About us

Lord Penrose

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

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

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

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

Jane Patrick

Jane Patrick, Advocate
Junior Counsel to the Inquiry

Jane Patrick was called to the Scottish Bar in 1994. She is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen (LLB). She has had a civil practice with particular experience in personal injury and medical negligence work. In 2005 she was appointed as a Convenor to the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.

Andrea Summers
Solicitor to the Inquiry

Andrea Summers is on secondment from the Government Legal Service for Scotland. She joined the GLSS in 2005 and has held posts advising the Criminal Justice Division in the Justice Directorate and has also worked in the Office of the Advocate General. Prior to that, Andrea was a solicitor in private practice for eight years holding posts in the litigation and public law and human rights teams of a large Scottish law firm.

Maria McCann

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 within local government.

Sarah Noble

Sarah Noble
Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry

Maria McCann will be supported by Sarah Noble, Deputy Secretary to the Inquiry. Sarah has been a Civil Servant for over 30 years and is on secondment to the Inquiry from the Learning Directorate of the Scottish Government. She has previous experience working in public inquiries, having provided a support role on the Orkney Inquiry and the Fife Inquiry in the 1990s.

Neil MacFarlane

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.

Keith Fleming

Keith Fleming
Deputy Document and Evidence Manager

Neil MacFarlane is supported by Keith Fleming, Deputy Document and Evidence Manager. He previously worked in Documents and Evidence at The Billy Wright Inquiry.

Professor Oliver James

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).