PDFAreas of expertise
Professional information
• 2021/22: Called to the Bar; Devilmasters: Chris Paterson, Ross G Anderson and Lili Prais.• 2018-2021: Law Clerk to the Lord President of the Court of Session.• 2015-16: Deputy Legal Secretary (Solicitor) to the Lord President (on secondment from the Government Legal Service for Scotland).• 2013-2015: Trainee Solicitor, Government Legal Service for Scotland.• Notable achievements or awards:o Lord Hope Scholarship (Faculty of Advocates).o William Asbrey Scholarship (St Edmund Hall and Oxford Law Faculty).o Kennedy Scholarship (Kennedy Memorial Trust).• Education:o 2017/18: BCL, University of Oxford.o 2016/17: LLM, Harvard Law School.o 2012/13: Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, University of Glasgow.o 2008-12: LLB (Hons), University of Glasgow.
Neil called to the Bar in 2022 after serving for three years as Law Clerk to the Lord President of the Court of Session. In that role, he assisted Inner House judges in appellate matters across civil law. In particular, Neil worked on a considerable number of cases concerning each of commercial contracts, public law, planning and tax.
During devilling, Neil has gained greater experience of professional and product liability, as well commercial and company law. Neil spent 12 months of his traineeship as a solicitor in litigation teams within the Government Legal Service for Scotland. In the Office of the Advocate General, he worked in the team responsible for a large caseload of asylum and immigration litigation in the Court of Session, and was involved in one UK Supreme Court appeal. In the Scottish Government Legal Directorate, Neil assisted colleagues in litigation across devolved subject matter. As a qualified solicitor on secondment to the Lord President’s Private Office, Neil drafted procedural rules for civil courts and tribunals, and advised the Scottish Civil Justice Council and its sub-committees. Finally, Neil has a particular interest in competition law, which he studied at postgraduate level.
