Personal Injury And Medical Negligence

Leading Silks

Astrid Smart KC – Compass Chambers 'Her ability to analyse complex medical evidence is exceptional. She is excellent in court - calm, precise, unflappable, willing to fight hard and never intimidated.'

David Stephenson KC – Ampersand Advocates ‘David is a brilliant and skilled orator, who is highly effective on his feet in court. He is a very safe pair of hands in complex, high value clinical negligence cases.’

Euan Mackenzie KC - Ampersand Advocates 'Euan is an excellent advocate, with a mild demeanour that belies a steely core.'

Geoffrey Mitchell KC – Ampersand Advocates 'He is a skilled and practical negotiator. A silk with a calm presence in court, unfailingly polite but rigorous in questioning.'

Graham Primrose KC – Ampersand Advocates 'Graham is simply outstanding in his field. A stalwart negotiator and a quality operator at the top of his game.'

Iain Ferguson KC - Axiom Advocates

Lesley Shand KC – Compass Chambers ‘Lesley is a formidable advocate. She has forensic attention to detail, leaving no stone uncovered. She is persuasive and has the ear of the court.’

Lisa Henderson KC – Ampersand Advocates 'Lisa is excellent with clients, and they are well aware of her dedication to the case. She is thorough in her preparation.'

Maria Maguire KC -Ampersand Advocates 'Maria is a class act. She is top of her game in this field. She is a master at analysing complex cases and providing clear and straightforward advice to clients.'

Robert Milligan KC – Compass Chambers

Simon Bowie KC -Ampersand Advocates 'Simon is an exceptional silk who is always thorough in his preparation, calm in his approach and extremely personable. He is clever, thoughtful and level headed.'

Calum MacNeill KC - Westwater Advocates 'Calum is exceptionally skilled in medical negligence litigation. He is always very thoroughly prepared and consultations with clients and experts are detailed and comprehensive.'

Lauren Sutherland KC - Ampersand Advocates 'Lauren is fearless, tenacious and has meticulous attention to detail. She also easily builds rapport with clients and gains their trust. She has an unparalleled knowledge of relevant cases, however obscure.'

Alan Dewar KC - Ampersand Advocates

Amber Galbraith KC - Compass Chambers

Douglas Ross KC – Ampersand Advocates ‘He is always well-prepared and goes the extra mile. A very calm and measured advocate with a very understated manner, and always treats others with respect.'

Kay Springham KC – Compass Chambers ‘A measured and effective court advocate. She is always well-prepared, pragmatic and approachable.’

Steven Love KC – Compass Chambers 'Steven is an exceptionally safe pair of hands, who is always thoroughly prepared. He is client focused but also provides practical, realistic advice.'

Una Doherty KC – Ampersand Advocates ‘Una is incredibly calm and instils confidence She is determined and dependable, and has the ability to cut straight through the superfluous and immediately identify the issues at the heart of an action.'

Vinit Khurana KC – Ampersand Advocates

2021 Silks

Archie MacSporran KC –Ampersand Advocates

Catherine Smith KC - Compass Chambers

David McNaughtan KC - Compass Chambers

Graeme Middleton KC – Compass Chambers

Leading Juniors

Barney Ross – Compass Chambers 'He is intelligent, hard working, sensible, kind and good humoured. He provides excellent support at all stages of the case.'

Chris Paterson – Axiom Advocates

Emma Toner - Compass Chambers

Ewen Campbell – Axiom Advocates

James McConnell – Ampersand Advocates 'A well respected junior. He is organised, extremely thorough and diligent. Excellent with clients and experts.'

Kate Bennett –Compass Chambers 'Kate remains calm in the face of a storm. An eloquent and persuasive advocate.'

Robin Cleland – Compass Chambers ‘He excels in handling complex medical and dental negligence cases. He puts anxious clients at ease with his straightforward and approachable manner.’

Chris Jones – Themis Advocates

Clare Connelly – Compass Chambers

Fiona Drysdale – Ampersand Advocates 'A diligent, perceptive and highly able junior.'

Gavin Thornley – Compass Chambers ‘Gavin is thorough, knowledgeable and approachable, with strong negotiation skills.'

Grant Markie -Compass Chambers

Jennifer Nicholson-White –Ampersand Advocates 'She offers clear and focussed advice to clients and presents cases well in court. She is very personable, making her extremely easy to work with, yet is prepared to stick to her guns where appropriate and goes above and beyond for all clients.'

Craig Murray - Compass Chambers

Nick Gardiner – Arnot Manderson Advocates

Shane Dundas – Ampersand Advocates ‘An outstanding advocate who is great to work with. He is responsive, proactive and excellent in court.’

Personal injury and medical negligence in Scottish Bar

Tier 1 sets

Ampersand Advocates

Ampersand Advocates garners particular praise for its ‘unique depth and range of expertise in clinical negligence‘; complex, high-value personal injury work is another core pillar of strength for the team. Maria Maguire KC has solid expertise in advising on cases involving psychiatric injuries and catastrophic injury matters. Lauren Sutherland KC, who is also a member of Byrom Street Chambers in Manchester, is well known for handling cerebral palsy and brain injury cases, and has niche expertise in advising on issues of consent in relation to clinical negligence matters. Among the juniors, Jennifer Nicholson-White is active in both areas, and represents pursuers and defenders in a range of litigation.

Testimonials

Stable

‘Very high calibre of advocates.’

‘The stable has a wealth of experience.’

Compass Chambers

Compass Chambers is ‘a fantastic stable with an exceptional breadth and depth of experienced counsel in clinical negligence and PI work‘, and is well known for its established expertise in personal injury law. Lesley Shand KC ‘will fight a case vigorously‘ and has been kept busy handling a range of defender-side mandates in the personal injury arena. Astrid Smart KC ‘meets defenders’ arguments with logic and unsurpassed handling of the law and medicine‘, according to clients, and specialises in medical product litigation. Among the juniors, Barney Ross acts for pursuers and defenders in fatal and catastrophic injury claims, often involving brain and spinal injuries. Robin Cleland is representing the pursuer before the Court of Session in a case concerning the pursuer’s below knee amputation due to necrosis, after the pursuer underwent heart surgery.

Testimonials

Stable

‘The advocates are the cream of the Scottish personal injury Bar.’

‘The stable offers the best choice of advocates for personal injury work.’

Coverage By Practice AreaScottish Bar