Qualifications
LL.B. (with French language) (first class), University of Glasgow
B.C.L., Lincoln College, Oxford
M.Sc. (philosophy), University of Edinburgh
LL.M., Yale Law School
Dip.L.P., University of Glasgow
Special interests
Company and commercial
Media, defamation and privacy
Planning and Environmental
Public law, including judicial review and human rights
Tax, trusts, succession and pensions
Biography
Stephen is regularly instructed in complex public law cases. He has been instructed as sole counsel at all levels, including the Privy Council and European Court of Human Rights.
He has particularly extensive experience in international law, and has been appointed both as Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government and to the UK Attorney-General’s Public International Law Panel of Counsel.
Stephen is also recognized as a leading junior in tax disputes, having appeared in major cases such as News Corp v HMRC in the Supreme Court.
Before coming to the bar (as Lord Reid scholar), Stephen was a judicial assistant in the Supreme Court. He studied law at Glasgow, Oxford, and Yale (as a Fulbright scholar), is a visiting lecturer in international investment arbitration at King’s College London, and also practises from Essex Court Chambers in London.