Levy & McRae

lemac.co.ukClient Satisfaction

Senior Associate Andrew specialises in criminal law. His expertise includes financial crime, domestic abuse offences, sexual offences, assault, offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act, road traffic offences and proceedings brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act. His focus is on protecting clients’ reputations by preventing cases from reaching prosecution wherever possible. Andrew has extensive court experience representing white-collar clients who are facing serious allegations, and an excellent track-record in achieving successful outcomes. Meticulous research, rigorous case management and skilful negotiation are essential to his approach in his work. Andrew appears in courts throughout Scotland on a weekly basis. He has conducted many trials both at summary and solemn level. Andrew has a good working relationship with the court and prosecution service. Strong research skills and unwavering client service, coupled with a down-to-earth and approachable manner, underpin Andrew’s work. Andrew’s background in representing clients in civil litigation and children’s referral proceedings have been instrumental when dealing with cases involving young people, complex family cases and mental health issues. Andrew is a member of the Glasgow Bar Association.

Callum Anderson

Head of Regulatory Crime. Partner & Solicitor Advocate Callum is a Partner and Solicitor Advocate. He advises a range of clients in a wide variety of contentious legal issues and appears in Courts all over Scotland, in Fatal Accident Inquiries and has represented clients at mediations. Callum leads the firm’s expertise in all areas of transport law and insurance litigation. He has particular expertise in regulatory crime including health and safety prosecutions, wildlife and environmental crime. He regularly defends police officers in respect of on and off duty issues. He is involved pursuing and defending post publication claims. He is part of the firm’s media law team that provides 24/7 pre-publication advice to newspaper and broadcaster clients. He has particular experience in the issues arising from internet publication. He has been involved in many prosecutions and defences relating to post publication claims. He acts on behalf of policyholders in disputes with insurers and brokers. Callum regularly delivers seminars and training to clients on a wide variety of topics including regulatory crime, transport, insurance and media.

David McKie

Senior Partner David McKie is senior partner of the firm. He has been practising as a solicitor since 1997. He has a diverse and high profile litigation practice and has been involved in some of the most significant cases in Scotland in the last 25 years. He has vast experience in almost all forms of litigation including police investigations, criminal cases, civil disputes (court and via mediation or arbitration) and all forms of inquiries – public, parliamentary and fatal accident inquiries. His exceptional experience included working as a young lawyer on major public inquiries, ground-breaking media cases and learning his trade in the civil and criminal courts throughout Scotland. In recent years, he led the legal teams for Alex Salmond in his successful judicial review against the Scottish government, the criminal trial as well assisting the former First Minister’s interests as a key contributor to the Parliamentary Inquiry. He represents many key figures in politics, education, business and in the major professions, providing both legal and reputation management advice. David also has a substantial rural and agricultural practice with a focus on representing a large number of sporting estates in Scotland, including their (often high profile) owners, managers and employees, as well as advising the major rural sporting representative bodies in the UK and looking after their many members. He advises many of the major media companies in the UK, in print, broadcast and online. He was head of media law at the University of Glasgow for ten years and has advised on almost all of the major media stories in Scotland over the last quarter century, many of which have changed the law. He has authored books, legal articles and is a regular commentator on legal issues in the media. His clients include major corporations, celebrities and extremely successful entrepreneurs. Much of his work is referred from other lawyers who rely on his specialism and experience in niche areas of the law. As senior partner, he has overseen the material growth of the business since 2015, which has involved expansion into Edinburgh.

Neil Hay

Head of Private Crime. Partner & Solicitor-Advocate Neil specialises in criminal law, complex regulatory crime, fraud and financial crime, historical allegations and road traffic cases. Neil has a very substantial referral practice and is instructed by, and acts for, leading law firms in Scotland and England, as well as internationally for clients requiring his expertise. He is particularly highly regarded for his skill and experience in defending domestic, sexual and financial cases and allegations. As the solicitor of choice for law firms seeking to refer criminal law matters, including Magic Circle firms, the focus of Neil’s work is always on discretion and confidentiality, with the aim of avoiding court prosecutions and protecting reputations. If court proceedings cannot be avoided, Neil has vast experience of successfully representing clients in Scottish courts at all levels, including acting in High Court prosecutions and in the Criminal Appeal court. His individual clients are usually professional, high-profile or of high-net-worth. Corporate clients include FTSE100 companies, insurance companies, unions, partnerships, other law firms, government institutions, religious organisations, pressure groups and charities. Specialist services include advice and representation at interviews for individuals and organisations facing investigation or prosecution by authorities such as Police Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal, HSE, SEPA, OSCR and the pensions regulator. This work entails detailed case investigations to identify and evaluate important evidence from witnesses, documents or electronic sources and negotiating with authorities to keep a case out of court. Additionally, Neil also provides specialist advice to clients (individuals or corporates) outside the UK, for instance in Europe, the Middle East and in the United States. Many of Neil’s cases are international and cross-jurisdictional, reflecting the lifestyle of individual clients and the operations and interests of global corporations. As well as being a formidable courtroom advocate, Neil is an expert at managing reputational issues and negotiating out of court settlements wherever possible. All of this makes him the defence lawyer of choice for people and organisations in the public eye.

Paul Anderson

Senior Associate Paul Anderson is a Senior Associate at the firm who specialises in criminal defence work. He qualified as a solicitor in 2011 before joining Levy & McRae in 2022. Paul has extensive experience of advising and representing clients facing all levels of prosecution in the Justice of the Peace Courts, Sheriff Courts, and the High Court. He has represented many clients at summary and Sheriff and Jury Trials. He has been instructed in High Court trials for clients facing the most serious of allegations. Paul has been instructed in notable cases including an appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of Sutherland (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Advocate (Respondent)(Scotland); [2020] UKSC 32, on appeal from [2019] HCJAC 61. His case of Quyen Van Phan v HMA; [2018] HCJAC 7 a reference of a Compatibility Minute to the Appeal Court. He has also been instructed in connection with a successful appeal against conviction. His cases have attracted substantial media attention and Paul has been interviewed by the media about his cases. Since joining Levy & McRae, Paul has represented the firm’s wide variety of professional clients which includes businesspeople, estate owners, gamekeepers, and doctors. He has also been instructed by a multi-national truck manufacturer in connection with a Fatal Accident Inquiry. He has dealt with high-profile cases where clients have been charged with assault, sexual offences, firearms offences and wildlife and countryside offences. Paul has dealt with road traffic offences where very often the charges may seem insignificant but have a profound impact because of the consequences of disqualification. Paul has represented clients successfully in persuading the Court in relation to Special Reasons and Exceptional Hardship in road traffic cases. Key to Paul’s success for Levy & McRae’s clients is an understanding of the significance of a criminal prosecution and the implications of conviction. Paul understands that reputation is everything and he strives to protect that.

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