal legal aid from across Scotland. He is also responsible for the Criminal Quality Assurance scheme, and the Board’s Court and Police Station duty schemes. He also served as a Councillor in the City of Edinburgh from May 1992 to May 2007. He was the Council’s Executive Member for Social Work from 1999 to 2007 and a non Executive Director of NHS Lothian from 2001 to 2007. During his 15 years as a Councillor in Edinburgh, he was one of the Council’s ex officio JPs, although he was unable to sit in the bench due to his work in legal aid. More recently, he also served as a Council Member with the Scottish Social Services Council from 2007 to 2013. | |
| Mark Thorley Thorley Stephenson SSC With over 20 years’ experience in legal aid work, Mark has been a member of the Law Society’s Legal Aid Committee since 2003, and is the convener of the Civil Legal Aid Team. Co-founder of Thorley Stephenson, Mark is in charge of the family law and reparation department of the firm which started with one assistant and now has grown into a team of five lawyers and two trainee solicitors. | |
| Paul Wheelhouse MSP Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs Scottish Government Paul is a professional economist and, since 1992, has specialised in higher and further education markets, policy evaluation and economic appraisal and impact assessment of capital projects. Born in Belfast in 1970, Paul was raised in Edinburgh, attending Stewart's Melville College.Paul gained an honours degree in Economics from the University of Aberdeen and an MBA from University of Edinburgh. Paul has lived in Berwickshire since 2000, and has served as a community councillor since 2001. Paul joined the SNP in 2003 and is Organiser for Roxburgh and Berwickshire SNP. | |
