Personal Injury And Medical Negligence

Ampersand Advocates
Compass Chambers

Leading Silks

1
Simon Bowie KC –Ampersand Advocates 'A respected counsel.'
Una Doherty KC  – Ampersand Advocates 'Una is one of Scotland's most experienced and specialised counsel in the field of medical law. Nothing fazes her. She is calm and collected as well as extraordinarily thorough. She will not shy away from running complex arguments, and has an ability to unpick and clearly present complicated evidence.'
Iain Ferguson KC – Axiom Advocates 'A top quality silk.'
Angela Grahame KC – Compass Chambers
Lisa Henderson KC  – Ampersand Advocates 'She is analytical, thorough and prepared, and fights her client's corner.'
Euan Mackenzie KC – Ampersand Advocates 'Euan is highly respected at the Bar because of his specialist knowledge, his expertise and talent. He is professional but able to deal with the sensitive issues and reassure families. He is certainly an expert in his field.'
Maria Maguire KC  –Ampersand Advocates ‘Maria is a magnificent advocate. She has superb attention to detail, is dynamic in negotiations, takes everything in her stride and appears completely unflappable. She is a stand-out silk in the field of clinical negligence.’
Robert Milligan KC – Compass Chambers 'A doyen of the Bar.'
Geoffrey Mitchell KC  – Ampersand Advocates 'An excellent communicator with strong analytical skills. He has great insight, and an ability to simplify even the most complex issues.'
Graham Primrose KC – Ampersand Advocates 'Graham is a brilliant advocate, persuasive and intuitive as to when to press a point, and when to draw a line.'
Lesley Shand KC – Compass Chambers 'Lesley is a tenacious and formidable KC. She has a eye for detail and provides strategic and commercial advice. She has the ear of the court.'
Astrid Smart KC – Compass Chambers 'Astrid is a stand out senior counsel in clinical negligence work. Her grasp of the medical side of cases is second to none. She is brilliant with clients, a strong negotiator and impressive on her feet, achieving success in even the most difficult of cases.'
Lauren Sutherland KC – Ampersand Advocates 'Tenacity, intellectual rigour, and passion are all strengths of Lauren's. She is dedicated to the cause for pursuers.'
2
Alan Dewar KC – Ampersand Advocates
Amber Galbraith KC  – Compass Chambers 'Amber is a pleasure to work with. She is sensible, pragmatic and always well prepared.'
Duncan Hamilton KC - Arnot Manderson Advocates 'Duncan is highly skilled in PI and medical negligence litigation. He is approachable, accommodating and pragmatic. A sophisticated advocate.'
Vinit Khurana KC  – Ampersand Advocates
Steven Love KC  – Compass Chambers
Calum MacNeill KC – Westwater Advocates
Archie MacSporran KC –Ampersand Advocates
Graeme Middleton KC – Compass Chambers 'Graeme has a good analytical approach, and he communicates well - clients appreciate his straightforward manner.'
Douglas Ross KC  – Ampersand Advocates 'Douglas' strengths are his attention to detail and his grasp of the finer details of each case he presents. It is reassuring to have counsel who know their papers inside out, and can provide guidance to his instructing agents as well as well-informed advice to clients.'
Kay Springham KC – Compass Chambers 'Kay is unflappable. The capacity she has to devote to hard work on difficult cases is unrivaled. She is compassionate with clients but extremely robust with opponents when required.'
Andrew Webster KC – Themis Advocates 'Andrew is hugely experienced and able. He is very good on his feet and clearly has the ear of the court. A very robust advocate.'
Calum Wilson KC – Compass Chambers

2023 Silks

Fiona Drysdale KC – Ampersand Advocates 'She is extremely capable, hard working and reliable.'

