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:
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.
ArbFest 2025
*** Scottish Arbitration Centre event ***
The Scottish Arbitration Centre are organising the next Edinburgh International Arbitration Festival (ArbFest2025) which will take place on the 4 and 5 September 2025.
ArbFest2025 will be supported by ICCA. Ampersand’s Brandon Malone and Lise Bosman return as Co-Creative Directors of the Main Festival.
Themes for ArbFest2025:
- Space Arbitration (“Space Arbitration: Charting a Course for Dispute Resolution in the Final Frontier”)
- Arbitration Ethics (“Between Norms and Nations: Arbitration Ethics at a Crossroads”)
Visit Scottish Arbitration Centre’s website for more details.
Arbitration for the Scottish Energy Sector
*** Scottish Arbitration Centre event ***
The Scottish Arbitration Centre is organising an event on Arbitration for the Scottish Energy Sector in Aberdeen on 19 June. The event is sponsored and hosted by Burness Paull at their Aberdeen offices located at 2, Marischal Square, Broad St, Aberdeen AB10 1DQ, and supported by the CIArb Northern Branch and Aberdeen Bar Association.
This free event will focus on dispute resolution, including arbitration, in the energy sector in Scotland and provide perspectives from in-house counsel in the oil and gas and renewables sectors, as well as local counsel and arbitrators. Gillian Carmichael Lemaire (Chair of the Centre) will moderate a panel involving Ampersand’s Brandon Malone (Arbitrator and Advocate and a Director of the Centre), Alice Leggat (Legal Manager at SSE and a Director of the Centre), Neil Smith (Partner at Burness Paull), Grant Walker (General Counsel and Company Secretary at Dana Petroleum).
Visit Scottish Arbitration Centre’s website for more details.
Sean White
Sean White called to the Bar in 2024, having enjoyed a varied civil litigation practice as a solicitor.
He practices mainly in commercial litigation, with particular interest in construction and property disputes, commercial contracts and professional and clinical negligence.
Sean came to the Bar with already impressive representative experience, having appeared in various courts and tribunals in Scotland, where he has conducted proofs, debates and other contentious and non-contentious hearings for pursuers and defenders. He has represented businesses and individuals in a range of complex and high-value cases.
Before calling to the Bar, Sean worked as a Senior Solicitor in the commercial disputes team of a well-known Scottish firm, where he focussed principally on construction and energy sector disputes. During this time, he worked on many Court of Session litigations and gained experience in different forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration and adjudication.
He previously trained and worked with an Edinburgh-based litigation firm, during which time he represented clients in a range of cases, covering commercial contracts, professional and clinical negligence, personal injury, interdict and judicial review, amongst other things.
During devilling, Sean gained further experience in construction, property, professional and clinical negligence, commercial contract, company and insolvency litigation.