Lindsays

Partner in Lindsays Commercial Property department and has some 25 years’ experience in a wide range of commercial property matters including working with clients involved in investment, development, hospitality and leisure, retail, healthcare, banking and family businesses. Alan's clients range from worldwide multinationals to owner managed businesses and individuals. Alan acts for a number of hoteliers, restaurateurs and publicans and as a result has substantial experience of the property and commercial aspects of the new Scottish licensing regime. He works closely with Lindsays’ liquor licensing and employment teams, providing hospitality and leisure clients with specialised property advice and as such, provides quick, integrated and practical solutions for clients. Alan works with a number of family businesses (big and small) and has particular expertise in dealing with companies in the motor trade.

Alasdair Cummings

Managing partner, working within the corporate and technology group. Dealing with asset finance, banking, company and commercial (general), banking and legal opinions on cross-border transactions.

Alastair Goodman

Alastair has over 20 years’ experience advising on a wide range of commercial property matters. He has built up particular expertise in relation to landlord and tenant issues where he acts for major landlords with multiple units within industrial or commercial estates, and retailers looking to change, develop or expand their unit portfolio. Alastair has worked with a number of property developers, dealing with substantial projects including residential sites and student accommodation developments. He also assists property investors with single and portfolio purchases. Alastair’s client base includes a number of nursing home operators where he acts in relation to all their commercial property needs. He has been involved in various renewable energy projects, acting for both landowners and developers. Credential highlights include: Acting for private equity funds in the acquisition of large developments across Scotland ranging in value from £5m to £25m, Acting for a developer of student accommodation with a development value in the region of £12m, Selling a number of shopping centres throughout Scotland with values in the region of £110m, Being involved in the refinancing of a 78 unit development with a UK-wide value of £23m and acting for a landowner in relation to one of the biggest wind farm developments in Scotland.

Alastair Smith

Alastair is a Senior Associate within Lindsays' Corporate and Technology team. He advises a range of clients in relation to corporate mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, commercial contracts, data protection, software agreements and intellectual property matters. Alastair focuses particular attention on venture capital investment for high technology companies and drafting the associated shareholder agreements, share option agreements, articles and ancillary documentation. In addition, he provides specific advice to the firm’s higher education clients in relation to IP and IT matters, mergers and joint-ventures, research contracts and major procurement projects.

Alexander Lamb

Partner in the Private Client team in Glasgow. Sandy helps clients plan for the future, providing advice on Wills and tax planning, and has wide experience of advising executors and beneficiaries in the administration of Executry Estates, and of the establishment, administration and winding up of Trusts, for various purposes. He also advises on the granting and drafting of Powers of Attorney, and provides guidance to Attorneys on exercising their duties. Sandy is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the leading worldwide professional body for practitioners in the fields of trusts, estates and related issues. He was in one of the first groups of practitioners which undertook the STEP Scotland Diploma in Trust and Estates, and achieved a Distinction grade.

Alison McKee

Alison is a Partner and Head of the Family Law Team, which operates from all four of Lindsays’ offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and North Berwick. She works between all four offices but is primarily based in Glasgow. Alison is accredited as a Family Law specialist and a Child Law specialist. Being trained as a collaborative lawyer and having extensive litigation experience, she can meet the needs of clients with the procedure best suited to resolve their particular issues. She advises clients on all aspects of family law including divorce, separation, complex financial provision following separation or divorce, pre and post nuptial agreements, cohabitation disputes, child law, surrogacy and Parental Orders and applications under the Hague Convention on International Child abduction. Alison is a Reporter for Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Andrew Diamond

Partner and Head of Residential Property, with responsibility for residential conveyancing and estate agency. With over 20 years of experience Andrew has an in-depth knowledge of the residential property market in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Andrew's clients’ purchases and sales cover everything from the buying and selling of lock up garages to numerous house purchases and sales at seven figure sums. Andrew is also Chairman of ESPC, having previously been a Director for over 5 years.

Angela Morrison

Angela is a Partner in our Residential Property team, based in Dundee. She specialises in residential property transactions across Tayside, including purchase, sales, re-mortgages and transfers of title. She has a particular interest in our busy and successful estate agency department. Dundee born and bred she is an experienced and approachable property lawyer and has extensive knowledge of the Dundee and Angus market. Her extensive client base is firmly built on repeat business from satisfied clients and their referrals.

