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Medical negligence: pursuer

One of the leaders in the field’, Anderson Strathern has a specialised healthcare team with two accredited clinical negligence specialists. Practice head Robert Carr is ‘a very experienced and extremely well-respected practitioner’, and senior associate Catriona Watt is ‘a very dedicated and experienced professional’.

Balfour + Manson LLP’s experience includes high-value cerebral palsy claims. Team head Fred Tyler is highly esteemed, and is an expert in obstetric negligence cases. David McIntosh and senior associate Ann Logan are also recommended.

Drummond Miller LLP’s clinical negligence practice head and accredited specialist Liesa Spiller is well respected within the industry, and acts solely for pursuers. The team handles birth and orthopaedic injury cases as well as claims arising from hospital practitioner and GP negligence. The team secured settlements totalling over £13m in 2010.

Brodies LLP’s team is ‘excellent in terms of its responses, business acumen and knowledge’. Solicitor-advocate and department head David Armstrong is ‘a star’, and Jonathan Cornwell is also ‘very impressive’.

Digby Brown LLP’s clinical negligence team, led by accredited specialist Sue Grant, has particular expertise in cerebral palsy claims and experience in fatality cases. During 2010 the firm handled cases involving health boards across Scotland, as well as a range of GP and dental negligence matters.

Peacock Johnston is well regarded for its niche medical negligence practice. Accredited specialist and practice head Andrew Pollock is ‘one of the most diligent practitioners of medical law on the side of claimants’.


Medical negligence: defender

Anderson Strathern’s healthcare team is ‘outstanding’; team head Robert Carr is ‘respected across the profession’, and senior associate Catriona Watt is ‘extremely able’. Clients include the General Dental Council, the Scottish Prison Service, the General Medical Council, and the Royal College of Nursing.

Brechin Tindal Oatts’ medical and dental negligence department head Douglas Jessiman has ‘impressive tactical awareness in cases of the utmost seriousness’, and Laura Donald has the ‘ability to grasp the issues in complex cases’. The firm receives instructions from the Medical Protection Society and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, among others.

Simpson & Marwick’s medical defence team is ‘excellent on all counts’. The Medical Defence Union is a key client. Team head Graeme Watson and associate Duncan Batchelor are recommended.

Brodies LLP won new instructions from the Association of Optometrists, and insurer Marketform. Team head Cameron McNaught has ‘good tactical awareness and remains robust but realistic under pressure. His grasp of complex facts and legal issues is impressive’.

Dundas & Wilson CS LLP provides an ‘excellent level of service’, and handles difficult cases ‘efficiently and well, achieving very good outcomes’. Senior associate and practice head Duncan Mawby is ‘a very experienced clinical negligence lawyer who is always prepared to go the extra mile’. The firm advises the Medical & Dental Defence Union of Scotland and also represents the Scottish Prison Service at FAIs such as deaths in custody.


Personal injury: pursuer

Balfour + Manson LLP is ‘one of the top personal injury firms for pursuers’, and has expertise in offshore cases. The ‘first-rate and thoroughLisa Gregory and practice head Fred Tyler are recommended along with David McIntosh, who is ‘one of the leading pursuer PI Court of Session solicitors in Scotland’.

Specialist PI firm Digby Brown LLP offers an ‘outstanding level of service’ and has ‘strength in depth’. Robert Swanney is recognised for his expertise in spinal cord injury claims. David Wilson is also recommended.

The highly rated specialist PI practice at Thompsons handles cases including road traffic, workplace and public liability cases, including catastrophic injury matters. Team head Frank Maguire is well respected for his industrial disease expertise. Syd Smith and Patrick McGuire are also recommended.

Anderson Strathern’s PI team ‘practises to a very high standard’, and department head Robert Carrinstils confidence, and rightly so: he is a well-respected opponent’. Senior associate Catriona Watt is also recommended. The firm represents the Royal College of Nursing.

Brodies LLP acts for the Communication Workers Union, and has expertise in workplace accident claims, particularly for manual handling tasks. Other sources of instructions include the National Accident Helpline and Injury Lawyers 4 U. David Armstrong and Jonathan Cornwell are recommended.

Irwin Mitchell LLP has ‘sound business acumen and detailed industry knowledge’. Solicitor David Bell is ‘a safe pair of hands: experienced and well prepared’, and team head Elaine Russell is very well respected. The firm represents Esure and the AA.

Niche PI practice Lawford Kidd acts exclusively for pursuers, and covers areas including industrial disease, aviation and road traffic accidents, and employers’ liability. Team head David Sandison is highly regarded.

Drummond Miller LLP handles road traffic accident claims including catastrophic cases involving spinal and head injuries. Fiona Moore leads the litigation team, and has particular expertise in PI.

HBJ Claim Solutions LLP specialises in road traffic claims, with the RAC a major client. The group also strengthened its employers and public liability work by recruiting Damian White from Allan McDougall Solicitors. Head of litigation Tony O’Malley is ‘well respected’.

Elizabeth Mitchell heads the insurance department at Harper Macleod LLP, which handles claims including occupiers’ liability, and claims across the full range of injuries. New client wins include the EUI Group and Allianz Insurance.

Stuart Cochran heads Russell Jones & Walker’s personal injury practice, and provides ‘invaluable advice in complex litigation cases’. The practice spans accidents at work, road traffic accidents, public liability and industrial disease matters, and includes serious head and spinal injury cases.


