Professional Negligence: Scotland

This seven-partner team has an enviable reputation for dealing with high-value and complex professional negligence disputes. Although it has strength across the professional negligence spectrum, peers particularly recommend the team for its work when dealing with construction and engineering claims. The team has been involved in many of the market-leading cases in this area over the past twelve months. The firm will happily act for both pursuers and defenders, with clients having the benefit of a team which has a wealth of experience dealing with both types of claim.  

KEY INDIVIDUALS Alan Calvert, a "knowledgeable and thorough lawyer," heads up the team. He is an experienced practitioner with particular expertise in dealing with construction claims. Manus Quigg is a recent partner who is fast developing an impressive professional negligence practice. He is praised for his ability to "roll his sleeves up and get stuck into large and complex litigation." Robin Macpherson is a solicitor advocate with a wide-ranging professional negligence practice. He successfully combines a practice acting on both the defence and pursuer side.

This "impressive" two-partner team has a well-established presence in the Scottish professional negligence market. The team acts across the range of the professions winning numerous instructions from its top-tier insurer clients. The team's professional negligence work wins praise from its peers in the legal market since it "takes a team approach to claims and really puts everything into it."

KEY INDIVIDUALS The team at bto benefits from being led by the hugely experienced Derek Allan. Although acting for a range of professionals he is known in the Scottish market as "the outstanding person for solicitor disputes." Peers praise his "high-quality advice" and agree that "if I wanted someone to look after my interests he would be the person that I would turn to." Another key member of the team is Alan Eadie. He is well known in the construction sphere and remains "everything a client is looking for," since he is "knowledgeable, proactive and on top of his cases."

The team at Dundas & Wilson effectively deals with claims arising out of a wide range of professions; however, in the last twelve months it has had particularly good results when dealing with complex construction cases.  Clients are pleased with the commercial focus of a team which is "pragmatic and looks to get things resolved." This combines well with the team's high standard of client care and left clients pleased with a firm that "gives a rounded service which ticks all the boxes."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Clients are impressed with the "outstanding" and "easy to work with" Colin Macleod, who heads the department. Peers admire both his strategic vision when running cases and also his "sheer breadth and depth of knowledge in solicitor cases."

"The service is quite simply first-class" at this impressive firm. The four-partner team continues to build on its already enviable client list by winning new appointments in the last twelve months. Its client list includes the likes of Markel, Zurich and Aviva. The team has the benefit of genuine strength in depth which allows it to handle the most complex of cases. Clients continue to be well looked after by the firm; one stated: "They're in the trenches with you, they're fighting your corner."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Charles McGregor "knows professional negligence inside out" and comes highly recommended by his peers in the legal market for his work in the construction sphere. Clients particularly value his forthright legal advice. His colleague Peter Anderson heads the team. He is an "exceptionally good professional indemnity litigator." He has a wide-ranging practice with vast amounts of experience in dealing with professional negligence claims. Gavin Henderson's practice is "going from strength to strength." He is dual-qualified in Scotland and England and represents a wide range of professionals.  

This "terrific" firm acts across the range of professional negligence and has expertise in dealing with both pursuer and defendant claims. The firm's already impressive range of professional clients includes the Law Society of Scotland, RBS and Edinburgh Napier University. The firm continues to win new clients.

KEY INDIVIDUALS Robert Carr heads the team.

The professional negligence team at Balfour + Manson has had a successful twelve months and has been particularly active in its representation of individual pursuers. The team benefits from the firm's broad practice which allows it to draw on specialist knowledge from elsewhere in the firm. Clients are pleased with the team, which "prepares well, and is always on top of things."

KEY INDIVIDUALS David Flint heads the team. He has a wide-ranging practice but is most known for his work in the solicitor context. Peers are impressed with his work since he is "alive to the significant practical issues that arise in litigation and deals with them in a sensible and pragmatic way."  

This well-regarded five-partner team effectively acts across the range of professional negligence; however, it has a particularly strong reputation for its work defending high-value solicitor claims. The team is regularly instructed by RSA to deal with a range of high-value and complex claims.

KEY INDIVIDUALS The "determined" Alison Grant heads the team. She has a wealth of experience in defending solicitors.

This "friendly and professional" firm has been increasing its number of complex professional negligence instructions in Scotland. Although the team effectively acts across the spectrum of professional negligence it has a particularly notable reputation for its work in the construction sphere. The Scottish team has the huge advantage of being able to draw on the depth of resources at CMS Cameron McKenna to handle sophisticated, multiparty disputes.

KEY INDIVIDUALS Robert Wilson is head of the insurance team in Scotland. He is dual-qualified with a wide range of experience in dealing with professional negligence claims. Clients praise his organisation and his clear and understandable legal advice.

The well-regarded team at HBM Sayers acts across the whole range of the professions. The team is developing an increasing presence in the legal context but has also been involved in multimillion-pound construction claims in the last twelve months. 

KEY INDIVIDUALS Anne Kentish is well respected by her legal peers in Scotland. She has an impressive strategic overview of cases since she can "see where the case will go from an early stage and identify whether it should fight." George Moore QC is now a consultant at the firm, which allows the team to continue to benefit from his wide-ranging experience in this area.

This well-established team focuses both on defence work for insurers and on claimant work for lenders. On the claimant side the team has been particularly active in pursuing claims against solicitors in the last twelve months.

KEY INDIVIDUALS Tim Edward heads the team. His continued place on the Law Society of Scotland pursuers’ panel results in a constant stream of impressive instructions for claims against solicitors.