The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association, launched yesterday with a mission to represent and promote the interests of criminal solicitors. The body has been created following increased demand for support for criminal solicitors reliant on legal aid, who have been left disappointed by the Scottish Government’s support package.
The new body’s President is Julia McPartlin, former President of the Edinburgh Bar Association, and its Vice President Stuart Murray, President of the Aberdeen Bar Association.
Other committee members include David Fisken and Derrick Williamson (Glasgow & Strathkelvin), Gordon Addison and Scott McKenzie (Tayside, Central & Fife), Darryl Lovie (Lothian & Borders), Robert Cruickshank (Grampian, Highland & Islands), Simon Brown and Philip Lafferty (North Strathclyde), and Tony Currie and Mark O’Hanlon (South Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway).
The organisation is open to all solicitors and trainees in private criminal defence practice, membership is to be free for the first year. Applicants should email their name and sheriffdom of practice to thessba21@gmail.com
On twitter the body is using #weturnedup from a powerful twitter address to Humza Yousaf. Darryl Lovie, defence Lawyer and Partner at Keegan Smith, Livingston discusses the difficulties faced by defence lawyers throughout the pandemic.