Personal injury: defender

Solicitor-advocate Catherine Currie heads Brechin Tindal Oatts’ personal injury team, which is ‘very strong technically’. Jill Setterington is ‘knowledgeable 
and proactive’, and Stephen Bryceland is also recommended.

HBM Sayers provides ‘strong and clear’ advice. John Morrison is a ‘clever solicitor with an ability to think outside the box’; David Taylor is ‘quiet and reliable, with a broad depth of legal knowledge’; and practice head Alastair Leggat, whose ‘reputation is rightly well founded’, is also recommended.

Simpson & Marwick is ‘one of the top insurance litigation firms’. Its PI team is divided into specialist groups covering advocacy, catastrophic injury and occupational disease matters. The Aberdeen team notably undertakes claims arising in the oil and offshore industry. Practice head Gordon Keyden is recommended, along with David Tait, Harry Boyle, Robert Leith and Michael Jones QC.

Anderson Strathern’s insurance litigation team receives instructions from employers, liability adjustors and insurers, including The Co-operative Insurance, the Coal Authority and INEOS. The team fields seven solicitor-advocates and accredited PI specialists including team co-head Douglas Keir. Fellow co-head Andrew Lothian is also highly recommended.

Andersons Solicitors LLP has ‘a strong, well-run team’ which looks to break the mould of the way in which injury claims are handled north of the border’. Team head Gilbert Andersonstands out as a leader’. Frank Hughes, John Maillie and Andrew Ireland are also recommended.

Biggart Baillie LLP represents insurers, insurance brokers and loss adjusters including Zurich and UKAEA. The team, led by David Stevenson, has particular strength in asbestos litigation.

Brodies LLP’s insurance group, headed by Toby Seton, is valued for its ‘excellent service and in-depth sector knowledge’, and covers the spectrum of PI claims, with specialist capabilities in health and safety, and construction. Cameron McNaught is ‘technically very able’.

Harper Macleod LLP has a ‘conscientious, experienced, keen and business-orientated’ team. Recent instructions include handling catastrophic injury claims arising from occupiers’ and employers’ liability. Elizabeth Mitchell heads the insurance group, and is recommended along with Fergus Thomson, who is ‘exceptionally knowledgeable, professional and determined’.

Morton Fraser’s PI defence team is led by accredited specialist Ewan McIntyre, and works across employers and public liability, road traffic and catastrophic injury cases. Insurer clients include AMEC, AXA and Chartis.

Ledingham Chalmers LLP’s PI defence practice is headed by Graeme Edward, and operates from offices in Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh.

Mackinnons has an extensive marine insurance litigation practice.

McClure Naismith LLP’s practice head Jeffrey Hutcheson is recommended.

Paull & Williamsons LLP has particular expertise in the gas and oil industry.


Professional negligence

Brechin Tindal Oatts’ professional negligence team is highly regarded. Practice head Derek Allan is ‘one of the leading lights in professional negligence work in Scotland’, and Alan Eadie is also recommended. Both are qualified mediators.

Dundas & Wilson CS LLP is ‘one of the leaders in this field’, and provides ‘a first-class service’. The professional negligence team is led by Colin Macleod, who ‘always adopts a very pragmatic approach’. Senior associate Nicola Paul is also recommended.

One of the ‘leading law firms undertaking professional indemnity work in Scotland’, Simpson & Marwick represents a range of professionals including lawyers, accountants, architects and financial advisers. Gavin Henderson gives ‘sound advice, and is committed and thorough’; Charles McGregor is ‘extremely able’; and Graeme Watson and Peter Anderson are also recommended.

Anderson Strathern’s professional negligence team represents claimants and defendants, and has particular expertise in the clinical and dental fields. Fiona Stephen is recommended, and receives referrals through the Pursuer’s Panel. Solicitor-advocate and practice head Robert Carr is also well regarded.

Alan Calvert heads Brodies LLP’s professional negligence team which handles work in various sectors including claims against engineers, surveyors, solicitors and construction industry contractors. Robin Macpherson is recommended, and the firm can also draw on related strengths in property and construction law.

CMS Cameron McKenna LLP’s professional negligence team is headed by Robert Wilson, who is ‘knowledgeable, pragmatic, commercially minded and proactive’. The team defends professionals from a number of sectors, but has particular expertise in construction-related claims. Harriet Munro was promoted to the partnership in November 2010.

The professional negligence team at Shepherd and Wedderburn represents pursuers and defenders, and has particular expertise in medical and construction cases. The firm was reappointed to RSA’s panel, and also acts for AIG and Chartis. Iain Drummond and practice head Alastair Frood are recommended.

Balfour + Manson LLP represents clients under the Law Society of Scotland’s Master Policy. David Flint heads the team, in which David McIntosh is praised for his ‘calmness in stressful situations’.

Alison Grant heads Biggart Baillie LLP’s professional negligence practice, and is one of the panel solicitors appointed by RSA under the Law Society of Scotland Master Policy. The team handles claims brought against solicitors, and has particular strength in the commercial property sector.

Harper Macleod LLP acts for pursuers and defenders in a number of sectors, including construction, medical and financial. Professor Robert Rennie is an expert in claims relating to the legal profession. Rod McKenzie heads the team.

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP focuses on defendants’ work for insurers and claimants’ work for lenders, and has particular expertise in construction cases. Practice head Tim Edward is an accredited specialist in professional negligence.


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