A native of Dunfermline, Fife, I headed south of the border aged around 12 and spent my teens in Cumbria of all places. After 5 years in the insurance industry, during which I progressed to “Commercial Underwriter” with the (now long gone) General Accident plc in Carlisle, I then headed further south to sunny Stoke-on-Trent, where I graduated in law at Staffordshire University in 1995, then passed the Legal Practice Course in 1996.
I qualified as a solicitor with Walters & Plaskitt, a traditional high street practice in Burslem, in the northern reaches of Stoke-on-Trent, in November 1998.
I joined Knights in October 2000 and now undertake all aspects of civil and commercial litigation/dispute resolution. As well as the traditional disputes regarding non-payment and/or allegations of defective products and/or services, there is virtually no end to the variety of disputes which arise and have required my professional assistance to bring them to a conclusion. Recent examples include a dispute with a local authority regarding the terms of a restrictive covenant in a council house right to buy purchase, advice in relation to the authenticity of a piece of antique furniture and a claim against a national bank for substantial damages for failing to adhere to the terms of its own bank mandate thus allowing a director of the company (whose bank account it was) to remove significant funds from that company’s bank account. I have also been involved in a damages claim for loss of enjoyment on a 4 week cruise on a world famous cruise ship which ran aground and a trespass claim against a national firm for the unauthorised dumping of several hundred thousand tonnes of partly contaminated soil on a farmer’s field.
When not being a solicitor, I like playing the drums, and my (very minor) claim to fame was appearing on a (little viewed) arts television programme in the late 80s/early 90s. Although I still play, I haven’t played in a band for some years, instead infuriating colleagues by tapping feet/hands/pens on any available surface. I can also bash out a few chords on the guitar, and really must learn to do it properly. I currently run 2 motorbikes - a pearl-white (that’s important!) 1991 Honda VFR 750 (the bike I wanted in my late teens/early 20s), as well as a BMW R1150 GS (similar to the bikes which Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode from London to New York on the “Long Way Round” trip, which also became a popular TV show). I am an occasional supporter of Dunfermline Athletic FC (“the Pars”) and also like films and theatre, travelling, rambling/hill walking and skiing.