Solicitor Members
Member of the Tribunal since 2006. Chair of the Tribunal since June 2021. Admitted 1994. Sole practitioner principally in the fields of property law, wills, trusts, executries and tax law. Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Part time Tutor at the University of Glasgow School of Law.
Member of the Tribunal since September 2016. Admitted as a solicitor in 2001. Dual qualified as a solicitor in Scotland and England and Wales. Solicitor advocate accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in professional negligence law. Currently a Legal Director with Clyde & Co. Solicitors. Prior to that, worked for DAC Beachcroft Scotland LLP and Brodies LLP. A Legal Member of the Parole Board for Scotland. Former Part-time tutor at the University of Edinburgh Centre for Professional Legal Studies. Former solicitor member of the Law Society of Scotland Complaints Sub-Committee. Member of The School Closure Review Panel.
Member of the Tribunal since January 2021. Admitted as a solicitor in 2010. Principally practices in insurance litigation. Qualified as a Solicitor Advocate in 2018. Joined BTO Solicitors LLP in 2015 and is a Partner in its insurance litigation department. A tutor on the Diploma in Legal Practice at University of Glasgow.
Member of the Tribunal since September 2021. Admitted as a Solicitor in 2014 and completed his legal traineeship with Morton Fraser. Thomas joined Ross & Connel in October 2019, following a few years practising in commercial and family litigation, and is an Partner in their Private Client department. His work principally involves Wills, Powers of Attorney, administration of Estates and providing inheritance tax advice. He is a Solicitor Member of the Advisory Council on Messenger-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers and Legal Advisor for Justices of the Peace at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Member of the Tribunal since November 2019. Vincent McGovern is a solicitor of thirty years’ experience. From 2007-2011 he served on the Law Society of Scotland’s team of solicitors to represent criminal lawyers in legal aid negotiations with the Scottish Government. In 2012 he was appointed to the Scottish Legal Aid Board and serves on their Legal Services Policy Committee and the Quality Assurance Committee. In 2016 he gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee as part of their inquiry into the role and purpose of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Member of the Tribunal since September 2018. Admitted as a solicitor in 1997. Retired solicitor, previously worked at Blackwood & Smith LLP, Peebles for 27 years. Specialised in family law. Previously undertook civil and criminal court work as well as conveyancing, wills, powers of attorney, executry and general chamber practice work. Past Chair of the Family Law Association of Scotland and Dean of the Faculty of Solicitors in the Shires of Selkirk and Peebles.
Eric Baijal was admitted as a solicitor in 2005. He leads BBM Solicitors, a law firm with offices in Wick and Edinburgh. Eric is a commercial litigator and is accredited as a specialist in insolvency law by the law society of Scotland.