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.

Back

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:

Visit Scottish Arbitration Centre’s website for more details.

Back

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.

Back

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.

Selected cases:

Back

Kirsty Shaw

Kirsty Shaw called to the Bar in 2024, having previously worked as a solicitor at a leading commercial law firm.

Kirsty practices principally in the field of commercial disputes and has particular experience of construction project litigation. She also has considerable experience in professional liability, insolvency and property litigation. In addition, Kirsty has an interest in public and planning law and clinical negligence.

She has represented a broad range of clients in a number of complex disputes of substantial value in court and at arbitration, adjudication and mediation.

Kirsty is currently a tutor in Contract law and Unjustified Enrichment, Commercial law and Evidence at the University of Edinburgh.

Back

Brandon Malone joins Dubai arbitration panel

Ampersand’s Brandon Malone has been admitted to the panel of Arbitrators of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, the MENA region’s largest alternative dispute resolution centre.

Brandon has a strong interest in Dubai and has rights of audience before the DIFC Courts, where Lord Glennie, his successor as chairman of the Scottish Arbitration Centre is a judge.

In addition to the DIAC, he is a member of the arbitrator rosters of other arbitral institutions in the region, including the SCCA in Riyadh, the BCDR, Bahrain, and ADGM, Abu Dhabi.

For a number of years, he has worked on MENA cases with fellow Aberdonian and former head of legal at John Wood Group PLC, Hugh Fraser, of Hugh Fraser International, who has been based the Middle East for 16 years.

He said: “There is a great deal of opportunity for Scottish lawyers in the Middle East. As well as developments in the energy sector, some of the largest construction and infrastructure projects in the world are being built there right now.”

Brandon will be speaking on artificial intelligence in arbitration at a Jus Mundi event during Riyadh International Disputes Week in March.

Brandon Malone joins Dubai arbitration panel | Scottish Legal News

Back