Ross Anderson new King’s Counsel appointment at Ampersand Advocates
Congratulations to Ampersand’s Ross Anderson KC on taking silk. Ross is amongst sixteen new silks announced today, appointed by His Majesty the King on the recommendation of First Minister John Swinney.
The rank of King’s Counsel is generally reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in practice in the Supreme Courts. Advocates and Solicitors with Rights of Audience in the Supreme Courts are eligible to apply to the Lord Justice General, Scotland’s senior judge. Before making nominations to the First Minister, the Lord Justice General consults other judges, the Lord Advocate, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and the President of the Law Society of Scotland.
Ross’s practice focuses on commercial dispute resolution, company and insolvency law, property law, public law, trusts and tax. Ross was a standing junior counsel to the UK Government (having been assigned to HM Revenue & Customs from 2015-2024). He appears regularly in UK tribunals as well as in the Court of Session.
Stable Director Isla Davie KC said: “I congratulate Ross on this well deserved appointment as King’s Counsel. He is an excellent Advocate held in high regard in the profession and this appointment further strengthens Ampersand’s offering of first class Senior Counsel.”
The full list of new silks can be found on the Judiciary of Scotland website here.
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Ampersand Advocates Celebrates Top-Tier Recognition in 2026 Legal 500 Rankings
Ampersand Advocates has once again secured its position among Scotland’s leading sets of counsel in the newly released 2026 edition of The Legal 500 United Kingdom Bar Guide. The rankings, published today, reaffirm Ampersand’s reputation for excellence across a broad spectrum of legal disciplines.
In the 2026 guide, Ampersand Advocates has been ranked in Tier 1 for Administrative and Public Law, Personal Injury and Medical Negligence and Property, Planning and Construction. The set also achieved a Tier 2 ranking in Commercial Disputes, reflecting its growing influence and expertise in high-value and complex litigation.
Administrative and Public Law (Tier 1) Ampersand’s offering is praised for handling high-stakes judicial reviews and public inquiries, with commentators highlighting our members ability to command respect at the highest levels of the judiciary. Ampersand’s expertise in this area is highlighted by the rankings of Aidan O’Neill KC, Douglas Ross KC, Susanne Tanner KC, Paul Reid KC and Usman Tariq KC (2024 silk). The stable’s juniors Timothy Young and Ross Anderson are also recognised, with Michael Way and Scott Clair noted as rising stars.
Personal Injury and Medical Negligence (Tier 1) An impressive roster of silks includes Simon Bowie KC, Una Doherty KC, Lisa Henderson KC, Euan Mackenzie KC, Maria Maguire KC, Geoffrey Mitchell KC, Graham Primrose KC, Lauren Sutherland KC, Alan Dewar KC, Vinit Khurana KC, Douglas Ross KC and James McConnell KC. Jennifer Nicholson-White, Ayla Iridag, and Shane Dundas are recognised as leading juniors.
Property, Planning and Construction (Tier 1) Robert Howie KC, Ailsa Wilson KC, Marcus McKay KC, and Laura-Anne Van Der Westhuizen KC are all ranked as leading silks. Eoghainn MacLean, Nicholas McAndrew, Ross Anderson, Timothy Young, Giles Reid and Louise Cockburn are recognised as leading juniors.
Commercial Disputes (Tier 2) The stable’s commercial disputes team is led by silks Robert Howie KC, Laura-Anne Van Der Westhuizen KC, Paul Reid KC and Usman Tariq KC (2024 silk). Ross Anderson, Eoghainn MacLean, Mark Boni, Timothy Young, Giles Reid and Nicholas McAndrew are ranked as leading juniors, with Michael Way noted as a rising star.
Crime and Regulatory (leading set) The stable has achieved acknowledgement in this category for 2026 as a leading set with a number of members ranked as leading silks including Isla Davie KC, Jamie Dawson KC, Lisa Henderson KC, Geoffrey Mitchell KC, Paul Reid KC, Simon Bowie KC, Una Doherty KC, Fiona Drysdale KC, Susanne Tanner KC, James McConnell KC (2024 silk) and Usman Tariq (2024 silk). Jenny Nicholson-White, Shane Dundas and Ayla Iridag are ranked as leading juniors, with Michael Way noted as a rising star.