Ben Doherty

Ben is Partner and heads up Lindsays Employment Law team. He has specialised in employment law for over 15 years and during that time has built up considerable experience in advising employers in respect of a broad range of employment law matters. Ben has represented employer clients from a range of sectors, including charities, healthcare providers, construction companies and service providers in Employment Tribunals across the UK and has experience of defending unfair dismissal, equal pay and the entire range of discrimination claims. Ben has also considerable experience of advising clients in respect of the application and effect of the TUPE regulations. He regularly acts for customers and service providers in respect of large scale outsourcing contracts and ensures that his client’s risk in such arrangements is mitigated by the inclusion of suitable indemnities and warranties. Ben also provides day to day employment law and HR strategy advice to clients in respect of disciplinary and grievance matters, redundancies and restructurings, changes to terms and conditions of employment and equal opportunity issues.

Brent Haywood

Brent is a seasoned Solicitor Advocate and Accredited Mediator. He has more than 25 years’ experience in handling disputes in a wide range of commercial and administrative law matters. His portfolio of cases has ranged from multi-party product liability actions through to cross border Intellectual Property cases. Recently he lead a team that negotiated a settlement under the Crown’s self-reporting initiative in a sizeable anti-bribery case. He acted at various stages of the Rangers Football Club Administration. Bringing a wealth of experience and insight into any situation, Brent has a proven track record in all forms of commercial disputes, ranging from contractual and company disputes, pensions, procurement challenges and regulatory matters. Brent also has a lot of experience in handling cross border matters and pre-action processes, such as Scottish Dawn Raids. He is known for his straightforward talking.

Brian Pollock

Brian is a Senior Associate based in our Glasgow office and is part of the Dispute Resolution and Litigation team. With over 9 years’ experience representing clients in Sheriff Courts throughout Scotland, he brings considerable expertise to the team. His caseload is diverse with a focus on high-value and complex disputes across a range of practice areas, including: commercial property disputes, debt recovery and enforcement, insolvency, contentious construction, professional negligence, actions for interdict, inter-company/ partnership disputes, defamation and reputation management. Through Brian’s commercial practice, he regularly represents clients across a variety of sectors, including: commercial landlords/ tenants, property developers, SMEs, charities, private schools, insolvency practitioners and other professionals, as well as private individuals. Brian takes a hands-on approach with an emphasis on delivering robust and pragmatic advice in order to achieve practical solutions for clients in a range of disputes, both in and out of court.

Callum Kennedy

Private Client Partner specialising in trusts and estates, wills, guardianships and IHT planning and care of the elderly. Callum manages a number of private charitable trusts and deals with governance, legal and investment matters. Callum also acts for many agricultural and estate clients specialising in tax planning and mitigation for farmers and has an Incidental Financial Business Licence.

Caroline Fraser

Caroline is a Partner in Lindsays’ Private Client team in Dundee. She advises individuals and families on a broad range of personal affairs such as the creation and revision of Wills, Powers of Attorney, elderly client advice and the administration of executries, including contentious estates and post-death planning. Caroline has a particular interest in Trust Law and regularly advises clients on the formation, variation and termination of private and charitable trusts and associated taxation matters. Caroline also has a keen interest in succession planning and has considerable experience in advising clients on inheritance tax and general estate planning, often working closely with other financial and taxation professionals. She thrives on helping her clients with life planning for the benefit of themselves and their families, always taking into account their individual and unique needs.

Chris Todd

Partner in the commercial property department, based in Dundee. Specialises in residential and commercial sales purchases and leasing for both landlords and tenants. Also has experience with small claims and summary cause litigation work on landlord and tenant issues and debt collection. Tutor and lecturer at Dundee University and was jointly responsible for designing a new conveyancing elective module to comply with LSS guidelines. Also the clerk to the Bonnetmaker Craft of Dundee which is the largest of the Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee. Credential highlights: acting for a bank in the provision of security for multimillion pound property portfolio finance; represents Scotland’s largest equine rehoming and adoption centre and a BVI company in relation to their portfolio of student flats.

