Ayla Iridag
Ayla Iridag called to the Bar after a career in private practice. As a solicitor Ayla specialised in defender personal injury litigation as well as public and administrative law, health and safety law, regulatory proceedings, firearms licensing, and orders under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Ayla frequently acted as Edinburgh agent to local authorities and companies across Scotland.
During her devilling Ayla gained additional experience in clinical and professional liability, contractual disputes, fatal accident inquiries, and public inquiries.
Ayla has significant experience of appearing in the Sheriff Appeal Court and in Sheriff Courts across Scotland, including the All Scotland Personal Injury Court. She has conducted numerous proofs, evidential hearings and debates as well as opposed motions and procedural hearings.
Since calling to the Bar, Ayla has added to her practice areas, regularly appearing before the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practice panels and appearing as Special Counsel at the Scottish Social Services Council. Ayla has also continued to practice in criminal law. She has appeared in the High Court, taken evidence of children by way of commission, and successfully obtained a review of bail conditions.
Ayla was appointed as a Standing Junior to the Office of the Advocate General in December 2022.
Selected cases (as solicitor or instructing agent):
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Mary Ellen Stewart
Mary Ellen Stewart called to the Bar in 2021, after training and qualifying with Brodies LLP, and latterly working there as a senior solicitor.
As a solicitor, Mary Ellen had a busy practice dealing with a broad range of commercial disputes. Her practice had a particular focus on commercial contracts, banking and finance, insolvency and professional liability litigation. When in private practice, Mary Ellen appeared in the Sheriff Courts and instructed Counsel in Court of Session cases.
Mary Ellen has a particular interest in professional liability and regulation. She also has an interest in maritime and shipping law, and is the Advocate member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Marine Law Sub-Committee. Mary Ellen is also a part-time tutor of Contract Law and Unjustified Enrichment at Edinburgh University.
Mary Ellen was appointed to junior panel of Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General for Scotland in 2021.
Mary Ellen is fluent and fully literate in Scottish Gaelic and is well placed to undertake work involving consideration of documents in Gaelic.
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Euan Scott
Euan Scott has significant experience across a wide range of civil litigation. He has a particular focus on commercial dispute resolution (with his experience concentrating on commercial contract disputes, professional liability, property disputes, contentious construction and insurance). He also has experience of insolvency cases and public inquiries. He has experience both pursuing and defending and has acted for individuals, professionals, private companies and insurers.
During his period of devilling, he developed further experience in those areas. He was also involved in a range of cases involving allegations of clinical negligence (including related regulatory proceedings) and a broad spectrum of public law disputes.
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Michael Way
Michael Way’s principle areas of practice are public & administrative law, commercial disputes and civil liberties/human rights.
Michael is listed as a ‘Rising Star’ in the 2021/22 Legal 500 in both Commercial Disputes and Administrative and Public Law.
“A brilliant advocate – insightful, thorough and refreshingly convincing on his feet, he is approachable and easy to work with.” – Legal 500 2021/22 ‘Administrative and Public Law’
After spending several years as a performer in the music industry, Michael trained with one of Scotland’s leading commercial law firms and undertook a six month secondment to the Scottish Government Legal Directorate. Shortly after qualifying as a solicitor Michael began devilling, during which he won the Mike Jones Excellence in Advocacy prize and was the Faculty Scholar 2018/19.
Since calling, Michael has appeared regularly in courts and tribunals throughout Scotland. In particular, he has:
- appeared for Serco defending over 150 interdict actions, including appearances in the Sheriff Appeal Court and instruction during the related Inner House reclaiming motion process;
- been instructed by petitioners in a number of successful Court of Session judicial review actions in immigration and housing matters;
- instructed by child respondents in nobile officium petitions seeking recognition of English High Court deprivation of liberty orders;
- appeared frequently for the Advocate General as a standing ‘junior junior’ in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber);
- been instructed in a variety of property, contractual, professional negligence, debt recovery and insolvency disputes, including success after proof in a case involving a challenge to interest to enforce real burdens;
- developed a proficiency in consumer rights issues, including claims under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008;
- assisted in a major offshore dispute in Jersey;
- undertaken criminal appeal work, with successful appearances in the High Court and Sheriff Appeal Court.
Michael has a strong academic background with degrees from Oxford, King’s College London and Edinburgh. Since 2015, Michael has tutored at the University of Edinburgh (Jurisprudence; Critical Legal Thinking) and was previously a guest lecturer in Business Law at Queen Margaret University. He was the research assistant to Lady Poole and Sheriffs McCartney and Drummond on their recent book A Practical Guide to Public Law Litigation in Scotland (2019; W.Green)
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Timothy Young
‘He is one of the best advocates at the Bar. He is very bright and very user-friendly’ (Chambers (2023) – Commercial Dispute Resolution)
‘Timothy is absolutely superb and provides good client service.’ (Chambers (2023) – Company)
‘Tim is excellent. He is regularly instructed in public law matters and his written work is exceptional.’ (Chambers (2023) – Administrative and Public Law)
‘He is a fierce advocate who you want on your side in a contentious matter.’ (Legal 500 (2023) – Property, Planning and Construction, Band 1)
‘Timothy is extremely commercial, and takes time to understand the client’s objectives and the wider context of the dispute. He is excellent under pressure and he is extremely robust. His written work is clear and persuasive, and he is equally impressive on his feet.’ (Legal 500 (2023) – Commercial Disputes, Band 2)
‘‘Timothy has a pragmatic approach to cases. He is an extremely safe pair of hands.’ (Legal 500 (2023) – Administrative and Public Law, Band 2)
Tim Young is a leading junior counsel with particular emphasis on commercial and public law disputes.
