Who are we?

LLB LLM DipLP NP, Solicitor in Scotland, Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Writer to Her Majesty’s Signet.

Alan specialises in advising clients on company and corporate matters, and tricky commercial contracts.  This could be as life-changing as buying or selling a business; or as simple as a small contract for a widget or two.  Often it’s something seemingly straight-forward but actually fiendishly tricky.  He actually enjoys that sort of thing …  Whatever it is, he’ll almost certainly have seen something similar before, and will advise in plain English on how to get the best for your business.

Previously a partner in an Edinburgh law firm, and latterly general counsel for a major Scottish travel company, he is a “dual qualified” solicitor, able to offer advice on both English and Scottish legal issues.

Alana is Law Society of Scotland Accredited Paralegal in Civil Litigation: Debt Recovery and joined Young & Partners in March 2016 from a well-established Personal Injury Law Firm in Edinburgh. She has a wide range of knowledge in all aspects of Civil Litigation. She has assisted in dealing with high value Court of Session cases as well as Sheriff Court cases and has a firm grasp of the Court procedure. Alana is extremely approachable and always happy to help clients, if she can, with any queries they may have.

Since joining the firm and achieving her accredited paralegal qualification, Alana is gaining lots of experience dealing with Court of Session cases together with Sheriff Court actions such as Ordinary Cause, Summary Cause and the newly introduced, Simple Procedure. She is now another key member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Management Team, where, alongside Janet Alexander, she has been involved in many of the Firm’s highest profile domestic and transnational disputes.

Ali has been with the firm since October 2001 and is now one of the most experienced licensing paralegals in Scotland. Ali is also a Law Society of Scotland Accredited Paralegal. She is highly organised and efficient and is the first point of contact for many of the firm’s clients.  She has the ear of licensing staff throughout the country.

In addition to her licensing role, Ali is Operations Manager in Dunfermline, responsible for our internal systems and protocols.  She is a stickler for precision and quality of work and welcomes feedback from clients on our performance and client care.

She is also involved in the firm’s marketing projects, ensuring our clients are kept up to date with changes or updates in the Law.  Ali is our ‘Jack of all Trades’ in Dunfermline, making sure everything runs like clockwork and generally keeping everyone else on their toes!

Angus is a corporate/commercial lawyer with over 15 years’ experience.  He works principally with SMEs and early stage companies and has particular expertise in:

• early stage finance and angel investment
• commercial contracts (including terms & conditions, services agreements, distribution agreements)
• intellectual property (including advising on copyright and trade marks)
• business and company sales / purchases
• shareholders agreements / disputes
• general corporate issues
• charities (including incorporating new charities and converting existing ones to SCIOs or companies limited by guarantee)

Angus is a non-executive director of Red Note Ensemble (a contemporary music ensemble funded by Creative Scotland) and in his spare time plays the bass guitar in various bands.

Craig is an Associate within our Commercial Property department. He acts for SMEs and family run businesses across Scotland as well as UK-wide and international companies, charities and pension fund providers. Craig has developed a wide range of expertise in property transactions, with particular emphasis on commercial leasing and business acquisitions/disposals across a number of sectors, including healthcare, industrial and the hospitality industry.

He frequently deals with complex and high value transactions involving property developers, financial institutions and national retailers.  Craig also has significant experience in dealing with the refinancing and restructuring of a variety of commercial and residential property portfolios for clients.

Craig is a former Chairman of Dunfermline Round Table.

Elizabeth is an Associate Director specialising in dispute resolution and dispute avoidance. She advises on a wide range of business transactions and has extensive experience of resolving disputes in both the public and private sectors. She is client focussed and provides practical commercial advice.

Elizabeth has over 20 years’ experience of property litigation and contract drafting. She is an accredited specialist in construction law and acts for Developers, Investors, Contractors and Landowners. Prior to joining Young & Partners, Elizabeth worked in-house for a Main Contractor.

Elizabeth is regularly instructed at an early stage to provide strategic advice in development projects and construction contracts including the options for the appropriate form of dispute resolution should any contentious issues arise.

Fiona joined Young & Partners in November 2015 from Morton Fraser where she climbed the ranks to Senior Associate within their Litigation Division.

During Fiona’s time at Morton Fraser she spent time on secondment to the Scottish Government Civil Recovery Unit and was also selected to provide maternity cover in house for the Head of the Dispute Resolution Team at National Australia Bank.  During these secondments Fiona gained invaluable experience in the area of fraud and financial crime. This led her to become the only solicitor in Scotland to obtain the Certified Fraud Examiner accreditation, and develop her skills in advising on fraud and financial crime matters. She brings her in depth knowledge of fighting fraud to the team.

Fiona’s strength and experience lies in resolving disputes for her clients. She has extensive experience representing a host of large public bodies; Police Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and Transport Scotland among them.

Fiona provides practical commercial advice to clients both at the pre-litigation stage and in Court of Session and Sheriff Court actions.  She frequently appears on behalf of clients in Sheriff Courts across Scotland.