Clare McCarroll

Previously the head of the executry department in a long established Edinburgh firm, Clare is now part of the private client team at Lindsays. She has experience in advising a broad spectrum of clients in the preparation of wills and powers of attorney, arranging financial and welfare guardianships and she specialises in all aspects of winding up executry estates. Clare also has experience in conveyancing and has a particular interest in executry conveyancing and the crossover between succession and property law. Clare’credential highlights include; successfully establishing a Canadian domicile for a deceased client resident in Scotland resulting in agreement from HMRC that no inheritance tax was due from the estate. Putting in place a chain of three Grants of Confirmation to allow a client to sell property stuck in the name of a long deceased family member. Assisting clients based in Mauritius, New Zealand and Australia access assets held in Scotland. Tracing closest living relative of a reclusive deceased who had died without a will, establishing family tree and identifying those people entitled to the estate.

Darren Leahy

Darren is a Senior Associate in our Commercial Property team based in Edinburgh. He acts for commercial landlords and tenants, primarily in the retail, leisure, industrial and office sectors, and aids in the acquisition of land for housing development and in subsequent site set up. He works with various individuals and business clients seeking to dispose of land or acquire it for investment and development purposes and is also experienced in refinance and corporate support work. Darren also has extensive experience in general portfolio management so can provide advice and assessment on most aspects of general property law.

Darren Lightfoot

David Wood

David is a partner and head of the corporate and technology group. He specialises in corporate sales, mergers and acquisitions, MBO’s, joint ventures, investments, fund raisings and all types of general commercial and contractual arrangements. He regularly gets involved in establishing corporate joint ventures, as well as significant collaborative partnerships, strategic commercial projects and documenting and negotiating shareholder agreements. David also advises in relation to non-contentious IP and IT matters with an emphasis on IT focused contracts such as software and hardware procurement, software licensing, e-commerce terms and conditions and policies. He also has considerable expertise in matters such as IP licensing, research and development agreements, data protection and freedom of information. David deals with a number of key clients in the education sector, including the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews.

David Armstrong

David is a solicitor advocate and head of Lindsays’ personal injury team. He has over 30 years of experience in litigation. He specialises in personal injury, libel law health & safety litigation. He deals with high-value and complex cases in both the Sheriff Court and Court of Session in Scotland. He is widely praised by clients for his practical and solutions based approach to his cases.

David Rose

David Rose is a Partner in Lindsays' Commercial Property team based in Dundee. David’s expertise includes advising businesses in various sectors on site acquisitions, commercial development, landlord and tenant matters, renewable energy projects, property finance and investment. He is well known within the Scottish property community and has substantial experience in and knowledge of the market in North East Scotland in particular, leading the Aberdeen real estate team of a UK firm prior to joining Lindsays.

Dawn Anderson

Dawn has over 20 years’ experience in the sector with her main expertise being in retail and property and acting for both landlords and tenants in relation to property investment and development. She has also worked in other sectors such as office and industrial, student accommodation, hotel and leisure and licensed premises. Dawn has considerable experience in the renewable energy field acting for both landlords and tenants in relation to windfarms and run of river hydro projects. She has acted for volume housebuilders in relation to strategic land acquisition and site assembly, acquisition of access and other servitude rights and preparation or disposal after build out. Her experience includes carrying out many corporate support roles where M&A and share purchase and sale transactions have a property aspect to them.

Derek Nash

Derek is a Partner in and Head of the Commercial Property Team which comprises over 30 legal experts. Derek advises on a wide range of property transactions including acquisitions, disposals, development, commercial leasing and investment deals. His client base includes commercial and residential developers, corporate occupiers, investors, property entrepreneurs and national charities and he is engaged in sectors as diverse as science and technology parks, retail, new homes, office developments and children's nurseries. Derek is well respected within the Scottish property sector and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to every transaction.

Derek Duncan

Derek is a Partner in the firm’s residential conveyancing department, based in Dundee. He deals with all aspects of residential and commercial property including the sale and purchase of hotels and licensed premises and sales arising from insolvencies. Derek is a Board Member of Tayside Solicitors Property Centre.