He has acted in many of the largest commercial disputes of recent years and has a wide range of experience in commercial contract disputes (particularly construction and IT contracts), trusts, property (including agricultural and crofting matters), banking, insolvency, and intellectual property.
He also has substantial experience of judicial review and statutory appeals in the field of public and administrative law, particularly public procurement disputes and professional discipline matters. As well as appearing in Court, he has appeared in a wide variety of tribunals, committees, and disciplinary hearings.
Tim is, also, a Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government, and regularly appears in the courts for the Scottish Government.
He graduated with a first class honours from the University of Strathclyde. Throughout his career, he has maintained links with academia through tutoring Business Entities and Constitutional Law at both the University of Edinburgh and Napier University, and as an external examiner at Robert Gordon University. He is the contributing editor for the Companies Law (reissue) volume of The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, and is the Deputy Editor of Session Cases.
Selected cases:
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Usman Tariq
Usman Tariq has extensive experience of high-value and complex commercial disputes and public law litigation. His core areas of practice include contractual, intellectual property, insolvency, banking, company and professional negligence disputes. He also specialises in administrative and public law, including judicial reviews. He is appointed as a Standing Junior counsel to the UK Government. He has appeared at all levels of the Scottish court system, including the UK Supreme Court.
He was recognised as Advocate of the Year at the Law Awards of Scotland 2017 and the Legal 500’s Junior Counsel of the Year at the Scottish Bar at the Legal 500 UK Awards 2019, as well as being shortlisted again in 2020. He is ranked as a leading individual in the Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide 2022 in seven practice areas which is the joint highest number of individual rakings for the Scottish Bar.
He is described in the Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide 2021 as being “universally respected at the Bar, including by opponents and the judiciary” and in the 2022 Guide as being a “very highly regarded practioner” at the Scottish Bar who has “the ear of the court“. The breadth of his expertise is recognised in his rankings in the legal directories. He is ranked in the Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2022 for the following seven practice areas: (i) commercial dispute resolution; (ii) intellectual property; (iii) information technology; (iv) restructuring / insolvency; (v) professional negligence; (vi) administrative and public law; and (vii) civil liberties and human rights. He is also ranked in the Legal 500’s UK Bar Guide 2022 for commercial disputes and administrative and public law.
He acts in cases across the commercial spectrum. He is described in the Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide 2022 as having “broad experience across a range of high-value commercial, insolvency, banking and contractual disputes”. Chambers & Partners has noted that he is a “standout performer” who is “consistently impressive in commercial disputes”. The Legal 500 has noted that “his advice and knowledge is consistently of the highest standard” in commercial disputes. His expertise in professional negligence claims is recognised by Chambers & Partners who note that he has a “reputation for his handling of professional negligence claims, primarily against firms of solicitors”. He also undertakes a significant amount of work in the field of personal and corporate insolvency. Chambers & Partners note that “he is regularly instructed to act for administrators, liquidators and trustees, among other parties, in complex corporate and personal insolvency cases”.
He has developed a market-leading reputation for intellectual property disputes. He has been described by the Legal 500 as “The best all-round IP junior in Scotland”. Chambers & Partners has noted that he is “now regarded as the leading all-round IP junior in Scotland” and that he “continues to impress with his unrivalled knowledge of all issues of IP as well as his excellent manner with clients.” In addition to appearing in most of the leading IP cases in the Court of Session over the past decade, he has experience of conducting proceedings in the UK Intellectual Property Office.
He also has a leading reputation for Information Technology disputes. He has the distinction of being the only junior counsel in Scotland recognised by Chambers & Partners for expertise in this practice area. Chambers & Partners note that he “garners critical acclaim in the market for his abilities in a host of cases including those involving the IP rights in games, television and related merchandise.”
He also has significant expertise in administrative and public law as well as civil liberties and human rights. He is ranked in both the Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 UK Bar directories for administrative and public law. In his role as a Standing Junior counsel to the UK Government in Scotland, he has advised and represented a number of UK government departments including the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Department of Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence. He is described by Chambers & Partners as having a “busy public and administrative law practice, in which he acts mostly for central government”. He is also described as a “well-regarded civil liberties and human rights advocate” who is “particularly adept at judicial reviews concerning EU, human rights and immigration law”.
He is the Contributing Editor of the “Banking, Money and Commercial Paper” title of The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, the authoritative and comprehensive guide to the laws of Scotland. The new title is due for publication in 2022.
He has experience of alternative dispute resolution as counsel in mediations and arbitrations. He has been appointed as the arbitrator in commercial disputes. He also sits as a legal member of the Scottish Football Association’s Judicial Panel.
He is passionate about improving diversity and inclusion in the legal profession in Scotland. He co-founded the Scottish Ethnic Minority Lawyers Association (SEMLA). SEMLA aims to improve ethnic diversity in the legal profession in Scotland. The group is supported by the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates. SEMLA has collaborated with some of the largest law firms and organisations across the UK on events and work placements for law students from ethnic minority backgrounds.
He is also on the Scotland leadership group of Mosaic Network which is a mentoring initiative for disadvantaged young people from ethnic minority backgrounds which was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales and now sits within the Prince’s Trust.
He called to the Bar as the Faculty’s Lord Reid scholar for 2010/2011. This scholarship is awarded annually to the outstanding candidate to the Bar. He is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and the University of Cambridge.
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