News
14 September, 2016
‘Counsel of very high quality and experience’ – Strong showing for Ampersand in latest Legal 500 listings
Ampersand is delighted to be once again be recommended as a top-tier set by The Legal 500 UK Bar Directory. Ampersand is noted as having
“‘counsel of very high quality and experience’ across a wide range of areas, including commercial law, public law and planning. Its members also undertake a large volume of complex, high-value personal injury matters, and the stable has a particularly standout reputation in clinical and professional negligence.”
15 Ampersand QCs and 10 juniors are listed in the nationwide list, covering 8 areas of practice.
Civil liberties, human rights, public inquiries, and public and administrative law (including local government)
“Ampersand’s advocates undertake cases in areas such as mental health, human rights, constitutional law and EU law, among others. In 2015, a highlight involved a challenge to Alistair Carmichael’s election as MP of Orkney and Shetland”
- Aidan O’Neill QC “Specialises in EU, human rights and constitutional law”
- Dorothy Bain QC “Her strengths include public inquiries and human rights law (including prisoners rights)”
Commercial litigation
“Ampersand’s advocates handle a wide range of disputes, including those involving commercial contracts, construction and procurement. Eoghainn MacLean represented the engineers at the Court of Session in litigation arising from the allegedly defective construction of a multi-storey car park. In 2015, Ian Forrester QC was appointed the UK’s judge to the EU General Court”
- Alan Dewar QC “He has a good manner with clients”
- Craig Sandison QC “Very good to work with and exceptionally good in court”
- Robert Howie QC “Noted for his strengths in alternative dispute resolution as well as litigation”
- Ronald Clancy QC “He is very user-friendly”
- Eoghainn MacLean “Experienced in acting as sole counsel in the highest courts”
Company and insolvency
“Ampersand’s members are experienced in cases involving alleged breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties, shareholder actions and insolvency issues, among others”
- David Sellar QC “He has technical knowledge and is highly proficient”
Employment
“Ampersand’s members represent claimants and employers in matters involving unfair dismissal, TUPE claims, equal pay and restrictive covenants, among other issues”
- Russell Bradley “Handles a varied caseload which includes whistleblowing, equal pay and TUPE”
Intellectual property, information technology and media
“Ampersand’s Usman Tariq features particularly prominently in Court of Session intellectual property cases, and undertakes a significant amount of enforcement work for Phonographic Performance and Sky, among others”
- Craig Sandison QC “In addition to being strong in intellectual property, he also handles defamation cases”
- Usman Tariq “He is very easy to work with and provides a high level of client service”
Personal injury, medical negligence and professional negligence
“Ampersand has a ‘good depth of counsel’ and is noted for its ‘very high quality and experience’ in all areas of personal injury, medical negligence and professional negligence. Lauren Sutherland handled a case involving the suicide of a young girl who had ingested caustic soda”
- David Stephenson QC “He provides excellent written advice on unusual legal/medical queries”
- Graham Primrose QC “Excellent at dealing with clients and providing robust, clear advice”
- Hugh Campbell QC “Acts exclusively for pursuers in a wide range of injury and disease cases
- Maria Maguire QC “Her experience, judgement, intellectual ability and attention to detail are second to none”
- Simon Di Rollo QC “Cuts through multiple arguments and volumes of evidence to identify the salient points”
- Archie MacSporran “Specialises in personal injury and clinical negligence”
- Christian Marney “Knows his subject inside out”
- Lauren Sutherland “Instructing her is akin to instructing senior counsel”
- Lisa Henderson “Extremely thorough, and reads and digests voluminous papers in short periods of time”
- Una Doherty “An impressive ability to assimilate a lot of technical information very quickly”
Planning, environmental and licensing
“Ampersand’s counsel have particular expertise in the planning and environmental law aspects of energy and infrastructure projects. Malcolm Thomson QC represented Inch Cape Offshore in a judicial review of the decision to grant section 36 consent for an offshore wind farm”
- Ailsa Wilson QC “Not afraid to fight her client?s corner while remaining aware of commercial consequences”
- Malcolm Thomson QC “A recognised expert; there is no question of his ability to analyse and advise on complex issues”
- Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen “She is solid and dependable, and has a very good eye for detail”
- Marcus McKay “He has significant court experience, backed by sound commercial awareness”
Property, construction and agriculture
“Ampersand’s members deal with a gamut of property issues, including high-value dilapidation claims, contractual disputes and rights of access matters”
- Christopher Haddow QC “Experienced in valuation for rating matters, as well as landlord and tenant disputes and dilapidations cases”
- Robert Howie QC “Deals with construction-related matters”
- Eoghainn MacLean “His workload includes property-related contractual disputes”
The full listings can be viewed on the Legal 500 UK Bar website here.