Jennifer Dunn
Jennifer Dunn joined Ampersand in 2007. She holds an honours degree in politics and completed a paralegal qualification in Civil Court Practice. With over 15 years experience in the legal sector, including time as a Legal Secretary in a firm of Edinburgh solicitors, Jennifer has an extensive knowledge of all aspects of instructing counsel.
Jennifer’s personable outlook and efficient manner has established her as an important member of the Clerking team.
Jennifer works Mondays to Thursdays.
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Alan Moffat
Alan Moffat heads up the Ampersand Clerking team. With over 25 years experience in the legal sector, Alan has been with the stable since 2000 – initially as deputy clerk and taking over as head clerk in 2007. Alan previously worked at the Sottish Legal Aid Board. Alan holds an LL.B with Distinction and paralegal certificates in civil court practice and criminal law.
Alan has in-depth knowledge of fees in privately funded cases, judicial expenses and legal aid funding. He regularly attends taxations before Auditors of Court and negotiates accounts on behalf of counsel.
Alan has particular interests in LegalTech and Wellbeing and sits on the Law Society of Scotland’s LawscotTech Advisory Board and on the Faculty of Advocates Wellbeing Committee. He has spoken regularly for the Law Society of Scotland’s ‘CPD for New Lawyers’ series, on instructing advocates and is happy to provide insight into the bar for trainee and newly qualified solicitors. Alan is a member of the Legal Practice Management Association.
During his career, Alan has built up an extensive knowledge of legal practice, providing him with the tools to assist Ampersand’s instructing agents and members. Alan’s knowledge of members’ practises and fees means he is well placed to assist with all inquiries in relation to instructing counsel.
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Susanne Tanner KC FCIArb
Susanne Tanner KC took Silk in 2016, having called to the Bar in 2000. She is an experienced court practitioner who is always thoroughly prepared and has superb attention to detail.
She has built up and maintained a quality practice spanning:
- Reparation law, including personal injury and clinical negligence;
- Criminal law, both prosecution and defence, in first instance work and appeals, including appearing in the Supreme Court, as well as a complex private prosecution application;
- An interest in regulatory criminal matters, Health and Safety prosecutions, corporate financial crime and civil recovery proceedings;
- Fatal Accident Inquiries and public inquiries, including an appointment as Counsel on a high profile public inquiry;
- Property law and conveyancing;
- Commercial law; and
- Alternative dispute resolution, in particular arbitration, in which she holds professional qualifications and is working towards Chartered Arbitrator status. She is a Member of the Faculty Dispute Resolution Service and has been appointed as arbitrator for Motor Insurers’ Bureau cases for untraced and uninsured drivers.
She also sits as a tribunal chair in the First-tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber as well as the Health and Education Chamber, holds a number of academic appointments and is the Executive Editor of Green’s Scottish Education Manual.
Susanne is also a Door Tenant at Crown Office Chambers, London.
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Laurence Kennedy FCIArb
Laurence Kennedy called to the bar in 2000 having been a court solicitor for the previous five years. Since then he has maintained a busy court practice based on repeat instructions from a discrete group of instructing solicitors.
He was listed in Legal 500 as “outstanding”, “an effective advocate in court”, “excellent in an advisory role” and “noted for his technical competence and good legal and commercial analysis”.
He is described by agents as “professional and client friendly” and “user friendly from a solicitor’s point of view”. Agents also value his “low key, no nonsense approach”. He is “not afraid to give robust advice” and has “excellent client management skills”.
His day to day caseload focuses on property, commercial, partnership and contract disputes along with professional negligence and personal injury cases.
He has particular experience in areas of law affecting the media such as defamation, contempt of court and copyright. He was engaged for a number of years as a shift lawyer for a number of Scottish newspapers where he gave regular pre-publication advice.
He is an accredited arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He also sits regularly as a part time Judge of the First-tier tribunal and is a legally qualified Chair for the Scottish Social Services Council.
For further details about his arbitration practice, please visit his website at laurencekennedy.com.
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Alan Dewar KC
Alan Dewar KC was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1989 and took silk in 2002. He was the Treasurer of the Faculty of Advocates from 2007 to 2011. Over the years he has appeared in a wide range of civil and criminal cases, particularly in the fields of commercial, public law, and professional and clinical negligence. In addition, he has acted for and advised companies and public authorities on contractual and delictual disputes, public procurement, regulatory and licensing issues, as well as other agencies such as the Registers of Scotland, and professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS). He is a legal adviser to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. He has also represented companies, other corporate bodies and individuals in a number of public inquiries, planning inquiries, fatal accident inquiries, defamation actions, and intellectual property disputes. In the public law sphere he has extensive experience in the field of judicial review, human rights and immigration. Alan is also often appointed by the Court to act as Commissioner in Section 1 (“dawn raid”) petitions.
Alan has extensive advocacy experience arising from practising as a solicitor and advocate for more than 30 years. This includes Inner and Outer House experience in the Court of Session as well as a significant number of appearances in the House of Lords, Privy Council, the UK Supreme Court, the European Commission in Strasbourg and the UEFA Disciplinary Tribunal in Geneva. He was junior counsel to the Orkney Inquiry; standing junior counsel to a number of Government Departments including the Department of Trade and Industry and the Scotland Office; an Advocate Depute for three years; and also has extensive experience in planning and other inquiries, and before various other Tribunals. Between 2009 and 2011 he successfully represented the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Ministers in the AXA insurance case (which confirmed the validity of the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions)(Scotland) Act 2009), ultimately in the UK Supreme Court.
He also acted for the Scottish Ministers in the Clostridium Difficile Inquiry chaired by Lord MacLean: the Report of the Inquiry was published in 2014. In November 2013 he successfully represented the pursuer/appellant in Cramaso LLP v Viscount Reidhaven’s Trustees in the UK Supreme Court, a case concerned with the tenancy of a grouse moor in which the principal issue was whether there was sufficient proximity between an individual and a LLP such as to create a duty of care in the context of negligent misrepresentations. He also acted for the successful pursuers in Frank Houlgate Investment Co Ltd v Biggart Baillie LLP [2014] CSIH 79 in which The Inner House upheld the decision of Lord Hodge after proof. The pursuers established that a solicitor and his firm were liable to the pursuers for facilitating a continuing fraud when the solicitor had continued to act for a fraudster even after he had confessed to the fraud. More recently he has acted for a number of asylum seekers in various challenges to the operation of the Dublin II and III Regulations, and for the successful petitioners in Ochiemhen and Menuba v SSHD [2016] CSOH 179 and 180 (concerned with alleged breaches of visas granted to the petitioners to operate as entrepreneurs in the UK) and Alagoz v SSHD [2017] CSOH 27 (concerned with the operation of the EEC – Turkey Association Agreement).
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Christian Marney FCIArb
Christian Marney’s interest and considerable experience is in professional negligence and commercial litigation; employment and personal injury reparation. He is regularly instructed in professional negligence matters in particular, though not exclusively, by the Law Society of Scotland professional indemnity insurers. He is currently pursuing and defending actions in the Court of Session and Sheriff Court on behalf of solicitors and construction and housing professionals. He has a well established track record in personal injury having acted for most of the major insurers for most of his professional career. However, he also ensures that he continues to pursue cases on behalf of individuals and succeed in securing full compensation on behalf of those injured persons. He has a longstanding interest and involvement in employment matters, both advisory and litigated. He is one of a small number of junior counsel recognised in this area at the Scottish Bar. He has advised and represented UK plc’s, Local Government and major insurance companies in all of those areas. Christian was admitted to The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2017 as a Fellow in October 2018.
Recent cases:
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