Eilidh Robertson

Eilidh is an Associate in our Rural Services team, based in Edinburgh Eilidh gained both her LLB (Hons) and Diploma in Professional Legal Practice from the University of Aberdeen, graduating from the former in May 2015. She then carried out her two-year traineeship with Lindsays, gaining experience in our Rural Property, Private Client and Dispute Resolution and Litigation departments. Eilidh now advises estate owners, rural businesses, individuals and lenders on all aspects of buying, selling and leasing rural property. She has experience in dealings with all aspects of rural property work ranging from crofts to landed estates, agricultural leasing and forestry transactions.

Gavin Buchan

Gavin is a Banking Partner within the Commercial department based in Edinburgh. He is a banking expert with experience of advising both borrowers and lenders in relation to general corporate and commercial banking transactions, bridging finance, renewables finance, rural/agri finance, acquisition finance, social housing finance, healthcare finance, private banking and corporate restructurings. He regularly provides Scots law advice in relation to cross border transactions. Gavin has a particular specialism in all aspects of real estate finance work with considerable knowledge of dealing with both investment and development finance transactions.

Grant Johnson

Grant is an experienced Private Client Partner who joined RSB Lindsays in 2015 and is head of the firms Private Client team. He specialises in advising a wide range of individuals and families in relation to Wills, Trusts, Executries, Inheritance Tax Planning, and issues affecting elderly clients such as Powers of Attorney and Guardianships. Grant is also experienced in advising charitable organisations and individuals regarding regulatory requirements. He acts in the setting up and on-going administration of a number of charitable and non-charitable Trusts.

Gregor MacEwan

Since qualifying in 2011, Gregor has practiced in litigation working in a diverse range of areas, including commercial, contract and property disputes as well as Telecoms Code disputes, interdicts and judicial reviews. Gregor enjoys dealing with difficult cases and finding practical ways to resolve complex legal problems.

Helen Kidd

Helen is a Partner and heads up our Charities and Third Sector team in Edinburgh. Helen’s experience includes setting up, merging, winding up charities; advising on governance, charity tax, and trading activities; advising grant giving charities; trustee training and dealing with a wide range of regulatory matters such as OSCR, HMRC, the Care Inspectorate and the Financial Conduct Authority related issues. In addition to fundraising, donations, trusts and endowments, using her private client experience, Helen advises on lifetime philanthropy and legacies/bequests. As well as advising charities Helen has also been a trustee herself, with experience on the board of a national community-based youth work organisation and also as a governor of an independent school.

Ian Mitchell

Corporate

Jennifer Gallagher

Jennifer is a partner in the family law team and is based in the Dundee office. She is accredited as a specialist in Family Law and Family Mediation by the Law Society of Scotland and is also a fully trained collaborative lawyer. Jennifer has a wide range of experience which includes providing advice and representation for divorce settlements, separation agreements, cohabitation cases and disputes involving children. Jennifer is chair of the Family Law Association, the professional organisation for family lawyers in Scotland. She is also currently a member of the Advisory Group for the Scottish Law Commission Family Law Reform Project. Jennifer is a member of the Law Society of Scotland Civil Justice Committee and sits on the mediation specialist accreditation panel.

John Bett

Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution and Litigation team, John is based in Glasgow. John specialises in commercial dispute resolution. He acts in a wide range of contentious commercial contract, property and debt recovery matters. He is also particularly experienced in director disputes and cross border litigation. John‘s extensive commercial property litigation experience extends to dilapidations disputes, breach of missives, recovery of arrears of rent, enforcement of keep open clauses and obtaining orders for the removal of unauthorised occupiers. He is regularly instructed in proceedings before the Commercial Courts of the Sheriff Courts and the Court of Session, where he has been involved in some of the more significant proceedings to call before the Court in recent years. He is also experienced in mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. As the Firm’ Head of Debt Recovery, John’s team assists clients with all aspects of the debt recovery process, from pre-litigation through to court proceedings and enforcement. He also acts in insolvency matters, regularly securing appointments and pursuing claims on behalf of insolvency practitioners. John advises a very broad spectrum of clients, from private individuals, insolvency practitioners and SMEs to public sector organisations, major Scottish based companies and multi-nationals. The work ranges from high value, complex court actions raised in the Commercial Court of the Court of Session, to providing general contract and commercial advice.

