Ampersand Advocates welcomes Chris Stephen to the Stable
Ampersand Advocates is delighted to welcome Chris Stephen to the Stable.
Chris was called to the Scottish Bar in 2022 as a Lord Hope Scholar and is also qualified as a barrister in England & Wales. His practice focuses on administrative and public law (including public inquiries), international law, and commercial and alternative dispute resolution.
Shortly after call, Chris was appointed Standing Junior to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government) in December 2022, with re-appointment in September 2024. In that role he has advised and represented the UK Government in matters ranging from immigration judicial reviews to a peerage case before the Lord Lyon. He has also acted as junior counsel to the Lord Advocate in extradition cases.
Chris has assisted in several major public inquiries, including the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry and the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, and he is currently junior counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
He brings substantial international law experience. Chris previously served for over five years as an Assistant Legal Adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), during which he represented the UK at the United Nations in Geneva and New York and before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in contentious proceedings. Before coming to the Bar, he also worked as a dual-qualified solicitor in London, representing private clients and States across a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters, including arbitrations under bilateral investment treaties (BITs).
Alan Moffat, Practice Manager said: “We are thrilled to welcome Chris to Ampersand. His combination of public law expertise, hands-on inquiry work and high-level international experience is of real value to those looking to instruct counsel. Chris strengthens our offering across government, regulatory and commercial matters, and we look forward to supporting his flourishing practice.”
Ampersand is a tier-1 ranked Scottish Stable in the leading legal directories across multiple practice areas and was named “Stable of the Year” at the Legal 500 Scotland Awards 2023. With recognised depth in his core practice areas, Chris’s arrival further enhances Ampersand’s reputation as a leading choice for those seeking to instruct Scottish counsel.
View Chris Stephen’s profile here.
For enquiries about instructing counsel, please contact the Ampersand Clerking Team: ampersandclerks@advocates.org.uk.
Chris Stephen
Chris Stephen called to the Bar in Scotland in 2022 as a Lord Hope scholar. He is also qualified as a barrister in England & Wales. He primarily specialises in administrative & public law (including public inquiries), international law and alternative/commercial dispute resolution.
Shortly after calling, he was appointed as a Standing Junior to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government) in December 2022 and re-appointed in September 2024. In that capacity, he has advised and represented the UK Government in a number of matters, ranging from judicial review in the immigration context to a peerage case before the Lord Lyon. He has also acted as junior Counsel to the Lord Advocate in extradition cases.
Since calling, Chris has assisted with several public inquiries, including the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry and the Sheku Bayou Inquiry. He is currently junior Counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
Chris also has particular interest and experience in international law. He was formerly an Assistant Legal Adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for over five years, during which time he represented the UK at the United Nations in Geneva and New York and before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in contentious proceedings. He also worked as a dual-qualified solicitor for law firms in London representing private clients and States on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues, including arbitration proceedings brought under bilateral investment treaties (BITs).
Chris also spent three years as Legal Secretary (Deputy Director) to the Advocate General for Scotland, one of the UK Government’s Law Officers. In doing so, Chris worked on public law litigation of national significance, including the prorogation case (R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC 41), the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill reference [2018] UKSC 64 and the Article 50 (Wightman) case before the Inner House of the Court of Session [2018] CSIH 62 and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU C-621/18).
Chris also worked previously as a Judicial Assistant to the Law Lords (Lords Hope of Craighead and Mance) in the House of Lords (now the UK Supreme Court).
Selected cases:
Ampersand Advocates welcomes 2 new members: Sarah McWhirter and Tony Convery
Ampersand is delighted to welcome Sarah McWhirter and Tony Convery to the stable, following their call to the Bar on Friday, 27th June 2025.
On the new members’ arrival, Stable Director Isla Davie KC, said: “We are delighted that Sarah and Tony are joining Ampersand. They are already highly regarded as lawyers, and this is the start of incredibly promising careers for both at the Bar. Not only does their considerable experience lend itself well to our existing practice areas, but they are also lovely people and we look forward to welcoming them into the stable.”
Ampersand’s Practice Manager, Alan Moffat added “I am delighted to welcome our newest members of Ampersand. Their addition to our set brings the membership to 61 and the experience which each of them brings is a fantastic fit for Ampersand’s core areas of practice. They will be a real asset to those looking to instruct counsel. I am sure that joining Ampersand will offer them rewarding opportunities and collaborative support”.
Sarah and Tony featured in Ampersand’s “& the Devils in the Detail” Hey Legal Live chat in May. You can watch clips of Sarah and Tony discussing their practice areas here.
Sarah specialises in clinical negligence and personal injury actions. She has extensive experience in complex and high-value claims. She has particular expertise in birth injury, spinal injury, amputation and fatal claims.
Prior to calling to the Bar, Sarah specialised in clinical negligence and personal injury work for over 10 years. Latterly, Sarah was Head of Clinical Negligence (Scotland) and a Principal Lawyer (partner) at a large UK-wide firm. She was ranked ‘Band 1’ in Chambers and Partners for Clinical Negligence: Mainly Claimant (2025). Sarah has experience of representing both pursuers and defenders.
As a solicitor Sarah, appeared in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court and regularly dealt with cases raised in the Court of Session.
During devilling, Sarah enhanced her existing experience in clinical negligence and personal injury work. She expanded her knowledge of specialist personal injury claims, including industrial disease and historical child abuse. She also gained experience in other areas of law, most notably mental health, professional regulation and public law.
