Stephen Bell
Stephen Bell called in 1996 after 13 years in practice as a solicitor during which he was a litigation partner in firms in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. He has a wide ranging civil practice, including family law (both financial provision and child law), commercial law and reparation. He is regularly instructed in professional negligence cases, including medical negligence. He acts for and against private individuals and corporations. He also has experience of acting for and against local authorities, particularly in adoption applications. He provides written advice on a wide variety of matters.
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Robert Howie KC
Robert Howie KC was admitted as an advocate in 1986. He took silk in 2000. He has been involved in a large number of adjudications as Counsel, legal adviser or adjudicator. He has also acted as the Court’s reporter in several petition cases including Earl of Balfour, Petitioner 2003 SC (HL) 1 and Chisholm, Petitioner 2006 SLT 394. He regularly appears in the Inner and Outer Houses of the Court of Session. He has appeared in the Sheriff Court, the Lands Tribunal and in several Arbitrations. Robert Howie has also led in the House of Lords and the UK Supreme Court.
Robert Howie KC is ranked in the current edition of Chambers and Partners under 4 areas of practice. In Construction Law he is described as “A really great lawyer who is deserving of his great reputation and an opponent to be reckoned with… He is very good at marshalling and dealing with legal arguments.” He is also ranked in Chambers and Partners for Insolvency described as being “very commercially and tactically minded… His advice is always first-class, clear, well thought out and supported by detailed knowledge of case law.” Under Commercial Dispute Resolution “His thoroughness and knowledge are second to none… He is one of the cleverest advocates at the Scottish Bar. He’s near the top of the pile in terms of quality commercial work.” And under Professional Negligence “He has an amazing ability to come up with a left-field argument… He is very bright, very able and an inventive thinker.”
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Lauren Sutherland KC
Lauren Sutherland KC called to the bar in 1996 and took silk in 2016. Prior to calling to the Bar she was a Solicitor in private practice specialising in Personal Injury and Medical Negligence work. As a Solicitor she worked for both claimants and defending claims. Since calling to the Bar she has specialised in Clinical and Professional Negligence, Fatal Accident Inquiries, Personal Injury and Human Rights issues in Medical Law. In 2020 Lauren gained CEDR accreditation as a mediator.
Lauren runs a blog providing comment on legal cases in the area of clinical negligence and patient consent and can be viewed here.
Experience
Lauren Sutherland KC has advocacy experience gained over nearly 30 years both as a Solicitor in private practice and at the Bar. She has considerable experience in catastrophic injury cases and has a particular interest and expertise in cerebral palsy, cancer and brain injury cases. As a Solicitor she gained experience in the area of nursing practice and this continued when she called to the bar and she had responsibility to oversee the nursing section in the Vale of Leven Public Inquiry. She has also considerable experience in the area of Solicitors professional negligence.
She is currently ranked in Chambers UK and the Legal 500 for Clinical Negligence. She has consistently been ranked band 1 for Clinical Negligence.
The Directories say:
Lauren Sutherland KC is a strong silk who brings her skills to bear in the full array of clinical negligence and personal injury cases. She is adept at navigating complex causation and quantum issues and is especially knowledgeable about claims relating to cerebral palsy, brain injuries and fatal incidents. Instructing solicitors frequently praise her for her medical knowledge. (Chambers UK Bar Guide 2024)
“Lauren is very experienced and will fight hard for those she represents.”
“Lauren is my go-to senior counsel for medical negligence work. Her drive and passion for the work is immediately evident and her stamina in court is incredible to watch.”
“Lauren is a leader in the field of medical negligence and I use her on cases whenever she is available for instruction.”
Lauren brings a calm and intuitive approach whereby she can relate to clients who have suffered hardship, while maintaining a professional integrity and providing top-level advice. (Legal 500, Northern Circuit, Clinical Negligence 2024)
Lauren Sutherland QC is a strong silk who brings her skills to bear in the full array of clinical negligence and personal injury cases. She is adept at navigating complex causation and quantum issues and is especially knowledgeable about claims relating to cerebral palsy, brain injuries and fatal incidents. Instructing solicitors frequently praise her for her medical knowledge. (Chambers UK Bar Guide 2022)
“Excellent on her feet and very well prepared.” (Chambers 2021)
“She is pragmatic, great at managing expectations and very practical.” (Chambers 2021)
“She has an apparently inexhaustible energy to prepare and argue some of the most ground-breaking cases”, “A highly regarded and experienced advocate recognised for her personal injury and medical negligence experience” (Chambers 2020)
“She is absolutely superb, and she fights a client’s corner pretty fiercely… hugely knowledgeable and really applies herself“.
Lauren was junior counsel in the landmark case on Consent to medical treatment – Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11. She presented the first argument for the claimant in the Scottish Inner House and was part of the team who conducted the case in the UK Supreme Court. This case was instrumental in changing the approach to consent in the UK and has been described as one of the most significant clinical negligence cases in recent years. Lauren has published a book on Consent post Montgomery available on Amazon (see Law Brief Publishing for details).
Lauren has been involved in a number of high profile Fatal Accident Inquiries, the Nimrod litigation and is currently involved in the Product litigation involving the use of TVT and mesh in gynaecological procedures and orthopaedic product litigation.
She was appointed by the Scottish Government as junior counsel to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry in October 2009. The Inquiry had a wide remit to review deaths from C difficile infection. Her involvement required extensive knowledge of care of the elderly, nursing and medical practice, and infection control in hospital.
She was invited to participate in the review panel Chaired by Professor S McLean on the issue of introduction of no fault compensation in Scotland.
Lauren was a key speaker at the Association of Breast Surgery Conference on 13th May 2019 at the SEC Glasgow where she lead the Medico-Legal case discussion on consent and practical case studies on issues of patient consent confidentiality.
In 2020 Lauren was appointed Head of Medical Negligence at PEOPIL (Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers).
Lauren was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2021 and joined Byrom Street Chambers in February 2022. She can accept instructions in England and Wales via her clerks at Byrom Street Chambers.
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Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen KC
Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen KC has a civil practice with particular emphasis on commercial law, planning and environmental law and public law. She is currently ranked in five separate practice areas by Chambers UK and is Legal 500 Scotland Awards 2023 Silk of the Year. She was the Legal 500 Scottish Bar Junior of the Year in 2020.
Since calling to the bar in 2009 Laura-Anne has been instructed in a variety of commercial matters including company and insolvency matters, contractual disputes, shipping matters and tax appeals. She has represented both developers and planning authorities in planning matters, petitioners and respondents in a range of judicial review proceedings, and interested parties and core participants in fatal accident and public inquiries.
Laura-Anne has extensive advocacy experience. Before calling to the Scottish Bar she practised as an Advocate in South Africa and she called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2008. She has appeared in the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Session (Inner and Outer House), the Scottish Land Court, the Sheriff Court and various tribunals and inquiries.
She was on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s panel of counsel from 2015 to 2023 and was a Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government from 2015 to 2021.
In March 2022 Laura-Anne was appointed as Co-Lead Counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
Selected Cases
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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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Sheena Hume
Sheena joined Ampersand in 2015. Prior to joining us, Sheena worked at a top Edinburgh Law firm, initially as a trainee then as a Solicitor in their Employment Department. Sheena holds a LL.B and Legal Practice Diploma from the University of Edinburgh.
Sheena’s legal experience provides her with ideal insight to assist with all inquires in relation to instructing counsel. Sheena brings a friendly and professional service to the Clerking team and is always ready to assist.
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