Arnot Manderson Advocates welcomes the news that Her Majesty The Queen has, on the recommendation of First Minister, The Rt Hon Alex Salmond, MSP approved the appointment of six new Queen’s Counsel including Kate Dowdalls from Arnot Manderson Advocates. This brings the number of senior counsel in Scotland’s largest stable to nineteen.
Those appointed were nominated by the Rt Hon Lord Gill, the Lord Justice General. With the agreement of Lord Gill, Elaine Noad acted as an observer of the process and provided the First Minster with a separate report on her findings.
The rank of Queen’s Counsel is generally reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in practice in the Supreme Courts. Advocates and Solicitors with Rights of Audience in the Supreme Courts are eligible to apply to the Lord Justice General, Scotland’s senior judge. Before making recommendations, the Lord Justice General consults other judges, the Lord Advocate, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and the President of the Law Society of Scotland.
Kate has been predominantly engaged in family work since calling to the Bar in 2000. Her experience in financial provision on divorce extends to high value claims. Kate is also experienced in dealing with claims by cohabitants under sections 28 and 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006. In her work relating to children, Kate customarily deals with adoption and permanence order cases, referral proceedings, and contact and residence disputes as well as Hague Convention applications.
First instance work has taken Kate to the Court of Session and Sheriff Court. In her appellate work, she has appeared before Sheriffs Principal, Inner House and the UK Supreme Court.
Practice Manager Lorna Arnot commented “We are delighted to see Kate recognised in this way. This is a well deserved accolade and everyone at the stable is extremely proud. We were particularly pleased to break the news first to the 150 delegates attending the 3rd annual Arnot Manderson Family Law Group Conference in Stirling on Friday.”