The Scottish Legal Awards judging panel is an independently appointed panel of legal industry experts who bring together experience and market knowledge from across Scotland.

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    Lorna Jack Chair of the Judging Panel

    Lorna Jack is the former CEO of the Law Society of Scotland where she served for 13 years until retiring from full time work in December 2021. She was widely credited for transforming the organisation...
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    Lorna Jack is the former CEO of the Law Society of Scotland where she served for 13 years until retiring from full time work in December 2021. She was widely credited for transforming the organisation with major improvements achieved in transparency, governance, engagement and business management. She is currently Chair of the board of CFO solutions company Opulus Financial and of Highlands and Islands Airports group. She is Vice Chair of the Scottish Funding Council. She is also Honorary Consul for the Netherlands for Scotland. She joined the Scottish Legal Awards as Chair of the Judging Panel in March 2022. 

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    Lorna Jack

    Chair of the Judging Panel
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    Greig Cameron Scottish Business Editor, The Times

    Greig Cameron joined The Times as its Scottish business editor in January of 2016. He covers all sectors in the country ranging from start-ups and entrepreneurs through to big corporates and the economy....
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    Greig Cameron joined The Times as its Scottish business editor in January of 2016. He covers all sectors in the country ranging from start-ups and entrepreneurs through to big corporates and the economy. As well as looking after the Scottish content in the weekly legal section of the newspaper he contributes to The Brief, the online portal for industry news and opinion.

    Prior to joining The Times he spend four years as the deputy business editor at The Herald and was the main correspondent for commercial legal firm stories on the title.

    Greig started his career as a news journalist with the Edinburgh based press agency Deadline and spent many days sitting in and around court rooms across east central Scotland covering stories and waiting for cases to be called. After that he joined the Daily Record as a general news reporter before moving internally to specialise in business. That was firstly with the Business7 weekly newspaper and then latterly as the deputy editor of Insider magazine, where he wrote several of the magazine's annual legal sector reviews.

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    Greig Cameron

    Scottish Business Editor, The Times
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    Professor Sarah Hendry Head of Law, University of Dundee

    Professor Sarah Hendry is an academic lawyer specialising in water and environmental law. She is the Head of Law at the University of Dundee. She also works within the Centre for Water Law, Policy and...
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    Professor Sarah Hendry is an academic lawyer specialising in water and environmental law. She is the Head of Law at the University of Dundee. She also works within the Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, which is hosted at the University of Dundee. Sarah is Scottish Editor for the Journal of Water Law and the Journal of Environmental Law and Management, co-convenor of the UK Environmental Law Association’s Scottish water law sub-group, and vice-chair of the International Water Association’s Specialist Group on Governance and Regulation. Her interest in Scottish, EU and comparative water law extends across both water resources and water services, and she has published widely, including on comparative frameworks for water law reform and on the ‘Scottish model’ of governance and regulation of water services.

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    Professor Sarah Hendry

    Head of Law, University of Dundee
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    Janet Hood Owner, Janet Hood Training and Consulting

    13  years ago Janet set up Janet Hood Training & Consulting Ltd. a niche business dealing exclusively with licensing matters from alcohol to zoos. She consults on licensing matters for many solicitors’...
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    13  years ago Janet set up Janet Hood Training & Consulting Ltd. a niche business dealing exclusively with licensing matters from alcohol to zoos. She consults on licensing matters for many solicitors’ firms across Scotland and England offering a poach free service. She also advises the licensed trade directly on all licensing matters including applications, reviews, training, compliance and due diligence. She is known as a go- to- woman in licensing matters.

    Janet sits on the Law Society Law Reform Licensing Sub Group, the National Trade Forum feeding directly into Police Scotland’s Liquor & Civic Licensing Policy Unit, is an honorary member of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, board member of Appetite for Angus & a member of the  highly influential  Scottish Hospitality Group which emerged during lockdown and is leading the way for the trade. 

    She has had an exciting career, 21 years in local government, 6 heading up the British Institute of Innkeeping in Scotland. She sat on the Law Society Council for 17 years and headed up the In House Lawyers Group for 15 years and has served on the Law Society Board &  other committees. 