Jonathan Cornwell

A solicitor advocate and Accredited Specialist in personal injury, Jonathan has considerable experience of pursuing and defending claims in the Sheriff Courts, the All Scotland Personal Injury Court and the Court of Session. He acts on behalf of both individuals and insurers. Jonathan specialises in complex and high-value cases (including fatal claims) and excels at representing clients who have suffered catastrophic, life-changing injuries. He regularly advises clients suffering industrial disease, and has a particular interest in medical negligence, brain injury and spinal injury claims. He has provided advice and represented his clients’ interests at both Fatal Accident Inquiries and Public Inquiries.

Kate Wyatt

Kate is a Partner in the employment team and is based in Lindsays Dundee office. She has specialised in employment law since qualification and has advised both employers and individuals in a wide range of employment matters. Kate has worked with employer and employee clients from a variety of sectors. She has experience of acting for organisations in the life sciences, the higher education and independent schools sector, and for charities and not-for-profit organisations. Kate has experience of bringing and defending discrimination claims, along with unfair dismissal and equal pay claims, and provides her employer clients with advice in relation to disciplinary and grievance matters, capability and conduct dismissals, redundancies and restructurings along with contract issues. She has also advised employees and employers on the application of the TUPE regulations. Kate also advises senior employees, including in relation to negotiating contracts of employment and settlement agreements, and on post termination restrictions.

Kathrine Irvine

Katherine is an Associate based at our Edinburgh office within the Employment Law team. She also works in our Glasgow and Dundee offices. Since 2009 she has focused on specialising in Employment Law and provides advice relating to contentious and non-contentious employment law matters throughout the public and private sector, and charities. This involves advice on Employment Law matters for the duration of an employment relationship, from recruitment through to termination of employment and beyond. Katherine has worked with employer and employee clients throughout various sectors of industry including charities, hospitality, leisure, health and social care. She has regularly attended at Employment Tribunals throughout Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales in a variety of claims for both claimants and respondents, so can readily identify the issues from both an employee and employer perspective. Katherine has a wealth of both advisory and advocacy experience. Areas of advice and representation in the Employment Tribunal include general disciplinary and grievance matters, dismissals, redundancies and re-structuring, TUPE transfers including business purchases/sales, outsourcing work and bringing that in-house, equal treatment/discrimination issues, public interest disclosures (“whistleblowing”), employment contracts and policies/procedures, contractual (post termination) restrictions, settlement agreements and negotiations during periods of pre-litigation ACAS Early Conciliation.

Kenneth Gray

Kenny is a Partner in Lindsays Commercial property and banking department, with specialist interest in the healthcare sector. Recent transactions include: (1) acting for Edinburgh University in the lease of around 58,000 sqft over 5 floors at Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh (a deal which has been shortlisted as one of 3 finalists in CoStar Editor’s Choice Awards: Scottish Deal of the Year 2016); (2) acting for overseas investment purchaser of The Counting House Pub, Glasgow (price in excess of £5.75million) and subsequent financing (part of larger portfolio finance); (3) 2 leases of parts of Building 9 and further standalone lease of Building 10A for Edinburgh University at Edinburgh BioQuarter life science park; (4) redevelopment of the iconic Arnott’s building in Paisley, acting for Renfrewshire Council, (5) healthcare transactions include the sale of four dental practices , purchase of one dental practice, acquisition of 2 pharmacies, sale of one pharmacy business, and substantial two-property nursing home finance, acting for lender.

Lauren Pasi

Lauren is a Partner in Lindsays' Personal Injury team. She is experienced in litigating on behalf of pursuers on a wide range of cases, including road traffic accidents, accidents in the workplace, public and occupier liability cases and medical negligence. Lauren deals with actions raised in the Sheriff Court and Court of Session and regularly appears in the Sheriff Court.

Lewis Crofts

Lewis is an Associate in our Rural Services team based in Edinburgh. His background includes experience in commercial property, undertaking a wide range of transactions including the purchase, sale and leasing of property across Scotland. Lewis also assists developer clients with renewable energy transactions, primarily hydro and wind, across numerous Scottish estates. He is experienced in acting for, and working with, individuals, business owners and institutional lenders.

