Brian Fitzpatrick
Brian Fitzpatrick has a wealth of experience in civil advocacy and advice. Prior to calling at the Bar he had been a solicitor in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London for 8 years. His training principally was in personal injury cases, fatal accident and Public Inquiries and employment law. As an advocate he has continued to develop his expertise in these areas. He has a particular interest in head and spinal injuries cases. Having served as Head of Policy in the First Minister’s Policy Unit for the late Donald Dewar, Brian has a unique insight into the workings of government and policy makers at Scottish and UK levels together with bodies including the British – Irish Council and European Union. A former member of the Scottish Parliament, he is well-versed in its practice and procedures. In personal injury cases, Brian mainly acts on behalf of individual pursuers – including those supported by trade unions or on a speculative basis.
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Susanne Tanner KC FCIArb
Susanne Tanner KC took Silk in 2016, having called to the Bar in 2000. She is an experienced court practitioner who is always thoroughly prepared and has superb attention to detail.
She has built up and maintained a quality practice spanning:
- Reparation law, including personal injury and clinical negligence;
- Criminal law, both prosecution and defence, in first instance work and appeals, including appearing in the Supreme Court, as well as a complex private prosecution application;
- An interest in regulatory criminal matters, Health and Safety prosecutions, corporate financial crime and civil recovery proceedings;
- Fatal Accident Inquiries and public inquiries, including an appointment as Counsel on a high profile public inquiry;
- Property law and conveyancing;
- Commercial law; and
- Alternative dispute resolution, in particular arbitration, in which she holds professional qualifications and is working towards Chartered Arbitrator status. She is a Member of the Faculty Dispute Resolution Service and has been appointed as arbitrator for Motor Insurers’ Bureau cases for untraced and uninsured drivers.
She also sits as a tribunal chair in the First-tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber as well as the Health and Education Chamber, holds a number of academic appointments and is the Executive Editor of Green’s Scottish Education Manual.
Susanne is also a Door Tenant at Crown Office Chambers, London.
Legal Directory testimonials
Chambers UK Bar 2026 – Independent Investigations quotes:
Provided by Chambers & Partners
“I really enjoyed working with her. Difficult situations arose and she knew how to deal with them, making us feel at ease”. Independent Investigations respondent UK Bar
“Susanne Tanner is one of the top practitioners. She is extremely bright and very personable.” Independent Investigations respondent UK Bar
“Susanne Tanner brought a high level of expertise to the matter, which was supplemented ably by her keen grasp on the issues.” Independent Investigations respondent UK Bar
Chambers UK Bar 2026 – Public and Fatal Accident Inquiries quotes:
Provided by Chambers & Partners
“Susanne is one of the top practitioners. She is extremely bright and very personable.” Public & Fatal Accident Inquiries respondent UK Bar
Legal 500 Scottish Bar:
Crime and regulatory
Leading Silk “An expert in her field.”
Administrative and public law
“Susanne is a strategic and pragmatic decision maker with meticulous attention to detail.”
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Laurence Kennedy FCIArb
Laurence Kennedy called to the bar in 2000 having been a court solicitor for the previous five years. Since then he has maintained a busy court practice based on repeat instructions from a discrete group of instructing solicitors.
He was listed in Legal 500 as “outstanding”, “an effective advocate in court”, “excellent in an advisory role” and “noted for his technical competence and good legal and commercial analysis”.
He is described by agents as “professional and client friendly” and “user friendly from a solicitor’s point of view”. Agents also value his “low key, no nonsense approach”. He is “not afraid to give robust advice” and has “excellent client management skills”.
His day to day caseload focuses on property, commercial, partnership and contract disputes along with professional negligence and personal injury cases.
He has particular experience in areas of law affecting the media such as defamation, contempt of court and copyright. He was engaged for a number of years as a shift lawyer for a number of Scottish newspapers where he gave regular pre-publication advice.
He is an accredited arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He also sits regularly as a part time Judge of the First-tier tribunal and is a legally qualified Chair for the Scottish Social Services Council.
For further details about his arbitration practice, please visit his website at laurencekennedy.com.
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Christian Marney FCIArb
Christian Marney’s interest and considerable experience is in professional negligence and commercial litigation; employment and personal injury reparation. He is regularly instructed in professional negligence matters in particular, though not exclusively, by the Law Society of Scotland professional indemnity insurers. He is currently pursuing and defending actions in the Court of Session and Sheriff Court on behalf of solicitors and construction and housing professionals. He has a well established track record in personal injury having acted for most of the major insurers for most of his professional career. However, he also ensures that he continues to pursue cases on behalf of individuals and succeed in securing full compensation on behalf of those injured persons. He has a longstanding interest and involvement in employment matters, both advisory and litigated. He is one of a small number of junior counsel recognised in this area at the Scottish Bar. He has advised and represented UK plc’s, Local Government and major insurance companies in all of those areas. Christian was admitted to The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2017 as a Fellow in October 2018.
Recent cases:
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Graeme Hawkes KC
Graeme Hawkes KC is an experienced commercial litigator, with a particular emphasis on commercial contracts, construction disputes, property and professional negligence. He was a solicitor in private practice for almost 10 years (Steedman Ramage and Brodies) and summer 2024 marks 21 years at the Bar. He also has a public law practice, having been a standing junior to the Scottish Government (2005-11) and regularly appearing in extradition cases on behalf of the Lord Advocate (including 2 Supreme Court appeals). As well as the high-quality advocacy skills to be expected of a senior used to appearing regularly in court, he brings common sense and a ‘can do’ attitude to cases. Agents admire his intellectual rigour, an ability to focus on the issues which really matter in a case and a determination to achieve the best result for the client. Graeme makes regular appearances at the Court of Session and sits as an Arbitrator.
Graeme is ranked in Chambers & Partners 2024 under Commercial Dispute Resolution.
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Lisa Henderson KC FCIArb
Lisa Henderson KC called to the Scottish Bar in 1995. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in September 2016. She was called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2019 and is a tenant at 42 Bedford Row, London. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an Ambassador for the Scottish Arbitration Centre.
Lisa specialises in the most serious clinical negligence and personal injury litigation. She has considerable experience in claims involving cerebral palsy, amputation, complex brain and spinal. She has acted in numerous multi-million-pound settlements.
Lisa is ranked Band 1 in the Chambers and Partners UK Bar for both clinical negligence and personal injury:
“…she has an aptitude for handling cases with complex quantum and causation issues arising from brain and birth injuries”
“Lisa is rigorous, thorough and a really hard worker.” “She is a good advocate and very experienced in clinical negligence.”
The Legal 500 lists her in personal injury and medical negligence saying: “She is extremely hardworking, with extensive experience in high-value personal injury cases.”
Lisa was the author of the personal injury elective for Edinburgh University’s Diploma in Legal Practice and former lead tutor. [2011 and 2017] She is a former honorary senior lecturer at Glasgow University School of Medicine [2012- 2018] and was a visiting lecturer at Pavia University, Italy. [2014 and 2015]. She has also taught at Aberdeen University School of Law. She is regularly invited to chair or present at conferences. She teaches advocacy skills on a regular basis. She is an advocacy skills instructor on the Faculty of Advocates devils [pupils] training programme.
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