Professional Legal Practice (Diploma)
Teaching Team
Our Diploma in Professional Legal Practice management, administration and delivery teams are key to our goals of delivering excellence in professional legal education and ensuring that our students are prepared for practice.
Our senior tutors, who are drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds across the Scottish legal profession, lead a team of experienced, enthusiastic and committed tutors. The one common theme that all of our senior tutor teams offer our students is expert professional experience.
Acting Director of Professional Legal Practice
Eileen Paterson LLB
With nearly 30 years of experience with Ross Harper, solicitors in Glasgow, and as a sole practitioner, Eileen specialised in criminal cases and Children’s Hearing Referrals. Eileen was appointed to act as a safeguarder, curator ad litem, legal representative as well as presenting cases in the sheriff court on behalf of SCRA, children and other relevant persons. Eileen was also a member of the Criminal Law committee of the Law Society of Scotland.
Eileen is a member of the disciplinary and regulatory committee of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) as well as a member of the disciplinary and regulatory committee of the Association of Certified and Chartered Accountants (ACCA).
Telephone 0141 330 7167
Email Eileen.Paterson@glasgow.ac.uk
Administration
Fiona Macaulay
Administrator
Telephone 0141 330 6351
Email Fiona.Macaulay@glasgow.ac.uk
Fatima Samodien
Administrative Assistant
Telephone 0141 330 7159
Email Fatima.Samodien@glasgow.ac.uk
Joint Senior Tutor Civil Litigation
Anne Bennie LLB (Hons), Dip LP
Anne has worked as a Solicitor in private practice for 16 years, the last 8 years of which were spent as a Litigation Partner. Anne has extensive experience of representing private and commercial clients in Sheriff Courts and Court of Session as well as acting for clients at Fatal Accident and Public Inquiries. She is also experienced in leading negotiations and in representing clients at Arbitration and Mediation. Anne is a senior associate with Tods Murray.
Joint Senior Tutor Civil Litigation
Gillian Craig LLB (Hons), Dip LP
Gillian Craig is a partner at MacRoberts.
She has a particular interest in property litigation, having acted in relation to neighbour disputes, leases, boundary, title and title condition issues, nuisance, breach of missives, and reduction and rectification actions.
She is a member of the Property Litigation Association and Women in Property.
Gillian also has particular experience of insolvency and related matters such as gratuitous alienations, unfair preferences, retention of title claims and directors’ disqualification.
Gillian has represented clients in the sheriff courts, Lands Tribunal and Lands Court and regularly instructs actions in the Court of Session. She also has a wealth of experience in employing ADR methods - successfully negotiating and settling disputes extra-judicially, where possible.
Joint Senior Tutor Advanced Civil Litigation
David Thomson LLB Dip LP
David is a member of the Ampersand Stable Faculty of Advocates and has been Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General for Scotland since 2009.
David practises exclusively in commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on commercial property, commercial contracts and insolvency litigation. He is recommended in the 2008 Edition of The Legal 500 for Property, Construction and Agriculture. He has acted in a number of significant and high profile cases since calling in 2004. He regularly represents commercial landlords and tenants, banks and insolvency practitioners. He has been recommended for insolvency law by The Legal 500. He also deals with administrative law and human rights matters and was a Standing Junior to the Scottish Ministers from 2005 to 2009.
Joint Senior Tutor Advanced Civil Litigation
John Paul Sheridan
John Paul is a director of TLT Scotland Ltd specialising in litigation. He is a solicitor advocate with rights of audience in the Court of Session and UK Supreme Court. He has particular expertise in financial services litigation and professional negligence claims against solicitors, surveyors and architects. He also specialises in complex contractual, commercial and property related disputes.
He is independently recognised as an expert in the field of Dispute Resolution by Chambers UK, a guide to the legal profession, and as a leading individual by Legal 500.
John Paul qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and as a solicitor advocate in 2005. He became a partner in TLT LLP and a director of TLT Scotland Ltd following the merger with Anderson Fyfe in July 2012.
Senior Tutor Corporate and Finance
Alan Stewart LLB
Alan Stewart is a partner in Kergan Stewart, a boutique firm, specialising in corporate law. He has over 30 years experience in corporate work, having been a partner in a number of law firms as well as having been head of an in-house legal department. Alan has covered the full range of corporate work - start-ups, debt and equity fundings, mergers and acquisitions, flotations and privatisations.