Leading Juniors

1
Kate Bennett –Compass Chambers 'Kate is a fearless advocate, with a very balanced and measured approach, and she demonstrates great client rapport.'
Ewen Campbell  – Axiom Advocates
Robin Cleland – Compass Chambers 'Robin has a meticulous eye, and is an experienced and talented advocate.'
Barney Ross – Compass Chambers 'He provides terrific support throughout the litigation process, establishes excellent client relationships and can be both robust and pragmatic when dealing with opponents, as required.'
2
Clare Connelly  – Compass Chambers 'An efficient and thorough junior. She has a lovely client manner, and gets things done to a very high standard.'
Andrew Crawford – Themis Advocates 'Andrew has the ability to drill down to the important points in all cases.'
Shane Dundas – Ampersand Advocates 'Shane's depth of knowledge and understanding within the highly complex field of medical litigation is of a golden standard.'
Nick Gardiner  – Arnot Manderson Advocates 'A diligent junior with a cool head - nothing seems to faze him. He is great on his feet.'
Ayla Iridag – Ampersand Advocates 'Ayla is a robust and knowledgeable counsel, as well as pragmatic and a good communicator.'
Bruce Langlands – Compass Chambers 'Bruce is a powerful advocate who has the ear of the court. He is clear and persuasive in his arguments and has a sound knowledge of the law.'
Jennifer Nicholson-White –Ampersand Advocates 'An acknowledged expert in clinical negligence cases, Jennifer's courtroom skills display her deep knowledge of this area of law. She is analytical, indefatigable, and robust.'
Charles Oliver – Arnot Manderson Advocates 'A junior with a clear and succinct approach to instructions.'
Gavin Thornley  – Compass Chambers

Rising Stars

Jonathan Deans – Arnot Manderson Advocates 'Jonathan is responsive and conscientious, and provides helpful, practical advice as well as demonstrating a solid grasp of the legal issues.'

Personal injury and medical negligence in Scottish Bar

Ampersand Advocates


‘The primary set for clinical negligence counsel‘ for many, Ampersand Advocates‘ ‘highly experienced‘ team is regularly instructed by pursuers and defenders in a range of high-profile cases. Una Doherty KC represented the defender before the Supreme Court in McCulloch and others v Forth Valley Health Board, an appeal pertaining to a claim of alleged negligent care by a cardiologist, involving issues of assessment of reasonable treatment options, informed consent and causation. The Court granted decree of absolvitor, concluding that the correct test to apply to what constitutes a reasonable alternative treatment is the Bolam test, and there was no breach of duty on the part of the cardiologist. Among the juniors, Jennifer Nicholson-White ‘knows the intricacies of clinical negligence principles’ and ‘truly holds her own in court’, and the ‘confident‘ Ayla Iridag is very experienced in acting for defenders in clinical negligence and personal injury claims. David Stephenson KC retired in late 2023, and James McConnell KC took silk in September 2024.

Les références

‘Alan Moffat and his team of clerks are always excellent.’

‘Sheena Hume is excellent. She will always communicate, is efficient and organised, and very accommodating.’

‘Alan Moffat is a very capable senior clerk.’





Compass Chambers


Compass Chambers is praised as ‘the premier stable in Scotland for personal injury disputes’. The team has an established track record in handling complex personal injury cases for pursuers and defenders; medical negligence matters are another key driver of work for the group. Lesley Shand KC is ‘a force to be reckoned with’, and is sought after by defender clients to advise on psychiatric injury, industrial disease, and brain and spinal injury claims. Among the juniors, the ‘excellent negotiator‘ Kate Bennett’s practice includes complex personal injury cases and an increased volume of clinical negligence matters, while Barney Ross is acting as junior counsel for the NHS Scotland Health Boards in the long-running UK-wide Infected Blood inquiry. Employer liability and medical negligence claims are a cornerstone of Robin Cleland‘s practice.

Les références

‘Gavin Herd has always led this stable well and is one of the best lead clerks in Scotland.’

‘Gavin Herd is extremely efficient, organised and will also go the extra mile to help. He is also lovely to deal with. Lesley Hogg is also excellent and very helpful.’

‘Lesley Hogg, in particular, is very personable and extremely helpful.’