About us
The Right Honourable Lord Penrose – Chair of the Inquiry
Lord Penrose was appointed as a Court of Session Judge in 1990 and retired in 2005. He is a graduate of Glasgow University (MA, LLB) and a Chartered Accountant. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1964 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1978. Before being appointed to the Court of Session, he served as Advocate Depute from 1986 and Home Advocate Depute from 1988 until 1990. He has also served as a Chairman of the Financial Services Tribunal and was President of the Scottish proceedings of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Arbitration Tribunal from 1977 to 1983. From 1984 until 1990 Lord Penrose was Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Lord Penrose conducted the public inquiry into the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the report of which was published in 2004. He is currently the Chairman of the Court of Heriot-Watt University.
Laura Dunlop, QC - Senior Counsel to the Inquiry
Laura Dunlop QC is a graduate of Edinburgh University. She was called to the Scottish Bar in 1989 and became a QC in 2002. She has had a wide ranging civil practice, and has appeared at planning and other inquiries (including the Dunblane Inquiry and the Holyrood Inquiry concerning the Scottish Parliament). She was a co-editor of the 10th, 11th and 12th editions of Gloag and Henderson: 'The Law of Scotland'. Her current appointments include that of Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and part time Commissioner with the Scottish Law Commission. www.hastiestable.com/Advocates.aspx
Euan Mackenzie, Advocate – Junior Counsel to the Inquiry
Euan Mackenzie was called to the Scottish Bar in 1999. He is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen (LLB Hons). He has been a standing junior counsel to the Scottish Government since 2006. He has a wide ranging civil practice with particular experience in public law and medical law. www.ampersandstable.co.uk/ampersand/Who_27_view
Nick Gardiner, Advocate – Junior Counsel to the Inquiry
Nick Gardiner was called to the Scottish Bar in 2001. He is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, L.L.B. M.A. (Hons). He has a mixed civil practice of personal injury and commercial work. He was appointed Crown Counsel in the second Lockerbie Appeal. www.arnotmanderson.co.uk/webpages/advocate-profiles/advocate_profile.php?id=49
Douglas Tullis, Solicitor to the Inquiry
Douglas Tullis qualified as a solicitor in 1973 and is a senior civil servant on secondment to the Inquiry from the Scottish Government Legal Directorate, which he joined in 2002 after a career mainly in private practice as a litigation solicitor in Edinburgh. He has a particular interest in public inquiries and acted as Solicitor to the Inquiry under the chairmanship of Lord Fraser of Carmyllie into the Holyrood Parliament building project which reported in 2004.
Louyse McConnell-Trevillion, Deputy Solicitor
Douglas Tullis will be supported by Louyse McConnell-Trevillion, Deputy Solicitor to the Inquiry. Louyse is a lawyer on secondment from the Government Legal Service for Scotland. She has held posts advising Scottish Ministers on education, freedom of information and before secondment was Legal Secretary Depute to the Lord Advocate.
Maria McCann, Secretary to the Inquiry
Maria McCann is a civil servant on secondment to the Inquiry from the Scottish Government. She joined the Scottish Government in 2001 as a policy analyst in Schools Directorate. Previously she was a senior manager with local government.
Diane Barr, Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry
Maria McCann will be supported by Diane Barr, Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry. Diane is on secondment to the Inquiry from the Scottish Parliament. She was Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry under the chairmanship of Lord Fraser of Carmyllie into the Holyrood Parliament building project which reported in 2004.
Neil MacFarlane – Document and Evidence Manager
Neil MacFarlane is a civil servant on secondment to the Inquiry from the Scottish Government. He originally trained as a librarian before joining the civil service in 1980. His civil service career has included posts in IT, finance and education.
Oliver Stempt, Deputy Document and Evidence Manager
Neil MacFarlane is supported by Oliver Stempt, Deputy Document and Evidence Manager. He joined Her Majesty’s Courts Service in 2000 as a court clerk, and has most recently worked as a personal insolvency officer.
Professor Oliver James - Medical Assessor to the Inquiry
Professor James recently stepped down as Head of the Medical School and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Newcastle. For almost thirty years Professor James was a consultant physician in Newcastle. His research interests have been in Liver Disease and Ageing and he has written over 300 research papers. He is a former Senior Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians and President of the British Association for the Study of the Liver. He is also Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel of ERAB (an independent European biomedical research charity into alcohol, funded by the brewers of Europe).
