Advocates in Scotland

The Faculty includes practising and non-practising members. The current practising Bar includes an increasing proportion of women. Women make up approximately one quarter of practising membership. Total numbers now stand at just over 460, of whom approximately one fifth are Queen's Counsel. The taking of Silk, as assumption of the title of Queen's Counsel is commonly known, depends upon the prerogative of Her Majesty. This is exercised through the First Minister upon the recommendation of the Lord Justice-General. The Dean of Faculty is consulted in the course of this process. As a general rule, Silk is awarded to experienced Counsel, who are considered to have achieved distinction in full-time practice. There is a particularly fine library - the Advocates Library - which contains materials built up over the last three hundred years.

The site provides access to a range of information in relation to the Faculty of Advocates, its members and the services they provide, including up-to-date stable listings and contact details for Advocates Clerks and deputies, an on-line version of the Faculty Directory and information to assist practitioners involved in, or considering, Direct Professional Access.

Stables and Chambers in Scotland

Amperstand Stable has evolved from the former Ferguson Stable. They enjoy a reputation stretching back to 1981. That reputation is based on integrity, professionalism and approachability. Today, they bring the best elements from their past and use them to build their future. They have 44 members, including 15 QCs.

Axiom Advocates is a new group comprising many of Scotland's leading advocates who have acted in the majority of significant commercial and public law cases over the past 30 years. They embrace a commercial approach to best practice and were the first in Scotland to define themselves and their operation along lines of specialist expertise in commercial and public law.

Compass Chambers offers advocates with expertise across a broad spectrum of litigation, with core strengths in reparation and regulation. Members of Chambers specialise in personal injury, professional negligence, property damage, insurance law, contract and commercial litigation, judicial review, defamation, fatal accident inquiries, professional disciplinary proceedings, and regulatory crime: in particular corporate financial, environmental and health and safety prosecutions.

The Murray Stable is one of the largest and the most innovative of the eleven stables of advocates forming Faculty Services Limited, the service company of the Scottish bar. It was formed in 1991 and now has 11 QCs and 40 junior counsel. Work areas include Commercial Law, Public Administrative Law, Employment Law, Planning & Construction Law, Reparation and professional negligence and Family Law. There are interesting sections on the site on how to instruct Scottish counsel for different people: a Scottish solicitor, a lawyer outside Scotland, a member of a Direct Access Group and a non-solicitor. The Murray stable is also the first stable in Scotland to put its head above the parapet and publish a Client Care Statement. They have also added a substantial “News & Articles” page. The articles are covered by a Creative Commons Licence, meaning broadly that the material can be quoted for non commercial purposes without permission or fee.

Oracle Chambers is a new small chambers, consisting of just two advocates so far, John Campbell QC and John Carruthers. They work in the following areas: Medical Negligence, Agriculture, Environmental, Personal Injury, Planning, Professional Negligence, Family Law, Property, Law Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAI), Commercial Law, Competition Law and Regulatory Compliance.

Terra Firma Chambers specialises in property, planning, commercial and administrative law. There are 31 counsel, including 9 Queen's Counsel, with 11 of the members receiving one or more recommendations in the current editions of The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners UK directories. Advice is given in both contentious and non-contentious matters. Counsel have represented clients before all levels of courts, tribunals, inquiries, arbitrations, mediations, local authority committees and other types of hearing.

Westwater Advocates is a multi disciplinary group of Advocates offering top class representation and advice in a wide range of areas of law. They offer the services of some of the most experienced and talented Advocates at the Scottish Bar.

The Society of Advocates in Aberdeen exists to promote professional expertise and standards amongst members of the legal profession in and around Aberdeen, to foster rapport amongst them and their standing in the community, and to provide facilities towards those ends. Its history goes back hundreds of years, but it has its feet firmly in the 21st century. The Society offers its members a private law library, conveniently close to the courts, and a quiet place to work away from the distractions of the office; as well as having an extensive collection of books and law reports, the library has wi-fi broadband internet access and a computer for those who do not carry their own technology.

Instruct Us Now Ltd, based in Edinburgh, organise Counsel for Scottish Solicitors. They are not a Stable or Chamber and have no ties to any particular Counsel but have contacts with a broad pool of experienced Counsel. They organise all types of civil litigation (not just personal injury work). They can also organise Counsel pre-litigation, in the Court of Session and in Sheriff Courts throughout Scotland. The company is run by Gordon Stead who worked as a litigation solicitor for over 10 years.

Individual Advocates in Scotland with web sites

Laurence Kennedy is an Advocate practicing in the Sheriff Courts and Court of Session and also travelling throughout Scotland for court appearances and consultations. He practiced as a court solicitor for five years before being called to the bar in 2000. He has a general civil practice acting for both pursuers and defenders with a caseload divided between Sheriff Court and Court of Session litigation. He has particular experience in areas of law affecting the media such as defamation, contempt of court and copyright.

Paul McBride QC called at the Scottish Bar in 1998 and has since established himself as one of the most highly regarded and highest profile criminal lawyers in Scotland. At the age of 35 Paul was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC), the youngest ever QC appointed in the UK. He is well known for his frequent involvement in the highest profile criminal cases reported in Scotland.

Jonathan Mitchell QC from the Murray Stable, provides information on the Faculty of Advocates and the Scottish Bar so that non-Scottish Lawyers can understand more what is on offer. There is a major section on jursidiction issues within the expanded European Union and information on the Scottish legal System, the way the Scottish Parliament operates, housing law and public law. Other pages give substantive information on Scottish law with guides to judicial review, eviction, data protection, immigration appeals, freedom of information, and legal aid and a synopsis of new Court of Session decisions updated weekly.

The Scottish System relating to Advocates