    Janet has set up an on line training facility for licensees and their staff covering licensing, food hygiene, health and safety and other relevant courses. Networking and Keeping abreast of client needs is key to her career. 

    Janet offers pro bono help to law graduates and students to improve their job application and interview techniques.

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    Janet Hood

    Owner, Janet Hood Training and Consulting
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    David Lee Director, David Lee Media & Events

    David is an event host, podcast presenter, writer, editor and PR consultant who has covered legal affairs for more than 20 years. He has been a judge in the Scottish Legal Awards since its second year...
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    David is an event host, podcast presenter, writer, editor and PR consultant who has covered legal affairs for more than 20 years. He has been a judge in the Scottish Legal Awards since its second year and regularly hosts events for legal clients, including The Law Society of Scotland. 

    As Director of David Lee Media & Events Ltd, he has hosted more than 400 events for a range of public and private sector clients across the UK, 300+ in-person and 100+ online. His expertise ranges from law to life sciences, sustainability to social work, and financial technology to forestry - with an increasing focus on two central themes: data and climate change. David has also presented more than 50 podcasts and runs a successful media and communications training business.

    Away from work, he is a father of four grown-up children (and two dogs), a passionate coastal rower and an angry footballer of declining ability.

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    David Lee

    Director, David Lee Media & Events
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    Fiona McAllister Senior Media Lawyer in Channel 4

    Fiona is a Senior Media Lawyer in Channel 4’s Legal & Compliance team, which is renowned for its enabling advice as part of the Channel’s unique risk-taking remit.  She provides legal,...
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    Fiona is a Senior Media Lawyer in Channel 4’s Legal & Compliance team, which is renowned for its enabling advice as part of the Channel’s unique risk-taking remit.  She provides legal, compliance and ethical advice on all aspects of television programming - broadcast and online - before and after broadcast, including its promotion and marketing.

    Fiona trained then qualified as a commercial litigator with a focus on media and reputational issues at Burness Paull LLP. She gained a broad range of experience across a variety of sectors and completed secondments with the Royal Bank of Scotland, FirstGroup plc and BBC Scotland. After 8 years Fiona moved to a leading London media firm, Simkins LLP, generally advising Claimants on media related issues including defamation, privacy, data protection, harassment, contempt and the media regulatory codes. Fiona joined Channel 4 in 2019 and is qualified and admitted to practise in Scotland, England & Wales and Ireland.

    Fiona’s pro bono and not for profit work includes being a Chair for LawRocks, promoting music education for underprivileged youth. Prior to that Fiona was a Director of LawWorks Scotland, worked at Citizens Advice Bureaus and is a former President of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association.

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    Fiona McAllister

    Senior Media Lawyer in Channel 4
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    Graeme McWilliams Past Convener, In House Lawyers Committee

    Graeme is a retired in-house lawyer, a Fellow of the Law Society of Scotland and on the Society's intellectual property law accreditation panel. He is a board member and trustee of Art in Healthcare and...
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    Graeme is a retired in-house lawyer, a Fellow of the Law Society of Scotland and on the Society's intellectual property law accreditation panel. He is a board member and trustee of Art in Healthcare and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company. Graeme is also on the Access to Justice Foundation Scotland committee, chairs its working group, and co-chairs the Faculty of Advocates' annual World Intellectual Property Day conference. He was Convener of the Society's In-House Lawyers Committee and a co-opted member of its Council from 2016 to 2019, and was a board member of the Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy from 2010-17. He is a keen supporter of IP, the in-house legal profession, World IP Day, the 21st Century Bar Conference and the three Scottish Legal Walks.

