Year of Call: 2000

Areas of Practice:
- Commercial
- Property
- Professional Negligence
- Insolvency

Jonathan A Brown

Since calling, Jonathan has maintained a wide ranging civil practice. In recent years the majority of his workload has been in commercial and property law. He has expertise and extensive experience in all forms of property litigation, including disputes in relation to boundaries, servitudes, title conditions, commercial leases and statutory compensation schemes. He has a broad general commercial practice covering contractual disputes, shareholder disputes and corporate and personal insolvency work. He has a detailed knowledge of partnership law, and in particular has substantial experience of dealing with disputes arising from the break up of professional partnerships. He regularly deals with professional negligence instructions, with particular emphasis on claims against solicitors and surveyors. He has a substantial licensing practice, including a significant number of firearms cases.

He receives a significant number of instructions each year to advise on matters of professional discipline. Predominantly, these cases concern solicitors, and he regularly appears before the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal. He also advises regularly on appeals from the SSDT to the Inner House of the Court of Session and on applications for judicial review of disciplinary decisions of the Law Society of Scotland. Although his professional disciplinary practice relates primarily to solicitors, he is also instructed to advise and represent members of other professions. He recently appeared before the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in London in connection with a disciplinary matter.

Although his current workload does not include a great deal of family law, he has had substantial experience of divorce work, and he continues to be instructed occasionally in divorce cases involving disputes about financial provision, particularly in cases of high value or where the assets are of a commercial nature.

Recent significant cases in which Jonathan has appeared include:

• Campbell Riddell Breeze Paterson v. Council of the Law Society 2007 CSIH 1 (Inner House; Solicitors’ Disciplinary Proceedings)
• Black v. McGregor 2007 SC 69 (Inner House; Construction of interest and liquidate damages provisions in missives for sale of property)
• Burnett v. Menzies Dougal WS 2006 SC 93 (Inner House; Solicitors’ Negligence; Relevancy of pleadings; Measure of Loss)
• Smith v. Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland 2006 SLT 347 (Judicial Review of administrative decision re fixing of tribunal hearing)
• Calderwood v. Renfrewshire Council 2004 SC 691 (Inner House; Licensing; Application of policy by licensing board)
• McAllister v. Secretary of State for Work & Pensions 2003SLT 1195 (Inner House; Statutory Appeal; Approach to be taken by superior court where appeal conceded by respondent)

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