Ampersand Advocates is also recommended in the Employment and Private Client and Family categories, with Aidan O’Neill KC ranked as a leading silk in Employment and Mark Boni recognised as a leading junior in Private Client and Family.
Under Alan Moffat’s leadership, the clerking team was commended for its exceptional efficiency, prompt communication, and forward-thinking approach.
These rankings highlight Ampersand’s continued commitment to delivering outstanding advocacy and legal insight across Scotland’s distinct legal landscape.
Full listings, for all of Ampersand’s rankings can be viewed on the Legal 500 website here.
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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.
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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:
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Scott Clair
Since calling to the Bar as a Lord Hope Scholar in 2022, Scott Clair has built a strong practice anchored around professional liability and discipline, commercial litigation and public law.
In 2024, he was appointed as Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government). In that capacity, he has advised and represented the UK Government in respect of a broad range of matters, ranging from judicial reviews in relation to immigration law to directors’ disqualification proceedings.
In 2026, he was ranked as a “Rising Star” in Administrative & Public Law in the Legal 500 2026 directory, and as an “Up and Coming” individual in Professional Negligence and Professional Discipline in the Chambers 2026 directory.
Scott has a particular interest and experience in professional liability and regulation (especially claims against solicitors, advocates and healthcare professionals). As well as conducting litigation on behalf of professionals, he has appeared before fitness to practice panels and in regulatory appeals. Scott is regularly instructed by the NHS in Scotland to advise on a wide range of matters, including clinical negligence claims, fatal accident inquiries and to provide advice in relation to statutory and regulatory compliance. He has also carried out work as an ad hoc junior counsel to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry and has acted on behalf of public bodies in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. Although predominantly instructed on behalf of defenders, Scott also has experience of pursuing claims on behalf of pursuers (professional liability, commercial and property litigation). He regularly appears in the Court of Session and other courts and tribunals. He has appeared in several appeals and has appeared a number of times as sole counsel before the Sheriff Appeal Court and the Inner House of the Court of Session.
Scott has tutored in a range of undergraduate courses, including public law, delict, commercial law, and evidence at the University of Edinburgh. He continues to retain an interest in legal education, as an accredited instructor for the Faculty of Advocates’ training for devils programme. In this role, he has also represented the Faculty internationally, training advocates in foreign jurisdictions.
Scott is also a reporter for Session Cases, the most authoritative law reports in Scotland. He is a former member of the Faculty’s Law Reform Committee and in that capacity has assisted with the preparation of consultation responses to the Scottish Government on behalf of the Faculty. He is currently a member of the Faculty Council.
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Mark Boni
Mark Boni called to the Bar in 2020, having qualified as a solicitor in 2014. Since 2022, Mark has been ranked by Legal 500 as a tier 2 leading junior in commercial disputes and since 2024 has been ranked as a tier 1 leading junior in private client and family disputes. In the Chamber & Partners UK Bar Guide 2026, Mark was ranked as a band 3 junior counsel in commercial dispute resolution and identified as an “up and coming” junior counsel in real estate litigation.
Mark has experience in a wide range of commercial and private law litigation, with a particular interest in contractual and property disputes, prescription, personal insolvency and private client litigation.
He regularly appears for pursuers and defenders at proofs, debates, procedural hearings, opposed motions and interim orders hearings.
Mark has experience, both as a solicitor and at the Bar, of litigating in the Sheriff Courts, Sheriff Appeal Court, Lands Tribunal, Court of Session (Outer and Inner Houses) as well as the UK Supreme Court. Mark also has experience in alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation.
Whilst devilling, Mark was a Lord Hope Scholar and was involved in a variety of complex and high value cases, including professional negligence claims and intellectual property actions.
Since 2012, Mark has tutored part-time at the University of Edinburgh. He presently tutors “Commercial Law” and “Contract and Unjustified Enrichment” and previously tutored “Public Law of the UK and Scotland” and “Public Law and Individual Rights”.
Mark wrote the reissue edition of “Prescription and Limitation” in the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia (published 2023) and has rewritten the Scottish prescription and limitation online content for Lexis+.
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