Senior Tutor Property Law and Conveyancing 
Debra Clapham LLB BA (Hons); M Phil, Dip LP: Dip Psychology
Debra is a partner with Claphams Solicitors and her area of specialism is conveyancing in which she is vastly experienced. She is also a part-time immigration judge with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and a former member of the General Teaching Council. She is a Member of the Law Society of Scotland and a Graduate member of British Psychological Society.
Senior Tutor Criminal Litigation
Professor Sheriff Alfred Vannet LLB, Honorary Professorial Teaching Fellow
Sheriff Alfred Vannet is Sheriff of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway.
He is now retired from full time post as Sheriff at Airdrie but continues to cover there as and when required at the request of the sheriff principal
He qualified as a solicitor in 1975 and joined the Crown Office in 1976.In 1984 Sheriff Vannet was appointed Head of the Appeals section in the Crown Office, and was in charge of the Crown Office investigation into the Piper Alpha disaster. He acted as Solicitor to the Public inquiry. He was subsequently appointed Deputy Crown Agent.
Between 1997 and 1999 he was Regional Procurator Fiscal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. In 1999 he was appointed as a Sheriff and has sat in Airdrie Sheriff Court since that time.
Sheriff Vannet is an Honorary Member of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a contributing author to Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia: Criminal Procedure ; Sheehan & Dickson: Criminal Procedure and Green's Sentencing Practice: Judge Tutor for the Judicial Studies Committee.
In 2011, Sheriff Alfred Vannet was made an Honorary Professorial Teaching Fellow by the University of Glasgow
Senior Tutor Advanced Criminal Litigation
Mr Michael Meehan LLB Dip LP
Mr Meehan is a member of the Faculty of Advocates. He called to the Bar in 2003, following 5 years in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service [COPFS] and 7 years as a solicitor in private practice.
Mr Meehan is a member of the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association
Within COPFS, he gained extensive experience including preparing High Court prosecutions. In 1997 he was admitted as a solicitor advocate.
Between January 2006 and February 2009 Mr Meehan was an Advocate Depute. During this time he prepared and prosecuted many complex, serious and sensitive cases including road traffic, firearms, drugs, sexual offences and murder cases. In March 2009 Michael returned to the defence Bar.
Mr Meehan is extensively instructed in both High Court and Sheriff Court cases.
Joint Senior Tutor Family Law
Bernadette Baxter LLB Dip LP
Ms Baxter is currently a partner with Naftalin Duncan & Co Solicitors. She specialises in Civil Litigation with particular emphasis on Family Law.
Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1988, Ms Baxter has worked with several legal firms. During this time, she has represented children and parties both in negotiations and in the conduct of cases including Child Welfare Hearings, Children’s Referral Proofs and Ordinary Proofs.
In 1999 Ms Baxter helped to found the Family Team at Glasgow Sheriff Court. From 1999 until 2009, Ms Baxter was a solicitor member, and the only solicitor member who sat on the team throughout its existence. Ms Baxter has been an Executive Committee Member of the Glasgow Bar Association from 1999 to date. She is also a Curator ad Litem in the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and has held that position for 15 years. President of the Glasgow Bar Association 2011-2012.
Joint Senior Tutor Family Law
Nicos Scholarios LLB (Hons), NP
Qualified as a Solicitor in 1983. Senior Partner of MSM Solicitors, with offices in Paisley and Glasgow. General Practitioner with extensive experience in Family Law.
Accredited Family Law Mediator by the Law Society of Scotland since 1995. Registered as a Notary Public since February 1984. Currently Secretary of CALM, an association of Lawyer Mediators in Scotland.
Joint Senior Tutor Human Rights
Frances McCarthy
Frances McCartney is a solicitor with a wide ranging practice in areas of public law, human rights, child law and environmental law. She has acted for a number of charities in public law matters including in public interest interventions. She has wide experience on the issue of access to justice.
Joint Senior Tutor Human Rights
Craig French LLB (Hons), Dip LP, N.P.
