Why did you become Solicitor Advocate?
As a fresh-faced trainee entering my 3rd seat in litigation, I realised quite quickly that I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of litigation and the adversarial nature of appearing in court.
Working in the Liability claims defence team defending a variety of personal injury actions allowed me to appear regularly within Sheriff Courts throughout Scotland for over a decade gaining invaluable advocacy experience.
Inspired by seeing colleagues such as Laura McMillan and Tony Jones, KC thrive as Solicitor Advocates, I was keen to develop and improve my own advocacy skills with a view to gaining rights of audience in the Court of Session. An application to the Law Society of Scotland ensued.
How do you become a Solicitor Advocate?
Attending the Law Society's compulsory introductory course and hearing the positive experiences of experienced Solicitor Advocates reinforced my desire to formally apply.
References were sought and obtained from encouraging Sheriffs and members of faculty. An application form containing details of my experience and recent cases was submitted and I then waited patiently. Following a sifting process, I was advised that my application had been successful.
The course is certainly not for the feint hearted. Weekend classes became the norm with written course work and studying for oral and written exams taking up weekday evenings whilst at the same time still managing a busy caseload.
The course culminated in a final exam which was to deliver an oral submission in front of two Court of Session judges in the Inner House. There wasn't much sleep the night before but thankfully my preparation paid off.
The course was a worthwhile experience, and I would certainly recommend it to other solicitors keen to develop their advocacy skills
How has it impacted your day-to-day role?
Since gaining extended rights of audience, I have joined the Advocacy team at Brodies and continue to work in my role as a Senior Associate in the Liability claims defence team. I have been instructed regularly as Counsel in a number of personal injury and disease cases appearing in opposed motion hearings and at pre-trial meetings.
Gaining extended rights of audience has also given me the opportunity to work my own cases through to completion without the need to instruct external counsel.
What one piece of advice would you give to anyone who is thinking about becoming a Solicitor Advocate?
If you're thinking about it and enjoy the cut and thrust of advocacy attend the Law Society's compulsory introductory course and go from there – what have you got to lose?!
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