Harper Macleod LLP

Harper Macleod LLP

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Julie Doncaster

Julie Doncaster

Partner Julie advises clients on wills, estate and succession planning, inheritance tax advice, formation, management and termination of trusts, charity law, powers of attorney, guardianships, planning for nursing home care costs and the administration of executries. She has a particular interest in personal injury trusts and succession arrangements for business and farm owners. Julie has successfully argued numerous high value tax cases with HMRC. She has provided opinions for high net worth personal injury cases and has advised and worked with many charities reviewing their structure and improving their day to day administration. She regularly presents to external organisations on her specialist areas; personal injury trusts, estate and tax planning and care of the elderly and frequently contributes to legal publications on these matters. Julie tutors on the Diploma in Legal Practice at both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.
Karen Gibbons

Karen Gibbons

Partner Karen is an experienced litigator, with many years litigating in both the Sheriff Court and Court of Session. She recognizes that in some cases, litigation will be appropriate. However, in the majority of cases, she is able to help clients reach a positive outcome without the need for court proceedings. With extensive experience covering the spectrum of family law case types, including complex financial provision matters both in divorce (often including a cross-border element) and cohabitation cases. She regularly negotiates and assists clients in entering into separation agreements. In addition, she is regularly instructed to assist clients who wish to put in place pre- or post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. Karen receives regular instructions in complex cases relating to children, particularly those arising following the breakdown of relationships, including residence and contact cases, as well as relocation cases. She has particular experience in dealing with cases where there has been the rejection of a parent following a separation, recognizing that such situations are often very complex and deeply distressing. Her child law practice also includes cases with an international element as well as child abduction cases. Karen receives regular appointments from Edinburgh Sheriff Court to act as a child welfare reporter in private child law cases. She has many years of experience in dealing with cases where domestic abuse is, or is alleged to be, a feature. She recognizes the complexity of such cases and the need for sensitivity. She is a keen proponent of the use of mediation in family law cases, recognizing the benefits the process can bring to many family law cases. She offers mediation in all types of family cases. Karen is a member of Consensus, IACP (the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals), CALM Scotland, and the Family Law Association of Scotland (FLA). For many years, she had a close involvement with the running of Scotland’s FLA as a committee member from 2008 to 2016, as well as in office-bearing roles (Vice Chair 2012 to 2014 and Chair 2016). Karen has now worked exclusively in the area of family law for more than 15 years. She is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in family law and in family mediation. She is also trained in Collaborative Practice.
Jenny Smith

Jenny Smith

Partner Jenny has a particular interest and experience in the financial issues arising from separation and divorce,  often involving high net worth, complex, or unusual matters. Over her twenty-year career, she has been involved in many complicated cases in both the Sheriff Court and the Court of Session. She also has experience in all aspects of  family law, including divorce and separation, civil partnership, financial provision, cohabitant claims, preparation of pre and post nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements and issues to do with children including residence and contact. Jenny is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in family law and is also an accredited  family mediator. She is trained in interdisciplinary collaborative practice and is dual-qualified in Scottish and English law. Until 2021, she was a tutor in family law on the Strathclyde University Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. Until recently, she was also a committee member of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow and the local Glasgow collaborative practice group. She regularly writes articles and blogs and delivers talks, both externally and internally. Her current caseload features several mid to high net worth divorce cases, including both litigated and negotiated cases, some of which involve complex business assets. She also handles a number of cohabitation cases, addressing both the regulation of cohabitation aspects in the event of separation or death and those where cohabitants have already separated. Additionally, she manages several cases involving issues related to children. She is often referred cases with a cross-border element and other jurisdictional matters, and she also acts as a mediator in various cases.
Bill Stark

Bill Stark

Bill is a debt and asset recovery consultant, working within Harper Macleod’s highly-rated debt and asset recovery team. Bill is seen as one of the leading practitioners in the field of debt and asset recovery in Scotland. He combines a deep understanding of the law with commercial awareness and delivery, and works hand-in-hand with clients to design and deliver effective working processes to maximise recovery. His application of technology and use of management information tools means he is able to provide clients with real-time reporting and evaluation. By taking this approach, he ensures the routes taken to recover debt and assets are as effective as possible. His areas of speciality cover all debtor/creditor positions across the public and private sectors, including B2B/B2C commercial debt, consumer credit, debt, asset finance, invoice finance and commercial property Bill is also an accomplished trainer, bringing together his legal knowledge and extensive hands-on experience, providing clients with practical and anticipatory debt recovery measures before reaching legal proceedings. He is also experienced in delivering internal credit management reviews for clients across a wide range of sectors.
Ross Thomson

Ross Thomson

Partner Based in our Inverness and Elgin offices, Ross specialises in commercial property work. Known for his commercial and solution driven approach, his clients range from developers, investors and trading SME businesses to funders and public sectors bodies – and that across the key sectors of the Highlands & Island and Moray: housing; leisure and hospitality; industrial; energy; the marine economy and also with focus on healthcare. In healthcare Ross has developed a Scotland wide practice acting for international healthcare groups in the management of their Scottish property estate, assisting buyers and sellers in the busy consolidator markets in the veterinary and dental sectors and working with developers, investors and operators in the care home sector: from land purchase, funding and site assembly to construction and exit.In the Highlands & Islands and Moray, as well as purchase, sale and leasing, Ross acts for a number of key clients across the north of Scotland in the management of their property estate and Ross and his team work closely in supporting our corporate colleagues in merger and acquisition and succession planning work, primarily for family owned and owner managed businesses.Ross is heavily involved in the business community of the Highlands & Islands and Moray, including being a past president of Inverness Chamber of Commerce and a non-executive director of a local charity.