Cohabitation rights seminar

John has been in legal practice for 42 years. Within this time he has been a Partner for 34 years, prior to becoming a Consultant in September 2018. John is a member of the Trusts and Succession Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland, and sat on an Advisory Committee of Practitioners and Advocates. The function of that Committee was to advise the Scottish Law Commission in relation to proposed changes to the laws of succession.

John has chaired a number of Conferences on Succession, Trusts, Adults with Incapacity etc over the past 19 years, on a number of occasions sharing a platform with the former Public Guardian, Sandra McDonald. He regularly speaks and provides Seminars to various local Faculties throughout Scotland and other Legal Training providers on, inter alia, succession and AWI topics, including a number of Internet Webinars.

John has been in legal practice for 42 years. Within this time he has been a Partner for 34 years, prior to becoming a Consultant in September 2018. John is a member of the Trusts and Succession Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland, and sat on an Advisory Committee of Practitioners and Advocates. The function of that Committee was to advise the Scottish Law Commission in relation to proposed changes to the laws of succession.

John has chaired a number of Conferences on Succession, Trusts, Adults with Incapacity etc over the past 19 years, on a number of occasions sharing a platform with the former Public Guardian, Sandra McDonald. He regularly speaks and provides Seminars to various local Faculties throughout Scotland and other Legal Training providers on, inter alia, succession and AWI topics, including a number of Internet Webinars.

Karen is a highly experienced family law solicitor who is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in family law and also as a family law mediator. She is trained in Collaborative Practice. Karen holds dual qualification in Scots and English law.  

Karen has extensive experience over the spectrum of family law case types, including financial provision and divorce cases; cohabitation cases; pre-nuptial and pre-cohabitation agreements; child related cases, including those with an international element and child abduction related matters.

Having specialised exclusively in family law since the outset of her career, she has many years of experience of assisting clients achieve the right outcome for their particular circumstances. Whilst experienced in dealing with cases both in the sheriff courts and Court of Session, in most cases, she is able to help clients find a positive way forward without the need for court proceedings.

Karen is a member of Consensus, IACP (the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals), CALM Scotland and the Family Law Association of Scotland (FLA). For many years, she also assisted with family law clinics within the Edinburgh community on a voluntary basis both with Citizens Advice Bureau and Gingerbread.

For many years, Karen had a very close involvement with the running of Scotland's FLA.  Karen was elected twice on to the FLA's Committee, from 2008 to 2016, and held high profile office bearing roles: Vice Chair (2012 to 2014) and Chair (2014 to 2016).  Amongst the objectives of the FLA is the promotion and monitoring of family law reform as well as the provision of education and training in family law and in skills necessary for good practice. Karen regularly organised and chaired training events for family law practitioners throughout Scotland, was in regular communication with the Scottish Government primarily in relation to family law reform, and by virtue of her office bearing roles, Karen was also invited to give evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee in connection with the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Chambers UK comment that Karen "offers advice on financial provision, cohabitation claims and child-related matters" and she is also highlighted as an accredited mediator and family law specialist.

Lesley is ranked in band 1 by Chambers UK legal directory and is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in family law.

She has specialised in this area for twenty years and is considered one of the foremost experts in Scotland. Rated highly by peers and clients alike, one commentator described her as "an absolutely brilliant, knowledgeable person" and another that “She has financial knowledge and gravitas. I think she is faultless” (Chambers UK). Lesley has a wide breadth of experience in all aspects of family law and has both a contentious and non-contentious practice.

Lesley is "extremely effective in dealing with clients who struggle to understand the financial side of things. She is very sensitive to clients' needs" and "she can explain things simply and effectively while also managing their expectation." (Chambers UK)

Lesley deals principally with the financial issues arising from the formation or breakdown of relationships, including those involving an international dimension. She has particular experience in cases involving the valuation of companies and the interface between partnership law and family law.

Lesley sits on the national committee of the Scottish Collaborative Practice Group “Consensus” and is a family law arbitrator with the Family Law Arbitration Group Scotland.

Anne was a family law specialist and accredited family mediator until retiring from legal practice in 2017. She now works freelance as a family mediator, trainer, consultant and writer under the name “Inkdance Family Mediation” which allows her to continue to indulge her enthusiasm for dispute resolution and black letter family law.  Anne is currently working on an update for the annotations to the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 for W. Green, which might help temper that enthusiasm!

Anne is part of the training team for the Portfolio which provides training for Collaborative Practice and Mediation. She is a consultant for Brewin Dolphin, helping to build as much shared understanding as possible when professionals are advising about financial provision.