Lynsey Kerr

Lynsey is a Partner within Lindsays' Private Client team based in the Edinburgh office. Lynsey provides a full range of Private Client services including advising Executors and beneficiaries in the administration of estates, drafting Wills and Powers of Attorney and advising Attorneys on their responsibilities and duties. Lynsey creates and administers Trusts and also provides inheritance tax planning advice. She has a keen interest in the Third Sector and is involved with the establishment, reorganisation and winding up of Charitable Trusts. Lynsey is a Trustee of LifeCare, an Edinburgh based charity providing a flexible range of care, support, community services and social activities for older people. Lynsey is also a Trustee of Ponton House Trust.

Michael Yellowlees

Michael is a Partner and the Head of Lindsays Rural Property Team and is an accredited specialist in Agricultural Law. He specialises in all aspects of rural property law, with particular expertise in the acquisition and disposal of high value estates and farms. He also provides clients with specialised advice on agricultural holdings law, crofting law, mineral and sporting rights and renewable energy. He has developed a niche practice dealing with titles known as feudal dignities and related heraldic issues. Michael’s clients include many large landed estates, such as the Argyll, Lochiel, Strathconon, Eishken and Murthly Estates, as well as numerous high net worth individuals and corporate bodies with rural and renewables interests throughout Scotland. Michael previously worked at the Registers of Scotland so is well placed to advise clients on the new land registration system in Scotland. He also has a history degree and a PhD in Scottish History which nicely complements his feudal dignities and heraldic practice.

Nina Taylor

Nina is principally based in the Edinburgh office advising on a wide range of family law issues, although she regularly travels to Lindsays’ offices in Dundee and Glasgow to meet with clients. With more than 24 years’ experience as a qualified solicitor, Nina is dual accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a Specialist in both Family law and Child law. She has extensive court experience in both the Sheriff Court and Court of Session. Nina also acts for clients in drafting a variety of Agreements, including Cohabitation and both Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements. She is a trained collaborative lawyer.

Peter Tweedie

Chairman and Partner in the Corporate and Technology department dealing with business sales and acquisitions; company share sales and acquisitions; general commercial contracts including corporate, partnership and sole traders. Peter works with individuals, partnerships and companies at all levels including national retailers and developers, Medical, Dental and other professional practices and SME’s generally.

Philippa Abernethy

Philippa is a Solicitor in our Family Law team based in Glasgow. Philippa graduated from the University of Glasgow with her LLB (Hons) in 2017 and continued to complete her Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in 2018. Philippa completed her traineeship at Lindsays, qualifying in September 2020. Philippa now focuses on family disputes. She has wide-ranging litigation experience in respect of care arrangements for children, divorce, cohabitation and relocation within Sheriff Courts across Scotland. Philippa prides herself on her ability to provide pragmatic and empathetic advice to clients.

Rachel Holt

Rachel is an Associate in our Personal Injury team based in Glasgow. She specialises in road traffic accidents, accidents at work, public and occupier’s liability, medical negligence and industrial disease. Rachel also deals with actions in Sheriff Court, All Scotland Personal Injury Court and Court of Session and appears in Courts across Scotland.

Susan Law

Susan is a partner in the Rural Property department based in Edinburgh. She is involved in all aspects of Rural Property and Planning Law, with a particular focus on development matters. She has a background in commercial matters acting for rural clients, including acting for both land owners and developers, which means she can provide complete advice to her clients on both the preferred course of action from the landowner’s perspective, as well as anticipating issues developers may have and addressing them at an early stage. Working closely with developers has provided Susan with experience in planning law and she acts for land owners in development matters, including a mixed use development for one of the first major planning applications in the Highlands. She also deals with option and promotion agreements for both landowner and developer. Susan also acts for land owners in renewable energy projects, including wind farms and biomass. She also has experience acting for landlords and tenants in lease transactions and has built up expertise in the property requirements associated with liquor licensing. She acts for Tony Singh, having acted for Oloroso in the disposal of this high profile restaurant.

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