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    Graeme McWilliams

    Past Convener, In House Lawyers Committee
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    Paul Mosson Executive Director of Member Services and Engagement, The Law Society of Scotland

    Paul has been the Executive Director of Member Services and Engagement at the Law Society of Scotland since 2017 where he leads the teams that look after the needs of solicitors and accredited paralegals...
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    Paul has been the Executive Director of Member Services and Engagement at the Law Society of Scotland since 2017 where he leads the teams that look after the needs of solicitors and accredited paralegals in Scotland, and Scottish solicitors practising in England and Wales as well as other overseas jurisdictions. The Law Society of Scotland has an ambitious strategy leading into 2027 and Paul is working across the organisation with his colleagues to deliver its goals. Paul leads the Society’s internal diversity and inclusion programme and also represents the Society on the Lawtech UK Regulatory Response Unit.

     

    Prior to joining the Law Society of Scotland, he was a consultant specialising in leadership and strategy, and Director of Services at the Bar Council of England and Wales.

     

    Paul was born in Solihull, England and is a Law graduate from the University of Wolverhampton. He lives in North Berwick with his husband and two dogs.

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    Paul Mosson

    Executive Director of Member Services and Engagement, The Law Society of Scotland
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    Martin Nolan General Counsel & Company Secretary, Skyscanner

    Martin is General Counsel at the leading global travel metasearch site, Skyscanner. He has responsibility for the legal functions of a business which supports 100 million users each month. He leads its...
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    Martin is General Counsel at the leading global travel metasearch site, Skyscanner. He has responsibility for the legal functions of a business which supports 100 million users each month. He leads its Global Public Affairs team, helping shape policy and regulation in the UK, EU and US on issues affecting the digital economy and consumer protections, and sits on the board of the leading travel technology trade bodies in Washington DC and Brussels, where he spends part of his working time. He has recently been appointed Skyscanner’s Executive Sponsor for Sustainability, developing and leading the implementation of its net zero strategy. Prior to joining Skyscanner in 2017, Martin was a corporate finance lawyer in private practice for 10 years, specialising in private equity and M&A.

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    Martin Nolan

    General Counsel & Company Secretary, Skyscanner
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    Frasia Wright Managing Director, Frasia Wright Associates

    An accountant by profession, Frasia Wright has been involved in legal recruitment since 1988. Having also worked in both New York and London, she is today recognised as having the longest track record...
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    An accountant by profession, Frasia Wright has been involved in legal recruitment since 1988. Having also worked in both New York and London, she is today recognised as having the longest track record in Scottish legal recruitment since establishing FWA in 1995, where her name is synonymous with professional integrity and confidentiality.

    FWA offers the most relevant and appropriate recruitment and career advice to clients and candidate lawyers at all levels. Frasia concentrates on the more established end of the market, bringing her skills and knowledge together to work with senior lawyers, partners and team moves within private practice or in-house. She works closely with law firms and other organisations to provide solutions to recruitment problems and to complement their own recruitment strategies.

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    Frasia Wright

    Managing Director, Frasia Wright Associates
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    Sheekha Saha Solicitor, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

    Sheekha is a Scottish Solicitor, 20 years qualified. She works inhouse with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, based in their Stornoway office, covering various areas of Local Authority practice, but with a focus...
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    Sheekha is a Scottish Solicitor, 20 years qualified. She works inhouse with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, based in their Stornoway office, covering various areas of Local Authority practice, but with a focus on Social Work law. Outside the ‘day job’, she is one of the elected Members to the Law Society of Scotland’s governing Council and sits on a number of the Society’s Committees, including Child & Family Law, Access to Justice, Public Policy and she Co-Convenes the Inhouse Lawyers’ Committee. She is one of the five founding Members of SEMLA (the Scottish Ethinic Minorities Lawyers Association, an organisation established to promote and support the Legal professions in achieving equality, diversity and inclusion within those professions, for those from minority ethnic backgrounds). Sheekha was awarded the Herald Law Awards’ In-house Lawyer of the Year in 2022. 