Sarah is the Course Organiser for the Personal Injury elective course on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh.
Tony specialises in commercial litigation and public law. He calls to the Bar as the Lord Reid Scholar. That Scholarship is awarded annually to the outstanding candidate. He previously worked at a leading commercial law firm.
Tony has considerable commercial litigation experience, including in professional negligence, company and property law disputes. He also has experience of group proceedings, procurement litigation and proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Tony has a broad public law practice. As well as core constitutional and administrative law, Tony has experience in: (i) equality and human rights, (ii) planning and (iii) information law (including data protection and freedom of information). He has a wealth of experience in advising on legislative competence challenges.
Tony also has experience of acting in environmental, regulatory, education and media law disputes, as well as inquiries. He provides advice on trade/financial sanctions and related regulatory schemes.
Tony was a research assistant to Professor Jim Murdoch CBE in relation to the fourth edition of the leading textbook, Human Rights Law in Scotland. He has also published in his own right. He is a tutor at the University of Glasgow.
For further information about their practices view their profiles on the Ampersand Advocates website: Our People – Ampersand Advocates
To instruct either of them, please contact the Ampersand Clerking Team: ampersandclerks@advocates.org.uk.
Tony Convery
Tony Convery specialises in commercial litigation and public law. He called to the Bar in 2025 as the Lord Reid Scholar. That Scholarship is awarded annually to the outstanding candidate. He previously worked at a leading commercial law firm.
Tony has considerable commercial litigation experience, including in professional negligence, company and property law disputes. He also has experience of group proceedings, procurement litigation and proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Tony has a broad public law practice. As well as core constitutional and administrative law, Tony has experience in: (i) equality and human rights, (ii) planning and (iii) information law (including data protection and freedom of information). He has a wealth of experience in advising on legislative competence challenges.
Tony also has experience of acting in environmental, regulatory, education and media law disputes, as well as inquiries. He provides advice on trade/financial sanctions and related regulatory schemes.
Tony was a research assistant to Professor Jim Murdoch CBE in relation to the fourth edition of the leading textbook, Human Rights Law in Scotland. He has also published in his own right. He is a tutor at the University of Glasgow.
The ‘For Women Scotland’ judgment – An academic discussion
Ampersand’s Aidan O’Neill KC recently spoke as part of an academic discussion with the University of Cambridge on the ‘For Women Scotland’ UK Supreme Court judgment.
The online debate considered the recent Supreme Court case of ‘For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers’ which was handed down on 16 April 2025, featuring Aidan O’Neill KC who appeared for For Women Scotland. In the discussion Aidan reflected on his experiences of the case, the judgment and participate in a debate of the issues it raises going forward. He was followed by a response from Dr Lena Holzer.
You can view the recording on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eNdE38zU. Aidan also provided a paper in advance which can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ev5sMHHW
COUNCILLOR GARY MCGARVEY v THE STANDARDS COMMISSION FOR SCOTLAND [2024] SC STI 41
Paul Reid KC successfully represented The Standards Commission for Scotland in a recent appeal arising out of an altercation that took place between the pursuer, Gary McGarvey, who is an elected Councillor for Stirling Council, and another councillor. The case involved a summary application under Section 22 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000. The purpose of the Act is to promote ethical standards in the public through the use and imposition of codes of conduct. Another of its purposes is its adjudicatory function to assist in public hearings to decide on breaches of codes of conduct and to regulate the suitable sanctions.
The pursuer had acted in an angry aggressive manner towards another Councillor which was found to constitute a breach of Paragraph 3.1 of the Code at a hearing before the defender. This breach resulted in the Standards Commission imposing a sanction of suspension for one month. The result of imposing such a sanction is to disqualify the pursuer, for life, from being a member of an integration joint board, and from being a member of a Health Board. However, these restrictions do not apply if the sanction is imposed had been censure.
The following arguments were put forward by Paul Reid KC, instructed by Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP on behalf of the defender: it was argued that the sanction that has been imposed was reasonable and that the conduct of the pursuer had been characterised as “egregious and unacceptable.” The pursuer’s grounds of appeal fell into two categories. The first being the “censure issue”. The pursuer argued that the Commission had failed by not first considering imposing a lower sanction, namely censure. The second issues was the “disqualification issue” which, argued the pursuer, arose from the Commission not having proper regard to the practical consequences of the sanction. Paul Reid KC moved to argue that neither ground was justified. The censure issue had been examined and disregarded as the Commission’s reasoning for imposing such sanction could not be criticised. The consequences of disqualification derived from the suspension as a matter of law which had been approved by Parliament and was backed up by legislation. There is a process in which the pursuer can apply to Scottish Ministers to invite them to reconsider at least part of his disqualification. It was, argued the defender, inappropriate for the pursuer to use this mechanism to avoid the policy choice of Parliament. The financial implications that arise from suspension and subsequent disqualification are irrelevant in determining the necessary sanctions that should be imposed.
Based on the above arguments Sheriff Principal Gillian A Wade KC decided in favour of The Standards Commission for Scotland, on the basis that it was clear the defender had properly considered all the inevitable consequences for imposing such suspensions and subsequent disqualifications, and considered a short period of suspension was a reasonable sanction in the circumstances. Sheriff Wade KC stated that there is no serious flaw in the reasoning. All the pursuer’s arguments were rejected by the Court and stated, “It cannot be said that the defender’s panel has erred in the manner suggested by pursuer and accordingly the sanction of suspension must stand.”
The full judgment can be read by clicking here.