Craig is a Divisional Solicitor/Deputy Director in the Scottish Government's Legal Directorate. He teaches Human Rights law at the University of Glasgow, and constitutional law at the University of Nantes.
Craig has considerable experience in both the private and public sector, principally as a litigator. He currently heads up the Criminal Justice, Police & Fire Division in the Scottish Government Legal Directorate, advising Scottish Government Ministers and policy officials on all aspects of criminal justice and community safety. Prior to taking up his current role, Craig headed up the Employment Law & Litigation team in the Scottish Government, where he dealt with employment law, Judicial Review, Human Rights law and Mental Health Tribunal litigation.
Craig's expertise in human rights law derives principally from his involvement in defending ECHR based claims against the Government on a regular basis, and in advising Ministers in relation to their sphere of operations, particularly in the context of Government Bills and secondary legislation.
Senior Tutor Contemporary Scottish Public Law
Denise Mckay LLB, Dip LP
Denise McKay is a Senior Principal Legal Officer within the Scottish Government Legal Directorate.
She joined the Scottish Government in 2000 at devolution and has a particular interest in good government practise at both local and national level, and instructing and drafting legislation whilst advising Ministers in high profile Criminal justice matters having been the lead solicitor in the Criminal Justice and Licensing ( Scotland) Act 2010, and the Offensive Behaviours at Football and Threatening Communications Bill.
She is a member of the Property Litigation Association and Women in Property.
Denise previously spent 10 years working in a number of local authority areas advising principally Social Work, Education and Housing Departments and representing them in the sheriff court in various Adoption, child protection and statutory appeal matters.
Denise has recently returned from the European Academy of Law which was host to a summer school on European Criminal Justice and is preparing to embrace the significant EU criminal law directives which she will be responsible for implementing in Scotland.
Senior Tutor Private Client
Alison MacNeil
Alison is a Consultant in the Private Client team at Miller Samuel LLP, specialising in Trust, Tax and Charities. She is dually qualified in Scotland and England & Wales. She has also many years of experience in dealing with Estates (Wills, Trusts and Executries), Tax Planning and Wealth Management. She considers her area overall to be one of the most fundamental and interesting areas of practice in terms of the wide range of people and scope of their instructions and interests, which may be both private and or integral to their business or public persona. The art of accurate and discrete communication and engagement as well as strategic thinking to plan for succession and asset protection are vital and interesting. She tries to use all of her experience to synergise applicable law and life events positively to create opportunities for clients and dependents. Alison has worked in London, Aberdeen and Glasgow dealing with all levels of private clients and business families. She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Charity Law Association.
Joint Senior Tutor Business, Ethics, Finance and Practice Awareness
Iain Sim LLB Hons DLP NP
Iain Sim is a graduate of Glasgow University's Law School. He completed his traineeship with Maclay Murray & Spens LLP.
Since 2003 he has taught and examined across a range of legal subjects at both Glasgow's main Law Schools. Currently he is a joint senior-tutor on the University of Glasgow DLP and is guest lecturer (Business Law and Commercial Law) at other Universities. In addition, his articles have been carried in JLSS and SLT.
He is a director of When in Rome Ltd, a Scottish company specialising in artist management and promotion, writing and production, with clients across the UK and Europe.
Joint Senior Tutor Business, Ethics, Finance and Practice Awareness
Brian O’Neill LLB MBA
Brian is a Business Consultant who provides a range of services to the legal profession. Having spent over 20 years as a solicitor in private practice, Brian left the profession in December 2000. During his time as a solicitor, Brian became one of the founding Directors of Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre (GSPC) and whose duties had a strong IT focus.
On leaving the profession, Brian headed up a Software Company that specialised in producing software for the legal profession and, in addition to senior managerial duties, gained experience in managing software development, project implementation, marketing and promotion. Whilst there, he attended the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, graduating MBA in 2006.
Since 2005, Brian has been providing consultancy services to the legal profession, focusing on finance and financial management, business development, organisational management, marketing and promotion and advice on IT and Practice Management systems. He produces Back to Basics for Lawyers, a monthly Business Briefing focusing on management issues and challenges that are of interest to the profession.
Brian is also the owner of The Styles Bank, a company formed to provide assistance and support to solicitors in the management of their document Templates and in the provision of “packaged” styles.