Leading Individuals

Rising Stars

Crime: general in Scotland

Levy & McRae

Levy & McRae has 'a long tradition of providing an exceptional service' to private clients, including professionals and high-net-worth individuals in Scotland, across a range of criminal areas including environmental, regulatory, sexual and domestic, financial, as well as tax investigations and inquiries. Neil Hay leads the team and specialises in complex regulatory, fraud and financial crime, while co-head Callum Anderson has significant expertise in defending leading political figures and other high-ranking public officials. David McKie brings vast experience of police investigations and inquiries, including public, parliamentary and fatal accidents, while Andrew Seggie is another key member of the team.

Practice head(s):

Neil Hay; Callum Anderson


Other key lawyers:

David McKie; Andrew Seggie


Testimonials

‘Interactions with the firm at every level are very professional.’

‘Neil Hay is a star. He is empathetic, hard-working and delivers an incredible result.’

‘Andrew Seggie provides a dedicated service for his clients. His knowledge of the criminal law and attention to detail makes him a formidable court practitioner. Clients are well served by him.’

‘Neil Hay makes clients feel comfortable and tranquil with any decision made and the next steps to follow.’

‘The team are extremely professional and make clients feel at ease at every step of the way.’

‘Excellent communications, fantastic advice and guidance in difficult circumstances. Always available’

‘Relatable, always helpful and available, approachable, with genuine concern for their clients.’

‘Neil Hay is the go-to criminal lawyer for professionals and people not used to dealing with the criminal justice system.’

Work highlights


  • Securing an absolute discharge in relation to an assault by a consultant paediatrician on his son. This unusual court sentencing disposal was career-saving.
  • Successfully challenging a charge of dangerous driving in a case involving an American international top executive in a world-renowned company.
  • Securing an acquittal in a complex neighbourhood dispute and stalking case after a seven-day trial.

Scullion LAW

With a renowned reputation for road traffic cases, Scullion LAW provides a broad range of criminal law expertise spanning personal, violent, financial and regulatory crime, as well as sexual and drug offences. Director Kristopher Buchanan leads the practice and is recognised as a leading authority on road traffic incidents, handling highly complex speeding, drink-driving and death by dangerous driving matters.

Practice head(s):

Kristopher Buchanan


Other key lawyers:

Urfan Dar; Anna MacKay


Testimonials

‘A well organised and well qualified firm which always puts the client first.’

Work highlights


  • Assisted the client, a decorated member of the armed services with 20 years of service, who had served across the globe and was charged with the alleged rape of a distant family member. The allegation resulted in the accused losing his employment due to the nature of the allegation, and he retired from the armed forces pending his trial.
  • Represented the client, a former member of the armed forces, previously with the Scots regiment Battalion, who had been posted in Germany and the UK, among other locations. He harboured a desire to return to duties, but could not do so until a serious assault case had been resolved.
  • Assisted the client, a young delivery driver charged with a contravention of Section 2B of the Road Traffic Act 1988, namely causing death by careless driving.

BTO Solicitors LLP

BTO Solicitors LLP provides ‘a truly bespoke service’, with ‘first-class’ advice provided to both individuals and other legal entities across a wide array of traditional criminal areas, with a unique and substantial growth in the volume of cases relating to fatal road traffic collisions. Vikki Watt heads the practice and specialises in the defence of criminal and regulatory prosecutions, with her varied experience including all aspects of criminal defence, serious assaults, fraud, sexual offences and culpable homicide.

Practice head(s):

Vikki Watt


Other key lawyers:

Alasdair Gilles; Lindsay MacNeill


Testimonials

‘A truly bespoke service with the utmost level of professionalism provided.’

‘Vikki Watt – highly experienced, knowledgeable and confident partner. Clients feel confident in her ability and trust her. She is able to deal with people in stressful situations in a compassionate way whilst remaining entirely focused on the issues of the case and delivering the best possible representation.’

‘Alasdair Gillies is a highly experienced and knowledgeable partner who has a broad experience of criminal cases. He has a tremendous rapport with clients who have full confidence in his ability to navigate them through extremely difficult and complex cases.’

‘Lindsay MacNeill is a first class senior associate who is highly experienced in all areas of criminal law. Clients are immediately impressed by her grasp of the issues and detail of the case. She leaves no stone unturned in ensuring her clients receive the best possible representation.’

‘Alasdair Gilles is outstanding in his field. He is extremely knowledgeable and provides in-depth explanations and possible outcomes.’

‘They are a team of highly experienced criminal lawyers who are skilled in dealing with corporate clients.’

‘They have an in-depth knowledge of the criminal law both at common law and under statute, and their legal analysis of complex cases is extremely impressive.’

‘Their use of technology helps us greatly in navigating through increasingly complex criminal cases.’

Key clients

Scottish Police Federation


AIG


RSA


NFUM


Work highlights


  • Acting for Andrew Grant, company director, securing his acquittal of the charge of culpable homicide and of three additional charges.
  • Acting on behalf of the Scottish Police Federation in connection with potentially career ending allegations. Successful negotiation with the Crown saw not guilty pleas accepted for four charges and acquittal achieved following trial on the remaining data protection charge.
  • Acted for a professional client and successfully defended a charge of death by dangerous driving in high court, successfully persuading crown to accept plea of careless driving not causative of death. In an unprecedented result, client was admonished.