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    Sheekha Saha

    Solicitor, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
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    Neil Taylor Director of the Office of the Advocate General & Solicitor

    Neil Taylor was appointed Director of the Office of the Advocate General & Solicitor to the Advocate General in August 2017.  The Office of the Advocate General provides legal advice, drafting...
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    Neil Taylor was appointed Director of the Office of the Advocate General & Solicitor to the Advocate General in August 2017.  The Office of the Advocate General provides legal advice, drafting and litigation services to the UK government in relation to Scotland. It also supports the Advocate General in his role as a UK government Law Officer.  Under Neil’s leadership the office has led on a number of high profile constitutional cases including the ‘Wightman’ case, the ‘Cherry’ prorogation cases, the ‘Benn Act’ cases, the‘ ‘Keatings’ case, and direct references to the Supreme Court on the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill and the UNCRC Bill and the European Charter of Local Self-Government Bill. Most recently Neil led the UK government response to the Lord Advocate’s reference to the Supreme Court on a possible Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.  

    Neil joined the civil service in 1995 and prior to devolution advised a number of Scottish Office departments as well as undertaking Home Office judicial review work in Scotland. Post-devolution highlights include:

    Legal adviser to a variety of departments and agencies within the Scottish Administration with work including litigation, advisory and instruction of primary legislation;

    From 2002 to 2013 - member of the Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel (OSPC). OSPC (now styled ‘Parliamentary Counsel Office’) is the legal office responsible for drafting all Bills that the Scottish Government introduces in the Scottish Parliament. During part of that time he was also involved in drafting some Scottish aspects of Westminster Bills;

    2010 - seconded to Historic Scotland for nine months during the Parliamentary passage of the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011. Also served as interim Chief Operating Officer for a short period during the secondment. Neil was a non-executive member of the Historic Scotland Advisory Committee from 2011 to 2015.

    Head of Advisory & Legislation Division in OAG from March 2013 until August 2016 with work including issues around the referendum on Scottish Independence, the subsequent Smith Commission and leading the team in OAG to deliver the bill which became the Scotland Act 2016.

    Legal Secretary to the Advocate General from August 2016 to August 2017. During that time working on constitutional issues arising from Exiting the European Union including the devolution implications of the Government’s arguments in the ‘Article 50’ Miller case before the Supreme Court.

    Neil has an MA(Hons) in English and Philosophy from the University of Glasgow and an LLB(Dist) from the University of Edinburgh. He was admitted as a solicitor and notary public in 1996.

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    Neil Taylor

    Director of the Office of the Advocate General & Solicitor
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    Amanda Millar Certified Specialist in Risk Management and Governance, Mental Health Law and in Incapacity and Mental Disability Law A Millar

    Amanda is a Past President of the Law Society of Scotland, a specialist in risk management, governance, mental health law and incapacity and mental disability law. She is currently an independent legal...
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    Amanda is a Past President of the Law Society of Scotland, a specialist in risk management, governance, mental health law and incapacity and mental disability law. She is currently an independent legal specialist, independent Chair of IoD Scotland’s EDI Expert Advisory Group, Chair of Samaritans Scotland Committee, and Chair of Court at the University of Dundee.

    Amanda has a wide breadth of experience across business, charity and member organisations, and has represented organisations’ interests at cabinet level with government, CEO level with organisational stakeholders, and programme director level with educational institutions.

    Amanda’s core values of equity, justice, and respect have led her to build a varied career anchored in integrity and clarity. Amanda believes passionately in equality of opportunity and the benefits to society of inclusion.

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    Amanda Millar

    Certified Specialist in Risk Management and Governance, Mental Health Law and in Incapacity and Mental Disability Law A Millar
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    Philip Rodney

    Philip joined Saxton Bampfylde as a Senior Advisor in 2022 and brings a combination of deep senior legal experience, consulting and entrepreneurial expertise and a passion for working with values-led organisations. Philip...
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    Philip joined Saxton Bampfylde as a Senior Advisor in 2022 and brings a combination of deep senior legal experience, consulting and entrepreneurial expertise and a passion for working with values-led organisations.

    Philip practised as a lawyer for more than 40 years, 20 of them in leadership roles, latterly as Chair of Burness Paull. He also previously chaired the Senior Lawyers Committee of the International Bar Association

    He currently sits as a non-executive director on a number of boards. He is a member of the GlobalScot community. Philip has written on a wide variety of legal and business issues for various publications including The Times, The Herald, The Press & Journal and The Lawyer.

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    Philip Rodney