Janet joined the Firm in 2009.  She is a qualified Employment Paralegal.  Having graduated in September 2002, she is a Law Society of Scotland Accredited Paralegal.  Highly experienced in the practice of employment law, Janet advises clients on all aspects of internal procedures, grievances, disciplinary matters and employees’ use of social media.  She was one of the first qualified Employment Paralegals in Scotland to have carried out advocacy work at the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeals Tribunal.

Janet is extremely experienced in all aspects of Commercial Litigation and is a key member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Management Team, where she has been involved in many of the Firm’s highest profile domestic and transnational disputes, including a number of International Arbitrations.

Janet is also our ‘go to girl’ for upkeep of our own social media and website!

In addition Janet is Operations Manager in our Glasgow Office, providing management support to the Managing Director and assisting with staff matters.

John joined Young & Partners after gaining experience at some of Scotland’s best known legal firms and became a partner in April 2008.  John deals with all aspects of commercial property, providing expert advice and drafting.  John has a wealth of experience and a profound knowledge of property law.  He acts for clients of all sizes, from sole traders and owner operator businesses to PLC’s across all sectors including retail, industrial, renewables, land development, leisure and licensing.  John’s clients find his pragmatic approach and his eye for detail make him stand out from others in his field.

Julie has a practical and commercial approach to resolving disputes which arise in the course of our clients’ businesses. As Julie specializes in employment law and dispute resolution, those disputes can be wide ranging and vary from advising on instances where her clients have not been paid what they are due under their customer contracts to internal employee disputes.

As well as advising on such disputes when necessary, Julie also tries to prevent those disputes arising in the first place by drafting contracts of employment and work related policies. Clients find her personable and appreciate her clear advice in areas of law which can be minefields for any size of business. With over 13 years’ experience, both in commercial litigation and employment law, Julie is well placed to advise on these fast moving fields. Constantly up to date, Julie writes blogs for our Knowledge Series and presents seminars on current developments in employment law.

Kimberley is a Qualified Paralegal with over 13 years’ experience dealing with conveyancing work and joined Young & Partners in April 2018 from a well-established conveyancing firm in Dunfermline.

Kimberley assists Stephen Lochrie director and Craig Smith associate director in the provision of high quality, cost effective conveyancing, both domestic and commercial.

Kimberley is extremely friendly and approachable and happy to assist clients, if she can, with any queries they may have during their conveyancing transaction.

Kimberley has quickly become a key member of the Conveyancing team.

Malcolm advises on all aspects of corporate work, including acquisitions and disposals, corporate finance, buy-outs, joint ventures and shareholder matters, company and partnership law, commercial contracts and other commercial matters.

Malcolm has particular expertise in the hospitality and leisure sector and brings a highly experienced, practical and commercial approach.

Malcolm previously worked at Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP in Edinburgh where he was a partner in their corporate team.

Robin has been a full time litigator since 1988. He is experienced and solution driven.  He deals with all types of commercial disputes, advising clients on everything from typical business and contractual disputes to more complex issues. There are few areas of litigation Robin has not dealt with, having gained experience and extensive knowledge throughout his notable career, from litigation about tartan, to dealing with ‘dawn raids’.

Robin regularly advises on contractual and shareholder disputes, debt recovery, property litigation, personal and corporate insolvency, and intellectual property disputes. Aside from traditional ‘court based’ litigation in the Sheriff Courts and Court of Session, Robin is experienced in construction disputes, arbitration, construction adjudication and commercial mediation. He has also provided advice on Cross Border disputes through legal firms in England and internationally.

Ruth is the Managing Director of the Business.

She is a highly experienced litigator specialising in all areas of commercial dispute resolution, with a particular expertise in construction law. She advises clients in the successful resolution of litigation, conducted both in the Court of Session and the Sheriff Courts. Qualified with a Masters in Construction Law at Strathclyde University, Ruth guides all parties, from developers and consultants to contractors and subcontractors, through the complex drafting and negotiating processes involved in construction and engineering projects. This includes construction contracts, appointments, sub contracts and collateral warranties.

Ruth also represents clients in disputed construction contracts and Alternative Dispute Resolution, including adjudication, arbitration, mediation and the Homeowner Housing Panel.  She is a member of the Adjudication Society. She is a pragmatic business lawyer who focuses on sound practical and commercial advice.

Stephen has over twenty five years’ experience in corporate and commercial property.  With a UK wide client base, Stephen is involved in the management of projects, corporate structuring and restructuring, commercial funding as well as all aspects of commercial property  His clients welcome his solution driven approach and his ability to structure a deal to the best advantage means that he is the first port of call for many successful entrepreneurial clients.

Steven Wicks is one of our corporate solicitors.

From guiding clients through business restructuring, sales and purchases, drafting confidentiality agreements, conducting commercial contract reviews to providing support to sole traders directors, partners and shareholders of businesses, Steven helps a diverse range of clients by advising them on all manner of corporate law matters.

Steven is also studying at the University of Dundee  for a Masters in Energy Law and Policy and in his free time, he likes shooting archery, building Lego and reading historical and military history.